Products & Services

Earlier this year I bought a Groupon deal for an indoor skydiving session.  I’m not sure why I bought this particular deal, especially since I’m deathly afraid of heights and this just didn’t seem like something I would willingly do. Nevertheless, I suited up this weekend and took on the challenge! Even though it was not real skydiving, it was just as frightening as I would imagine it to be, it felt so real and with the video and fan blowing, the instructors had very seamlessly simulated reality.  I even had that crazy sinking feeling in my stomach the whole time!

This got me thinking about Jacksonville State University‘s ability to simulate the experience of actually being in class…when in fact one third of their student body is taking their classes online. JSU is successfully creating an online version of the traditional classroom because they understand that to really connect and communicate with their students, they need to “reach the students where they are,” and incorporate a synchronous component to their online classes.  Not only are the students able to attend the class lectures online, but they are able to connect with faculty using education technology for office hours, questions on assignments  – all in real-time, all online.  So that scary sinking feeling that you’ll be called on when you haven’t completed your assignments/reading for the week?  Yup, it is just the same.  Just as real – only your peers might not be able to see you actually turn red.

I was lucky enough to attend the “Julie and Julie” session at BbWorld 2012! Julie Evans, CEO of Project Tomorrow, and Julie Young, President & CEO of Florida Virtual School shared their thoughts on Personalized Learning. Both agree that students are looking for ways to use technology in order to make learning more relevant and successful according to their own individual needs, goals, and preferences. And, both mention that children are using mobile phones, social networks, and the internet with such increasing frequency that it is becoming a must for schools to incorporate these tools into a student’s learning, instead of shutting them down.

Can you guess what student profile this describes?

For those of you who weren’t able to get to New Orleans for the Connections Summit, I wanted to briefly share with you some of what we talked about earlier today in my keynote address, and that’s debunking the myths about online learning.

I’m sure that it’s a conversation that you’ve all had with colleagues who fear that online learning is not sufficiently engaging for students. The fear that online learners will be isolated, miss out on non-verbal communication with their instructors and their fellow students, and not have access to the help they need. That their motivation will be low, which translates into poor outcomes. And then there is the fear that the technology that makes online learning more engaging isn’t quite there yet.

Working backwards, I can assure you that the technology is there.  As you’ll see in Blackboard Collaborate 12, pretty much everything we do is aimed at making the online learning experience as fully engaging as that of the physical classroom, especially when coupled with your institution’s LMS.

And given how wired in today’s students are, we’re getting to the point where it can be argued that bringing real-time collaboration technology into both the physical and virtual classroom mix is becoming the only way to guarantee full engagement.  (I’m sure I’m not the only one who’s seen a couple of kids sitting in the same room texting each other.)

I’m going to make a bold statement here: if you’re using an LMS, you should be using Blackboard Collaborate. Asynchronous courses can be personalized with instructor comments via voice authoring. Students can get the help they need from their classmates and instructors with instant messaging.

Whether a course is delivered asynchronously, live online, or in a physical classroom, project collaboration using web conferencing is an excellent way to engage students and help them build their networks. And for today’s students, who are seldom if ever without their iPhones and iPads, being able to participate in class and meetings with a mobile device is rapidly becoming an expectation.

I’ll end by saying that we’re looking forward to showing off Blackboard Collaborate 12 , and debunking all those myths about online learning.

Summer has arrived in the Northern Hemisphere, and that means academic technology leaders are busy preparing for the start of the 2012-2013 term. One of the first places that K12 technology leaders gather is ISTE, which I just came back from. It was a great conference to connect up with long-time customers and hear their experiences with our products.

As I talked to our customers, it was clear that the whole concept of the “Active Learner” – today’s students who don’t just want to be spoon fed information but want to actively engage in their quest for knowledge – is really the right path. These students have been at the forefront of our minds as we’ve been developing our newest products. As we gave a few customers sneak previews of our latest technology, I was overjoyed to see the positive response. I can hardly wait to see all our biggest customers at BbWorld and Connections Summit and share the innovations we’re about to roll out, including mobile capabilities.

See you in New Orleans!

“Blackboard’s Product Development Team truly listened to the institutions represented in the Product Advisory Council during the development of the Blackboard Collaborate interface.  Members of the PAC made suggestions about what we wanted, and the Development Team put it into action. We were able to prioritize needs for the product based on a wide variety of user experiences from many institutions. Through this process the Blackboard Collaborate user interface was essentially designed by thousands of users.” - Robin M. Smith, Ph.D., Coordinator of eLearning and  Associate Professor, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences

At Blackboard, we work with our clients every step of the way during the development process, making sure that when it comes to new features, your voices are heard. Over the past two years, with your guidance, we’ve worked especially hard on the Blackboard Collaborate user experience, making it easier for new users to get started and for power users to discover new ways to collaborate.