by Matt Wasowski
At the 2011 Blackboard Collaborate Connections Summit, Blackboard Collaborate President Maurice Heiblum kicked-off the event with a keynote speech that focused heavily on theme of togetherness. After all, last year’s user conference was the first time since Blackboard’s acquisition of Elluminate and Wimba in 2010 that both companies and their former customers had come together as one. During his keynote, Heiblum remarked about the surprising ease with which the organizations came together and how the Collaborate team was able to release its new product so quickly. Though that was only 11 months ago, it feels like it could have been 11 years.
What a difference a year makes.
In Heiblum’s next keynote – on Tuesday July 10, 2012 which kicks-off our 2012 user conference – he will touch on the countless changes and improvements we’ve seen since we all last got together. From our newly planned products, to customer satisfaction data and amazing use-case examples, Heiblum is chomping at the bit to share tantalizing tidbits of the past 12 months. But in addition to looking back and our second great year together, he’ll recount our future plans and goals as he paints a vision for where we’re headed – with you, our customers!
Maurice can’t wait to see you on July 10 as he welcomes you to our conference in New Orleans. As we’ve been saying all along, collaboration is music to our ears!
by Matt Wasowski
At the beginning of the past school year the
New York Times’ Tara Parker-Pope wrote an article diving into what she argued is one of the biggest shortcomings of school curriculums today: life lessons. The article explores research into what children are actually learning and argues that:
“The ever-growing emphasis on academic performance and test scores means many children aren’t developing life skills like self-control, motivation, focus and resilience, which are far better predictors of long-term success than high grades.”
As summer sets in, it’s worth it to take the time to sit back and evaluate how we can all go about incorporating goals of education for life, and not just for education’s sake, into our daily routine. We
already know that modern learners have different needs and require an atmosphere of engagement, but what else can we do to set our students up for success?
by Andrea Meier
Student affairs and technology blogger Eric Stoller is not afraid to lay things out and tell it like it is. His
blog over at Inside Higher Ed takes a macroscopic approach to examining how student affairs practitioners can leverage technology in a variety of educational settings. His expertise and insight extend from high-level analysis of what it means when
we talk about innovation in the classroom to the nitty-gritty details of
new tech adoption.
by Jenn
Guest Blog Post by Shelley Kinash, Associate Professor of Higher Education and Director of Quality, Teaching, and Learning at Bond University
G’Day Eh! That’s my mash-up greeting from a dual Australian/Canadian Citizen. I am an Associate Professor of Higher Education and Director of Quality, Teaching, and Learning at Bond University on the beautiful Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. I have been an academic for eighteen years and did my PhD in Education Technology at University of Calgary, Canada. Bond University is very proud and honoured to have been selected to receive the 2012 Mobile Catalyst Award. Another claim to fame is that Bond University was the first Australian university to go live with Blackboard Mobile Learn. Bond is hosting the Blackboard 2012 Australasia Teaching and Learning Conference in August.
