Products & Services

In the 1980s it was personal computers.

In the 1990s, it was the Internet.

In the 2000s, it was social networking.

Now it’s mobile devices.

You see one in most every student’s hand as if it’s a permanent tattoo…and, most likely, it is.

Smartphones and tablets are experiencing market adoption rates far greater than those we saw with the killer tech of the past three decades. College students don’t just hope their schools will incorporate mobile learning into their education…they expect it.

To make it easier for institutions to manage classroom information from their administrative and academic systems, Blackboard Learn is partnering with another of the industry’s leading educational products, Colleague by Ellucian.

Introducing Ellucian Colleague Intelligent Learning Platform for Blackboard Learn.

“We are always trying to create improvements in the overall learning experience,” said Jessica Finnefrock, Senior Vice President of Product Strategy and Development at Blackboard. “This partnership is part of our commitment to help our clients get the most out of their technology investments and our mission to create more open and interoperable frameworks for education technology.”

In the past ten years, technology has changed so much in our everyday lives, and education is no exception. Yet for centuries, a core concept of education has remained the same: group learning stimulates greater learning.

In other words, we boost our knowledge by connecting with others.

Recently, four common myths associated with social learning were debunked. A fifth myth could be that social learning is just for students. Yes, social learning is revolutionizing the student experience, but it’s a powerful tool for educators as well.

Saving time while building courses? Actually, it is possible! The Content Editor, which is based on the industry standard TinyMCE WYSIWYG editor, was recently launched and vastly improves the user experience for entering text and adding content to all areas of your Blackboard course.

Kevin Lowey, System Administrator at the University of Saskatchewan and Liuz Teixiera, Course Manager at UCLA Extension, both participated in the Content Editor Early Release Program which gave nearly 200 clients early access to the new editor.

They shared with me how one seemingly small improvement in education software means one big leap toward educator efficiency.

Why give and take when you can give and give?

This holiday season, educators who give their students more course content within their Blackboard Learn course will also help give new books and critical resources to children in low income families.

It’s special. It’s simple. Educators, here’s how:

1. Make your course dynamic by adding content from our digital content partners McGraw-Hill, Pearson, WileyPLUS, and/or Cengage Learning to your Blackboard Learn course. Get easy-to-use tools that make teaching more effective and learning more exciting.
2. Blackboard will make a donation of $1,000 to First Book in the name of all institutions that pair a course by December 28, 2012, as well as the individual names of the persons who pair the course.  Our donation will be generously matched by our digital content partners.
3. Let us know when you have paired your course!

Take advantage of this opportunity to give…and give again.

See how easy it is to create a better learning experience—for everyone. Learn how to pair your courses.