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What may have been the worst kept secret at Blackboard is finally out. Today, we launched Blackboard Learn™ 9.1 Service Pack 10, which continues the evolution of our learning environment. Between our teaser video, Sneak Peak Webinars and my now famous “between SP9 and SP11” line at BbWorld12, we have communicated key themes and a vision for how the LMS is evolving.

Many of you have seen my Report Card at BbWorld and know that I’ve made a push to focus on the fundamentals since my first day as a member of Blackboard’s leadership team. This year at BbWorld, I introduced Innovation as the fifth fundamental to go along with client support, transparency, openness and quality. And what we are doing at Blackboard in terms of user experience is nothing short of innovative. We’ve designed new features that have made Blackboard more user-friendly, more focused on your needs and more modern -like the online experiences you’re used to outside of education.

The user interface and experience ultimately fosters more student engagement and helps educators become more efficient.  Consider what Mark Radcliffe of blendedschools.net wrote in his guest blog post:

“My Blackboard is my favorite SP10 feature. The first time I logged into SP10 as a teacher and saw that little red “1” in the top right hand corner of the screen, my interest was piqued. I found that without even making a click, Bb had told me that one of my students had submitted something. Within two clicks, I was grading that assessment. This same speed improvement affects students and is all achieved through a very contemporary look.”

Those of you who have followed me on this blog and on Twitter know my passion for design and improving the user experience. It’s for this reason that I elevated Stephanie Weeks to the position of Vice President for User Experience this summer, reporting directly to me. A self-described design-perfectionist who finds inspiration where others don’t, Stephanie was critical to building this release.

I’ve asked her to give you a behind the scenes look at how and why we designed SP10 the way we did, and what the early feedback has been.

From Stephanie Weeks, Vice President of User Experience:

 

My obsession with the user experience in Blackboard Learn is nearly a decade old. In my time at Blackboard I’ve witnessed the transformation made by turning the concept of “user research” from an interesting idea to a fundamental element of the product strategy. I’m frequently asked how it is that we understand what users want or need in the software experience, and my answer is simple: we watch them. What you’ll see in Service Pack 10 is a reaction to years of understanding how millions of educators and learners get through their day. We spend time with our users – not just asking them what they want, but observing how they do things, what tools they use, what processes they create, what habits they form – so that we can envision a simple solution for them.

When designing solutions, one would be a fool not to consider the most popular experiences being used today – Facebook, Twitter, Google, Apple, Microsoft, and the like. Jakob Nielsen insists upon it.

As Hurricane Sandy continues to threaten communities along the East Coast with an expected landfall tonight near southern New Jersey, public sector institutions are rushing to prepare their communities. Sandy is a dangerous storm of potentially-historic proportions with expected storm surges, river flooding, and high winds impacting the most densely-populated coastal region in the country.

A key component of a crisis response strategy is communication – and that’s why it’s no surprise that, yesterday alone, Blackboard Connect clients sent over 6 million Sandy-related messages.

Here are some examples of institutions that have sent timely alerts:

• K-12 school districts from North Carolina to Massachusetts have used Blackboard Connect to cancel school today and tomorrow. Trick-or-treat or other Halloween activities are also being cancelled or postponed.
• Monmouth University in New Jersey cancelled classes today and tomorrow, and promised students that updates would be provided via Blackboard Connect.
• North Shore Alerts, a regional consortium serving multiple municipalities on Long Island, have issued a number of alerts over the weekend to prepare residents for Sandy, and urged residents to register their contact information with Blackboard Connect.
• Queen Anne’s County, Md., also recommended that residents register for Connect messages, and reminded them of the system’s utility in a recent closure of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge.

For K-12 school districts, colleges and universities, local municipalities and counties, and private companies, Blackboard Connect helps organizations prepare for nature’s worst.  With a decade of experience delivering critical messages, including during Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Ike, we’ve developed a strong set of best practices for communicating in hurricanes.

Last week as the storm menaced, we shared those best practices with clients in the impacted area. But you don’t have to be a Connect customer to benefit from this knowledge.  In fact, you can download the Blackboard Connect Hurricane Playbook today and put its advice into practice with in advance of Sandy’s landfall.

Another pro tip for Blackboard Connect users: if you’ve evacuated to a safe location, and need to send messages fast, our smartphone apps for message senders make it easy to get an alert out fast. Download the Android app or the iOS app today.

 

Update: Bb Connect sent another 6 million messages on Monday, Oct 29 – bringing the Sandy-related total to 12 million so far.

 

Education Services – at Blackboard?  You must mean product training, right?  Up until a few years ago, you wouldn’t be far off.  You would be right to know us as Blackboard Consulting and Managed Hosting – providing product training and services to integrate and extend your Blackboard learning management system (LMS) and providing 24x7x365 hosting services for the same.

Today, I am here to tell you that we continue to do all that but we have evolved into so much more…

Have you ever been on your way to tailgate when you realized you forgot to post a comment to your class discussion board? What do you do? About face, go back to your dorm, sit down, plug away and miss out on the fun? Or forgo the assignment all together?

How about neither?

What do I mean? Well, with Blackboard Mobile Learn, you can check grades, grab presentations and documents, even post on your class discussion board right from your phone. And, now access to the app is only a few taps away on iOS or Android.

Dear Blackboard Clients, Partners and Staff:

Fifteen years ago, my close friend Matt Pittinsky and I, not long out of college, started a company with the idea that technology could transform education. We had big ideas and lots of youthful ambition. Those dreams and that ambition grew into Blackboard – a company that today supports tens of thousands of clients around the world helping them bring teaching and learning online.

It’s been an amazing experience. I am extremely proud of the work we’ve done to date, and I’m excited about the bright future of Blackboard. After starting out as a pioneer in e-learning, we’ve expanded the company’s vision for supporting clients. We now offer a range of products and services to support education needs at all levels: from commercial to open source and from K-12 to higher education and beyond. And we will continue to make big investments in the next generation of solutions for education.

Today Blackboard is in a clear leadership position and will continue to grow and help clients in new ways for many years to come. While it has been a great privilege to lead the company for so long, the Board of Directors and I have decided that now is the right time to bring on a new CEO to help the company take the next steps to carry this vision forward.

I’m pleased to share that Jay Bhatt will join in December as Blackboard’s next President and CEO. Jay is currently President and CEO at Progress Software Corporation, a publicly traded global software company that simplifies the development, deployment and management of business applications on-premise or on any Cloud. He was previously at Autodesk, Inc. for almost 12 years, and ran Autodesk’s largest vertical business while helping that company grow to over $2 billion in revenue. Jay has an impressive background with extensive experience in the software industry. Additionally, Jay has a passion for education, which makes him a great fit for Blackboard and aligns him with the company’s mission to continue to improve and extend education globally.

In the next couple of months, I’ll be working closely with Jay, Ray Henderson, and the rest of our senior executive team to ensure a smooth transition. There will be no interruption to the work we’re doing on many fronts to support you. As you know, Blackboard has an exceptional team that is dedicated to meeting your needs.

I’d like to thank all the members of the Blackboard community – especially the clients, partners and staff that I’ve had the chance to work with over the years. We’ve done a lot to support education globally, and I’m looking forward to seeing that work continue and strengthen over time.

Please don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions at michael@blackboard.com.

Sincerely,

Michael L. Chasen

CEO

Blackboard Inc.