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Register for the Enrollment Track at BbWorld and save 50% on your BbWorld Pass! All Higher Ed Executives know that student recruitment and retention are top priorities. And the solutions that address these main concerns are not “one size fit all”. Because Blackboard has recognized the importance of focusing on Executives responsible for enrollment, admissions, recruitment and student retention, there is a track solely dedicated to these topics at BbWorld 2012. The client-led sessions in the Enrollment Track (ELT) will spotlight:

1. Increasing enrollment yield to meet financial demands and growth of online programs.
2. Utilizing enrollment analytics to improve enrollment yield and reduce cost per enrolled student.
3. Employing social and mobile communication channels to target increasingly connected and non-traditional students.
4. Scaling operations while improving prospective student service, without exploding the enrollment budget.
5. Intercepting at-risk students with predictive analytics and proactive services/professional outreach.
6. Handling the Financial Aid workload increase while bringing the service experience into the 21st century.

Register now for the Enrollment Track and receive the full benefits of BbWorld for $450 – more than 50% off the regular registration rate! It is your opportunity to learn about how other Executives in similar situations are dealing with the pressures of Enrollment at their institution. Application deadline is 5/18/2012. Registrations must be received in order to secure your spot.

Hopefully by now, you’ve heard that we’re “Calling All Bloggers” to enter to win a free pass to BbWorld and be awarded the coveted title of VIP Blogger. Well, with one week to go in the contest, we’ve gotten some incredible and creative entries and will feature them over the next few days and weeks on the blog. Remember, it’s not too late to enter! Sign up here, write a blog, Tweet it and you could win! We hope you’ll join us in NOLA! Jacob Spradlin, Assistant Director of eCourse Development at Sam Houston State University So if you’re reading this, you may be asking yourself “Why does this guy want to be a VIP BbWorld Blogger?” This could be because you honestly want to know, or you just may be reading the title of my Blog post out loud. Regardless of why you are asking yourself that question (or just reading), I’ll tell you in one word… Community. My name is Jacob Spradlin, I am the Assistant Director of Training and Development for the department that handles Distance Education at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville Texas. I hold a Master’s in Instructional Technology and have over 15 years experience in the field. I have worked with Blackboard in one form or another since 2000. My current job involves online course development as well as training for faculty here at SHSU.

I am proud to announce the 2012 Catalyst Award Winners. The Blackboard Catalyst Awards honors those who push the boundaries of their educational programs and technology in order to deliver innovative and effective learning experiences.  This year we had 61 submissions for the Catalyst Awards and 151 submissions for the Exemplary Course Award.  This represented over a 50% increase from last year’s submissions. We changed the award structure slightly; there are Platinum and Gold Winners. For the Exemplary Course Award, there were a total of 37 courses rated as exemplary but 6 winners will be awarded the ECP Director’s Choice for Courses with Distinction. We are excited to honor the winners and their achievement at the Catalyst Awards luncheon at BbWorld in July 2012. Please stay tuned as we highlight the individual winners in an upcoming blog series. And the winner are…

Hello. My name is Traci House and I am the Director of Technology at Joplin Schools. Before my 18-year tenure with Joplin Schools, I served 10 years as an IBM K-12 Education Specialist. Recently I have had the privilege of contributing to the following articles: How A Tornado Inspired Innovation In Joplin, MO Schools Joplin Takes Digital Approach to Rebuilding Education Joplin, Missouri, One Year Later Emergency notification systems add features to better spread the message. How Laptops Helped Save Joplin High School Though I have shared our Joplin Schools story on numerous occasions about vast devastation and a remarkable rebuild effort, it is especially poignant to be giving this presentation in a city that was dealt a similar devastating blow in 2005. Comparisons between Hurricane Katrina and the EF5 tornado that ripped through Joplin, Missouri on May 22, 2011 are inevitable, as recovery efforts will continue in New Orleans and Joplin for years to come.

The use of technology is being accelerated across nearly every industry -  healthcare, finance, automotive – and especially in education. But how can you be ahead of the curve? Join Dr. Curtis Bonk at BbWorld 2012 where he will speak on the topic “Technology Adoption”.

Dr. Curtis Bonk’s presentation “Stretching the Edges of Technology-Enhanced Teaching: From Tinkering to Tottering to Totally Extreme Learning” will take a deep dive into what is considered the new “norm” in the classroom: Mobile, virtual, and telepresence technologies and how you can expand into other technologies.

If you are thinking about how BbWorld will help you learn about the how to incorporate technology into your everyday life just wonder: have you ever wished that someone could read your mind? Well, Dr. Curtis Bonk probably can! A former Educational Psychologist, Dr. Bonk is a Professor of Instructional Systems Technology at Indiana University and President of CourseShare. He has coauthored several widely used books, including The World is Open: How Web Technology is Revolutionizing Education (2009).

Whether you are moving toward a blended learning strategy by embedding shared online videos, simulations, timelines, collaborative groups, and open access articles into your courses or building your course from the ground up around the limitless edTech options available, Dr. Curtis Bonk will touch on each part of the spectrum and provide examples on how to incorporate social and digital components into courses.

We are also thrilled to announce that Dr. Curtis Bonk will be co-lecturing an Online Open Course through CourseSites on “Instructional Ideas and Technology Tools for Online Success.” Learn more information and sign up here. Find out more about Dr. Bonk, check out his blog, TravelinEdMan which includes reflections on his speaking experiences around the world.