Higher Ed

Win a $100 AMEX Gift Card by becoming one of the first Blackboard Sys Admin Superstars!

Did you know? 75% of students use course content from at least one of these four leading publishers: Cengage, Wiley, Pearson and McGraw-Hill. And the way students are consuming this course content is dramatically changing. In just the last 4 years, we’ve seen a six-fold increase in digital content sales in education globally and most experts suspect that we are still at the shallow end of the growth curve. Faculty and students increasingly want their course content, assignments and grades built right in to their Blackboard course in order to be more efficient, save time and focus on what is important to them – teaching and learning.

And YOU have the ability to make this digital content readily available to those who need it most this fall! With the publisher building blocks, faculty will have an opportunity to integrate digital content from Higher Ed’s leading publishers in to their fall courses. When you download these building blocks, we know you will be dubbed as a Sys Admin Superstar on campus and Blackboard would like to make sure you are recognized as a superstar and MORE!

To become a Blackboard Sys Admin Superstar and win $100, all you need to do is download and install at least 3 of this fall’s hottest Blackboard building blocks from our partner publishers: Cengage, Wiley, Pearson and/or McGraw-Hill. Then, fill out your name and email address here. The first 25 superstars will be awarded a $100 AMEX gift card because here at Blackboard – we know everyone in education is busy this time of year.   And that’s not all! We will also celebrate your superstardom on the Twitter-sphere so that you are recognized by all of your peers! So make sure to follow our Blackboard blog, like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. Official contest rules can be found here.

Want more details on how to become a Blackboard Sys Admin Superstar? Follow these steps:

Guest blog post written by Siobhan Stynes
Siobhan Stynes is a professor of Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics and Integrated Science at Seneca College in Toronto, Canada. Spending time in the hands-on laboratory as well as in an interactive classroom has enabled Siobhan to re-evaluate the focus and methodology of her teaching, bridging the two learning environments. Her goal is to provide interactive learning experiences for her students so they can work together and develop a deeper foundation in science. Siobhan is on facebook and twitter @siobhanstynes.

Since I started teaching at Seneca College of Applied Arts of Technology in Toronto, Canada back in 2008, I have always struggled in engaging students with their work outside of the classroom. In my integrated science classroom, they were great! They would pay attention, do theoretical problems & calculations and get in to it. But, once the end of class came, the books & laptops were packed up, not to be opened for the purposes of studying science until our next class. When our institution adopted a Wiley textbook with digital content, called WileyPLUS with online homework, assignments, quizzes, tutorials, animations, audio files, students became more engaged outside of the classroom. They were eager for more assignments and more practice on their laptops and iPads (any excuse to use those cool devices, right?).

There’s no doubt that the growth of digital learning content is accelerating.  Multiple resources indicate that a higher ed world of blended and online learning is rapidly approaching, some resources even cite the “flip to digital” occurring in the next 5 years.  Textbooks aren’t going away any time soon but their use in the classroom is declining steadily.  And, expectations are that instructors will graduate from eTexts to the more sophisticated integrated learning systems being developed by publishers.

What does this mean for you?

Blackboard can be a channel for all this content and tools, helping faculty make sense of the numerous digital content options available to them.  Blackboard offers a broad choice of content to choose from right within the Blackboard Learn course.  I would like to take a moment to look at one of our newest providers of digital content: Cengage Learning.

Digital learning content is a hot topic – both across the education landscape and especially here at Blackboard. With the growing importance of online learning, course designers and instructors are constantly evolving the elements they incorporate into their digital curriculum. Every educator has their own style, their own methods, and their own set of students with unique needs. And with so many options out there, deciding what content to choose can be overwhelming. For more than six years SoftChalk, a leading provider of content authoring software for educators in K-12, higher ed and medical programs, has partnered with Blackboard to offer a tool for publishing user-generated lessons to Blackboard Learn. It’s been a fabulous run, and 2012 has been no exception. Recently SoftChalk and the Kentucky Community & Technical College System (KCTCS) were chosen as a bronze Learning Impact Award winner by the IMS Global Learning Consortium for the revolutionary Learn on Demand program offered through KCTCS Online. SoftChalk also announced the winners of its 2012 Lesson Challenge – with winning lessons submitted by instructors covering a wide range of subjects, including Spelling, Integers & Real Numbers, First Aid, Nonverbal Messages, and Public Health. But what’s most exciting about SoftChalk this year is their announcement yesterday that their product is officially available in the Cloud. That means SoftChalk users can create original, media-rich, engaging lessons that can be published anywhere, anytime – with or without an LMS. SoftChalk content is reusable, sharable and completely customizable. And what do customers claim is the best part about SoftChalk? It’s easy to learn and convenient to use! So if you’ve ever asked: How do I create personalized content that addresses the diverse learning needs of students? How can I reliably track detailed student score results for my learning content? How can I create content for mobile learners quickly and easily? SoftChalk could be your answer. Join the Blackboard Partnerships team for a free webinar on June 20 and see why.

With numerous digital learning content options available to educators, figuring out how and when to get started with adopting and using digital content can seem daunting. Blackboard has invited experts from a variety of fields to participate in BbWorld 2012 to help you navigate this broad content landscape. Instructional designers, faculty and technology decision makers will find these sessions beneficial and enjoyable!

1. Alan November,  an international and renowned leader in education technology, will push the boundaries on how to improve online teaching and learning in higher education. His wit and humor make him a highly sought after presenter in education forums worldwide.