Blackboard Blogs

From Wimba Connect 2008 to BbWorld '08

The Blackboard K-12 group recently formed a new partnership with Wimba which enables us to make available to Blackboard K-12 enterprise license clients the opportunity to download the Wimba Collaboration Suite Express for free.  This collaborative technology can help increase student achievement greatly.

To help ensure members of the Blackboard K-12 community are receiving all the benefits from Wimba Express, last month we recommended everyone attend Wimba’s first global users conference, Wimba Connect 2008.

The event begins Sunday (running March 2–5, in Orlando) and is geared toward technology directors and CTOs, instructional technology directors and directors of curriculum.  The agenda looks quite good: there will be more than 40 sessions, roundtable discussions, and a full schedule of exciting speakers.

During or after the conference, our BbWorld planning committee would like very much to hear from attendees about the events you find, or found, to be most useful.  Your feedback will help us better plan K-12 sessions, speakers and events for the annual Blackboard users conference, BbWorld ’08, to be held July 15–18, in Las Vegas.

Please send your feedback on Wimba Connect 2008, and ideas for BbWorld ’08, to my colleague, Shana Glenzer, at sglenzer@blackboard.com.

BbWorld '08 - The Collaboration Begins!

Wow!  That’s all I can say.  Wow!  The last time I posted to EducateInnovate.com, I asked for volunteers to join the BbWorld ’08 program committee.  And you guys didn’t fool around.

Over 50 clients have offered to participate in the BbWorld program development!  So what does that mean for you?  It means this year will be our most client-focused program ever.  Each session proposed will be reviewed by a crack team of clients like you.  They’ll be on the front lines, helping us craft a quality program built with subject matter that is important to you and the work you do.

Our first meeting is next week.  I can’t wait to meet this great group of people who are so excited about their annual user’s conference, BbWorld ’08 (scheduled for July 15 - 17 in Las Vegas, Nevada). 

So how can you get involved?

Well, it’s not too late to submit a presentation proposal for BbWorld ’08 or the Blackboard Developers Conference.  To submit just click here.  It doesn’t take long, and it’s a great opportunity for you to share your ideas with the Blackboard community.

By the way, I’m also involved in BbWorld Europe this year (in Manchester, U.K., May 12-14).  I’m excited to report that both registration and the hotel site are open.  We’ve just completed our review with the Program Committee and hope to post the program very soon.  BbWorld Europe should be a great show – hope to see you there!

. . . Because Technology Brings Education to More People

Joining Blackboard and its Product Strategy team was a big professional change for me, which prompted a new habit of periodically reflecting on my work in this new role.  One of the more interesting reflections was trying to understand how my work is something more than earning my pay and increasing shareholder value for the company.

It all seems to be right on the surface – Product Strategy analyses current client pains and general trends to advise the rest of the company on how to optimize existing product offerings and/or come up with new products that would cover current and future client needs.  We are clients’ ambassadors in Blackboard – we translate client voices into plans and products.  Great, isn’t it? 

But I could not stop at this “mother love and apple pie” level.  Digging a little bit deeper, it becomes evident that there is a counterpoint.  Some view technological solutions to a wider range of pains only as increasing technology overhead, pushing the costs of education up and making it less affordable without giving much in return.  With the multitude of electronic tools available to academia today, it’s easy to make a point that if all these technological aids really worked, people who graduated a decade or two ago would be Neanderthals compared to current generation of students.  Apparently, this is not the case – so is this point valid?