Products & Services

Hi Blackboard Users!  I am one of the Blackboard Learn Product Marketers and am back to share more about how educators are using the Content Collection in Blackboard Learn to make life easier and save time. I started this conversation at the end of last year and after having my son and being away from the office for a few months I am finally picking it back up.  For the first two tips I shared please check my previous blog. Before I dive in, I want to share a great introduction video for people just getting familiar with the Content Collection (or Content Management module).  This was created by Melissa Kern, our Lead Designer for the Content Management module, and is good to share with new users or any educators that haven’t had a chance to check out the content management tools in Blackboard Learn.  This product video is on Release 9.1, SP6. Take a look and pass along! Link to the screencast here.

St. Hilda’s School in Australia is embracing the mobile learning trend and saving immense printing and papers costs at the same time.  Their goal is to use 1,000,000 fewer pieces of paper this school year!  The school has just launched the very first Blackboard Mobile™ Central app in K-12.  In addition, St. Hilda’s 750 students are able to access all of their courses on their mobile devices.  Learn more about St. Hilda’s mobile story, and hear first-hand from two students about what they are now able to do on their iPad!

Ever find yourself wishing that you could spend less time grading student submissions in Blackboard Learn? If yes, then a quick review of the new Blackboard Learn 9.1, Service Pack 6 Features & Enhancements is in order. I decided to experiment with the program Jing Pro, which allows you to capture short, 5 minute videos, complete with audio. What a great way to showcase some of the new features and enhancements in the Blackboard Learn platform’s latest release, Service Pack 6…I’m hooked. Service Pack 6 introduces efficiencies across multiple levels of the education experience through enhancements and new features across the entire Blackboard Learn platform.  As the Product Marketing Manager for the Course Delivery module, I selected videos that highlight new features and enhancements across core Course Delivery workflows: grading and assessment.  These videos focus on how Blackboard Learn’s latest Service Pack will help educators spend less time on the tasks that they do most often.

Recently, in conjunction with American Association of School Administrators and National School Public Relations Association, we had the pleasure of presenting the 2011 Leadership Through Communication Award at this year’s NSPRA conference in San Antonio. The Leadership Through Communication Award is given to K-12 leaders who are responsible for enhancing school-to-parent communication within their district. This year’s award went to Steven T. Webb, superintendent, and Thomas R. Hagley, Jr., executive director of community and government relations, of Vancouver Public Schools, located in Washington State.

As the Product Specialist at Blackboard Collaborate^™, I am passionate about my responsibility of sharing my expert knowledge of Blackboard Collaborate products with customers and prospects.  That passion can be seen daily while I showcase the value of Blackboard Collaborate’s capabilities and by supporting the overall “Everyone Educated” mission.   Since joining in 2006, I have helped establish Blackboard Collaborate in both educational and corporate agencies across the nation and have hosted Community User Conferences across the southeast US.  I proudly hold a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Oklahoma.  Boomer Sooner! Shannon’s Bright Ideas Center grew out of my excitement to help our users be successful by increasing their skills and knowledge, and to learn at their own pace over time.  Shannon’s Bright Ideas Center is archived at LearnCentral and will continue its mission of sharing bright ideas about Blackboard Collaborate capabilities here in the blog site and on Twitter @virtualforte. Some of these bright ideas are my own; others are inspired by colleagues, customers, family, friends and the global community of virtual learners.  You are encouraged to share your own bright ideas as well.  Here is the first of many bright ideas that I will share here and I look forward to hearing yours.