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This post was written by guest writer and BbWorld 2012 VIP Blogger, Lacie Crone.

Remember the days when student orientation began with “look to the left, now look to the right, our goal is that all three of you graduate.” No? That wasn’t the speech you heard? Me neither, until today. Conference keynote speaker, Dr. Freeman Hrabowski took the stage with a dynamic and engaging message of responsibility, creativity, innovation, and student success.

Before the keynote address began, I had the opportunity to chat with Dr. Hrabowski in the green room. It was evident to me from the moment I shook his hand that we were in for a powerful afternoon. There are plenty people who can get on a stage with a well-written speech and with enough effort generate excitement. After all, we have how many products being sold on TV? This however, is not the case with Freeman Hrabowski; he is genuinely invested in his message and excited to share it with the everyone, particularly the next generation. While discussing student engagement and success, he shared a text message he had received the previous week from a former student. The message included words of thanks for previous encouragement she had received from him during her education. Included in the message was a picture of her employee ID…as a physician. As an undergraduate student she hadn’t believed that she had what it took to take on a medical career but credits her success in part to the consistently encouraging message she had received from him. How many university presidents do you think receive a text like that?

Once on stage, the magnitude of belief in his message was clear. After sharing some stories, and pointing out why he used stories instead of just concepts, he left us with the challenge to be the leaders who educate the campus leaders to elevate our student’s experience and success. We need to stop making decisions based on anecdotal information and mine Blackboard for the data: what works, what doesn’t, how does student engagement with the LMS relate to student success, and how do our students want to learn. We have been talking about access, but now it is time to be talking about success. Lastly, we must believe that the student to the left, the student to the right, and the student in the middle all have the power to succeed.

Don’t miss the opportunity to read about Dr. Hrabowski. You can also have the opportunity to become infected with his enthusiasm by watching this CNN interview.

As one of the leading education technology companies in the world, we strive to help you to address the evolving education needs of today’s students.  Just who are today’s students?

See how many you recognize:

 

 

Movie produced by JESS3

As digital natives become the majority in classrooms and lecture halls, we are at critical turning point in education.  What’s that light around the corner?

A world where everyone in education can access infinite teaching tools, information, and analytics from anywhere at any time.

A world where all kinds of education activities, from discussions to lectures to collaboration, can be done virtually.

A world where all students have numerous choices in subject and method.

Active learners are changing everything for the better. At Blackboard, we are active too—active providers of the technology and proactively connecting folks who support the needs of the active learners  who bring about change.

So, how will you go active?

 

 

Guest blog post by Ken Sadowski, Director of Learning & Instructional Technology at the University of Chicago and Founder and Leader of SLATE, the Midwest Blackboard User Group.  He was the recipient of a 2011 Catalyst Award for Community Collaboration.  Please join this panel discussion, “Rock on, SLATE! An Up Close Look at How a Blackboard User Group has Impacted Teaching, Learning & the Support of Technology in the Midwest”, on Wednesday, July 11, 2012, 10:55 – 11:40am, room 392.

In February of 2002, I experienced two firsts in my life; the first time I visited Washington D.C., and the first Blackboard Users Conference I ever attended.  I looked to these events with great anticipation.  After all, I was a seasoned traveler and an academic IT professional so this was going to be a great experience all around.  I tried to take it all in, the city, the conference, so many things to do.  Both were very exciting and overwhelming all at the same time.

What I soon discovered was that there was just entirely too much to do by myself.  And after a couple days at the conference, I started to meet people that were feeling the same way.  A lot of them had been to D.C., but not a lot really knew what to do with this Blackboard thing.  This was new (at that time) and they were sent to the conference, just like I was; to learn everything I could and bring it back to campus and become the resident expert on using technology in teaching.  Leaving the conference, I felt I was taking home a lot of great information but I knew I would need more help year-round; but where would it come from.

So I decided to turn to my “new friends” and invited them (twelve at the first meeting) to come together and talk about what we just experienced at the conference.  We all still had questions but not all the answers.  But as we talked things through, it became apparent that between all of us, we would have all or least most of the answers.  This was a good thing.  We decided to meet again, and again, and, yes, again.  Ten years later we are still meeting and have no thoughts of quitting any time soon.  

In my blog last week I introduced you to a few of the Blackboard Learn experts who will be onsite in New Orleans next week ready to talk to you about new features, workflows, integrations, and extensions to Learn. To ensure you get the most out of your time at BbWorld here is round two of “Meet the Blackboard Learn Experts”.  These individuals will be presenting sessions but also spending a lot of time in either the Blackboard booth (in the exhibit hall) or at the Digital Content & Upgrade Center which will be located on the Main Foyer Level 2 of the convention center.  Seek them out, ask questions and share your best practices with them.

These Bbers will be sharing their favorite features and workflows at the Blackboard Learn booth – here is the schedule, so stop by!

Blackboard is constantly experimenting with different educational technologies and methods in an effort to support education everywhere.  For the past several years we have operated a small island in Second Life.  This place called ANGEL Island has been used by over 100 teachers to deliver instruction and showcase the possibilities of teaching with virtual worlds.