Professional Education

The use of technology is being accelerated across nearly every industry -  healthcare, finance, automotive – and especially in education. But how can you be ahead of the curve? Join Dr. Curtis Bonk at BbWorld 2012 where he will speak on the topic “Technology Adoption”.

Dr. Curtis Bonk’s presentation “Stretching the Edges of Technology-Enhanced Teaching: From Tinkering to Tottering to Totally Extreme Learning” will take a deep dive into what is considered the new “norm” in the classroom: Mobile, virtual, and telepresence technologies and how you can expand into other technologies.

If you are thinking about how BbWorld will help you learn about the how to incorporate technology into your everyday life just wonder: have you ever wished that someone could read your mind? Well, Dr. Curtis Bonk probably can! A former Educational Psychologist, Dr. Bonk is a Professor of Instructional Systems Technology at Indiana University and President of CourseShare. He has coauthored several widely used books, including The World is Open: How Web Technology is Revolutionizing Education (2009).

Whether you are moving toward a blended learning strategy by embedding shared online videos, simulations, timelines, collaborative groups, and open access articles into your courses or building your course from the ground up around the limitless edTech options available, Dr. Curtis Bonk will touch on each part of the spectrum and provide examples on how to incorporate social and digital components into courses.

We are also thrilled to announce that Dr. Curtis Bonk will be co-lecturing an Online Open Course through CourseSites on “Instructional Ideas and Technology Tools for Online Success.” Learn more information and sign up here. Find out more about Dr. Bonk, check out his blog, TravelinEdMan which includes reflections on his speaking experiences around the world.

In today’s fast-paced environment, the key to a successful sales team is collaboration. Members of your sales team must be able to communicate with one another in real time, getting the information they need quickly, staying ahead of business trends, and exchanging best practices.

Blackboard Collaborate is an ideal solution to build a social enterprise by fostering teamwork and enabling knowledge sharing within your sales team. The numerous features of Collaborate can be leveraged to deepen these channels of communication and knowledge exchange, both of which are crucial to winning sales:

Web conferencing takes your online meeting capabilities beyond those of the average customer meeting or training. With the ability to show and share presentations and applications on your desktop, you’ll be able to demonstrate the value of your product quickly and easily.

Blackboard has been selected as a finalist in the 2012 Institute for Excellence in Sales & Business Development (IES&BD) annual awards! These awards are meant to highlight how top organizations execute strategies that lead to revenue growth and overall business success. We are proud of our nomination in the Excellence in Sales Training category, especially the recognition of our Blackboard Learn for Sales solution.

Launched last August, Blackboard Learn™ for Sales is a cloud-based learning management solution that embeds social learning directly into the Salesforce CRM platform. This allows sales managers and corporate trainers to enroll in and complete required training courses and tailor training programs across their enterprise. Learn for Sales ensures that professional development resources are all easily available within the familiar Salesforce environment, thereby addressing evolving business priorities and measuring successes against team performances and defined business goals.

As I shared on Friday, the BbWorld 2012 conference will include presentations from well known leaders spanning the education landscape. To kick-off the conference and the theme of Social Learning, I am very excited to announce Eric Sheninger, Principal at New Milford High School in Bergen County, NJ and his presentation, “Harnessing the Power of Social Media.” Eric, affectionately known to many as @NMHS_Principal, is a K-12 administrator who has adopted social media and web 2.0 technologies to engage students, improve communications with stakeholders, and help educators grow professionally. He is passionate about establishing and fostering learning environments that are student-centered, collaborative, flexible, and prepare all learners to succeed in the 21^st Century. We are thrilled that Eric is able to join us this summer; check out this video message he shared about his upcoming presentation.

Did you know that at BbWorld 2011, the team from Grand Rapids Community College (GRCC) blogged more than 40 times in 3 ½ days?!  This hard work deserves some recognition. We know that many of you have booked your flights and are already thinking about how you’ll capture the sights and sounds of this year’s BbWorld. So this year, if you’re planning to blog, we want to make it a little bit more enticing: register here to be an official BbWorld Blogger and let us reward all your hard work! As an official BbWorld Blogger, your peers will recognize you as a thought-leader, sharing a personal perspective and reflecting on all aspects of the event. You’ll get reserved seating in all keynote presentations, a blogger badge that you can add to your personal blog TODAY, and a BbWorld Blogger t-shirt (rock your t-shirt at the Client Appreciation Party). We’ll also feature some of the posts on Blackboard Blogs during the week of the show, July 9-13. More details will be shared in June; keep an eye on your email. BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE… For three exceptional bloggers, we’re giving away three FREE passes to BbWorld. Starting today through Friday, May 4, you can enter to be a BbWorld VIP Blogger. Here’s what you need to do: