Now that we’re back from BbWorld, I wanted to share with you two more Theater Sessions from the Product Marketing team that took place last week. Chris Borales presented on Blackboard’s continuing support of open standards. A presentation from Melissa Mintz discussed how to use ‘mobile’ to connect with students and improve engagement on campus. You can view their full presentations below.
Hello from Las Vegas! Yesterday was the official start to BbWorld® 2011 and you could feel the excitement in the hallways and the session rooms as things got underway.
The afternoon started with a handful of sessions including a standing room only keynote on the Future of Mobile Learning delivered by Kayvon Beykpour, VP of Blackboard MobileTM. Given the overwhelming popularity of this session, it will be repeated again this afternoon. Kayvon talked about how mobile is re-inventing the way we live, work and teach, leaving the audience thinking about how we can empower students with mobile devices.
Travis Sowders also gave a great presentation, “Integrating Social Media into Students’ Lives and Learning” highlighting ways to engage students via social media through cross platforms including Blackboard LearnTM, Blackboard ConnectTM and Blackboard Building BlocksTM.
With BbWorld in full swing, we wanted to share some highlights from yesterday’s Theater Sessions. Presentations from Leslie Day and Julie Kelleher in Blackboard Learn Product Marketing detailed the new assessment tools in Blackboard Learn, Release 9.1. Leslie walks through smart views, filtering and color coding in both the Full Grade Center and Needs Grading Views, and Julie explains the new Interactive Rubrics feature.
Check them out here:
Focus on Assessment Workflows: Color Coding, Filters, Views:
Focus on Assessment Workflows: Gradable Rubrics:
It’s finally July 11! Just a year ago, Blackboard announced the acquisitions of Elluminate and Wimba. Then in October 2010, at Educause, we told our customers to expect Phase 1 of Project Gemini this summer – a new take at what a collaboration platform focused on all facets of the business of education – teaching, learning, and administration – would look like. It would inherit traits from both Elluminate and Wimba but it would be simpler, it would seamlessly integrate with the core learning management system at an institution, and it would fit the needs of educators rather than educators needing to bend their teaching style to corporate meeting tools.
As more students take the leap into virtual learning, we’re witnessing increased discussion about student success and retention in the online realm. And as even casual observers of the conversation know, an effective and efficient mix of student services that keeps these non-traditional students from falling through the cracks is really important.
But with a limited budget and increased enrollments, where should you begin? We asked virtual learning administrators across the country to highlight effective practices in student services for online learners – and with that information we published a short snapshot to guide other educators looking to better support students’ long-term educational success, which we’ll release at BbWorld 2011.
