Developers+

Blackboard users have formed dozens of independently run user groups around the world.  Members share ideas and best practices, get questions answered by peers and collaborate on e-Learning projects.  The groups typically meet on a semi-regular basis, either online through Blackboard Connections or face-to-face, and many also host regional conferences.

Here's a brief clip of Paula Lee, instructional technologist at Lee College in Baytown, Texas, discussing her experience attending T-BUG 2008, the annual conference recently held by the Texas Blackboard User Group:

More video interviews with user group members are archived in the playlists of the BlackboardTV Channel on YouTube.

I’m very pleased to announce the 2009 Blackboard Exemplary Course Program is now open and accepting course submissions for review and applications for ECP reviewers.

Since its launch in 2000, the Blackboard Exemplary Course Program has helped faculty members use e-Learning technology more effectively by identifying and disseminating best practices for designing engaging online courses.  Using a rubric, instructors and course designers are able to evaluate how well their own course conforms to best practices for Course Design, Interaction & Collaboration, Assessment and Learner Support.

Please consider participating in the 2009 Exemplary Course Program by submitting a course of your own, volunteering to be a reviewer or doing both!
 
There are many benefits to participating in the Exemplary Course Program:

Thinking about joining a Blackboard K-12 user group in your area?  You're not alone.  During BbWorld AsiaPac '08, Chris Ross of Ivanhoe Grammar School in Melbourne, Australia, explained his reasons for wanting to help build up the Blackboard K-12 community:

More videos from BbWorld AsiaPac '08 can be found on the BlackboardTV Channel on YouTube, which also contains playlists of clips archived specifically for user groups and the K-12 community.

During T-BUG 20008, the annual conference held by the Texas Blackboard User Group, there was dinner and entertainment, of course.  Here's a quick view (early in the evening, while conference attendees were choosing dinner from the buffet) of the Texas Zydeco musicians who played, The Stringbenders:

More videos from T-BUG 2008 can be found on the BlackboardTV Channel on YouTube.

During T-BUG 2008, Kaylynn Burns, e-Learning Instructor Technology Specialist, Clear Creek Independent School District (located on the Texas Gulf Coast), presented with colleagues in a session titled "Pumping Up Your Campus Leaders."

In this brief clip, recorded at the Texas Blackboard User Group's annual conference, Kaylynn discusses the importance of engaging Clear Creek school administators in the district's Blackboard software:

More video interviews are archived at the BlackboardTV Channel on YouTube.