Products & Services

Earlier this week, we were notified by the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) that several of our products were selected as finalists for the 2012 CODiE Awards in both Higher Education and K-12 categories. First time nominees, like Edline and CourseSites, were recognized as well as newly updated products like Blackboard Learn and Mobile Learn.  The McGraw Hill/Blackboard Building Block also made it to the next round of judging. We are especially excited that educators nominated us after viewing product demonstrations first-hand. Being a finalist in all of the below categories affirms that Blackboard is helping to improve many aspects of education. Finalist categories include: Blackboard Learn, Release 9.1, Service Pack 6 • Best Postsecondary Course or Learning Management System • Best Postsecondary Instructional Solution Blackboard Mobile Learn • Best Educational Use of Mobile Device CourseSites • Best Cross-Curricular Solution Edline Learning Community Management System • Best K-12 Enterprise Solution McGraw-Hill Blackboard Building Block • Best Cross Curricular Solution For a full list of the finalists in the Education Technology categories, vist the SIIA website. If you’re a member of SIIA, don’t forget to vote from now until April 13! Congrats to all the finalists!

With the start of the spring semester on 1 March 2012, the University of Salzburg is going mobile! The University of Salzburg was already using Blackboard Learn™ for more than ten years and now selected Blackboard Mobile Learn to give students and faculty access to their courses, content, and organizations on a variety of mobile devices including Android™, BlackBerry®, iPhone®, iPod touch®, and iPad™. The Vice Rector of Educational Affairs, Univ. Prof. Mag. Dr. Erich Müller, explains: Als innovative und zukunftsorientierte Universität ist es uns ein besonderes Anliegen, am Puls der Zeit zu sein. „Blackboard Mobile Learn“ trägt dazu bei. Nach zehn Jahren erfolgreichen Lernplattformeinsatzes werden ca. 80% aller Lehrveranstaltungen der Universität Salzburg von Blackboard unterstützt. Mit dem Start von „Blackboard Mobile Learn“ haben Studierende und Lehrende nun die Möglichkeit auch via Smartphone oder Tablet überall und jederzeit auf die Lernplattform zuzugreifen. Ich erhoffe mir dadurch eine weitere Steigerung der Flexibilität im Studienalltag. As an innovative and future-oriented university, it is especially important for us to keep our fingers on the pulse of time. “Blackboard Mobile Learn” contributes to this objective. After ten years of successfully using learning platforms at the University of Salzburg, almost 80% of all courses offered by the University of Salzburg are now supported through the Blackboard Learn platform. With the launch of “Blackboard Mobile Learn” both students and teachers can now access the learning platform anywhere and anytime via smartphone or tablet. I thereby expect a further increase in the flexibility of everyday life of both staff and students. The University of Salzburg created a special website for the launch of Mobile Learn, informing students and staff about the possibilities Mobile Learn offers as well as instructions on how to download and install the app on their mobile devices (www.uni-salzburg.at/zfl/mobile ). Students and staff will further be made aware of the newly launched Mobile Learn through a widespread billposting campaign on University of Salzburg campus and an official email sent by the Vice Rector of Educational Affairs, Univ. Prof. Mag. Dr. Erich Müller. In addition, faculty staff will receive an information folder and an announcement will be made on the homepage of the University of Salzburg. Last but not least, the higher education insert of the Salzburger Nachrichten, the most important and biggest newspaper in the Austrian federal state of Salzburg, has highlighted the launch of Blackboard Mobile Learn at the University of Salzburg. So far the launch has been a great success. Within the first 48hrs, the app was installed approximately 500 times. On 2 March 2012, just one day after the launch, the number of unique visitors was 663. Richard Posch from the Central Service for Flexible Learning and New Media commented: “What a great start, we are all very excited!”

In a few short days, the impact these mobile devices have had on the students at Nangwanda Secondary School has been profound.  97% of these students never touched a mobile phone before this week, but now their mechanical functioning of the phones increases exponentially every day.  And they just love using these devices!  They are highly engaged and you can see their minds transforming right before your eyes as they attempt to solve new problems in new ways. The  smartphones we are using have the Blackboard Mobile Learn application installed along with content developed by Stanford University and the Seeds of Empowerment team. The mobile learning exercises developed by the research team allow us to measure the cognitive functioning and technological aptitude of the students.

Blackboard product teams works closely with clients to build and introduce new versions of our platforms, including Blackboard Learn(™), Blackboard Collaborate(™), and Blackboard Mobile(™).  We independently launched major versions that offered improved user experiences and brought us closer to customers in the process. Recently, we came together to discuss what Blackboard offers as a whole – across all of our platforms and services – to address the problem of student engagement that can result in dropouts, poor test scores, and transfers to other institutions.  We put aside talking about cool new features and instead talked about how to effectively break through to today’s “always on” students.   We identified how Blackboard’s entire portfolio can help students get engaged and personally invested in their learning for solid outcomes, college readiness, and career success. We are convinced that Blackboard offers the widest variety of tools to connect and engage learners in a way that each prefers – regardless of time, place, device or learning style.  It’s no surprise that this results in increased learning, retention, and institutional growth.  One client,  Ivy Tech Community College, an educator of over 120,000 students across in 75 locations across Indiana, solved their growing requirement for more robust and resourceful engagement tools by deploying Blackboard Collaborate and Blackboard Mobile after attaining a solid foundation with Blackboard Learn.  Among the benefits of the combined solution are 24×7 service to students, onboarding of 25,000 new students each year, and steady growth in enrollment with a goal of 200,000 students by 2020. What exactly does Blackboard offer to engage students?  First of all, a plethora of learning-focused features – customized online courses and vibrant communities in Blackboard Learn, access to coursework virtually anywhere with Blackboard Mobile, and live classes with breakouts and multi-user whiteboards in Blackboard Collaborate.  We also have capabilities that reach these students 24/7 on their own terms, enticing responses and interaction – “anywhere” courses with Blackboard Mobile Learn, faculty messages to mobile devices with Blackboard Connect for Learn(™), and presence and instant messaging in Blackboard Collaborate.  There are features for measuring engagement with Blackboard Analytics(™) and taking corrective action.  And finally, we work with our clients to help ensure a seamless user experience and optimization for teaching and learning. As a company, we are quickly realizing that the sum is greater than the parts.  That is, with a broad set of integrated platforms, professional services, and education expertise, Blackboard enables institutions to tailor learning to each individual student while reaching and growing the entire academic enterprise.   That’s what enables institutions to excel and stay relevant in today’s changing education environment. 

We are excited to share the news that registration for BbWorld 2012 is now open! As you recharge over this winter break, why not get a jump start on your summer plans and consider joining us in New Orleans for our annual user conference. If you joined us last year in Las Vegas, it’s hard to forget the incredible opening keynote with Steven Johnson and the closing keynote from Sir Ken Robinson. Through the course of two and a half days, we kept you busy with dozens of sessions, networking opportunities and executive discussions, details on Blackboard’s technology roadmap, special receptions with your peers, Blackboard executives and staff, and a corporate keynote from founder and CEO Michael Chasen. We left you excited (and exhausted) and ready to head into the school year with best practices and new ways to deliver a more impactful learning experience at your institution. Don’t you want to join us again?