Products & Services

Today, I’m excited to announce Blackboard Connect 5, the most extensive update to the Connect platform yet. Over the years, we’ve helped thousands of schools, universities and local governments across the country send billions of messages, and our team has been hard at work over the past year building on that experience, with a set of features that can help transform your communications strategy, improving your outreach in both emergency alerts and everyday outreach situations. Connect 5 is all about helping you create and send messages faster, and sending notifications that are more targeted and relevant to the people that matter to you.

With summer in full swing, Blackboard Connect is gearing up for its annual user and professional development conference, BbWorld 2011. This year’s event takes place in Las Vegas, hosting thousands of educators, administrators and other professionals for nearly a week of informative, in-depth sessions developed specifically for avid Blackboard users.

Roughly a month after tornadoes swept across the Southeast, cities and towns continue to lead recovery and relief efforts. Across the region, communities are hosting fundraisers and donation drives to help those who were significantly affected by the tornadoes. Some towns experienced serious damage and communication lines were limited after the storms, so officials turned to Blackboard Connect to deliver important instructions to residents and provide information about local recovery and relief programs.

In these times of stretched budgets and tighter resources, here at Blackboard Connect we have watched as mass communication has transformed into a useful, effective tool being used every day to overcome a variety of challenges facing district, campus and local leaders. No longer solely reserved for critical situations, many of our clients, most notably K-12 schools and districts, are using regular, routine communication to enhance the quality of education by implementing cost-effective procedures to help collect outstanding fees or balances.

Over the years, we’ve worked with colleges and universities to help ensure safety and security on campuses across the country. Using communication to reach students, faculty and staff with relevant, timely information can shape and improve the quality of the university experience. That’s why we were pleased to hear that Jimmie Brown, Chief of Police for California State University, San Bernardino (a Blackboard Connect client), was recently named Campus Safety Director of the Year by Campus Safety Magazine. According to a recent article, Brown has reduced part one crimes (including homicide, sexual assault, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny, auto theft and arson)  on campus by 37 percent, with a drop in larcenies from 106 to 73 and motor vehicle thefts decreased from 23 to four during that between 2009 and 2010. Congrats to Chief Brown and the entire public safety team at CSU-SB. For another example of how you can enhance safety and security on your campus, read about Northwestern University’s use of Blackboard Connect to keep students alert and informed.