Professional Education

The British Columbia Career Colleges Association (BCCCA) is hosting its annual conference from October 27th-29th, and Blackboard’s own Tim Naylor will be presenting!  The conference will feature representatives from over 70 of the most successful and dynamic private colleges in British Columbia, as well as stakeholders from government and industry.

When Hazel Matthews joined the Sullivan University team less than three years ago, she realized the university was letting a critical asset- its alumni base- leave campus after graduation without maintaining a connection to the college.  As Director of Alumni Affairs, Matthews began to work relentlessly with others in the university to change that entirely- and it has definitely paid off. Sullivan University, a Blackboard client, now boasts a robust network of over 4,500 alumni with an active website and social media presence.  Alumni referrals have brought dozens of new students to the university and have led many others to job referrals and

Military Training and Technology (MT2) magazine has named Blackboard one of its Top Training & Simulation Companies for 2011.  This is the second year in a row that Blackboard has received such distinction, and follows from MT2’s recognition of Blackboard as a quickly rising and up-and-coming organization in 2010. According to MT2, the Top Training & Simulation Companies is a listing of organizations that have made a “significant impact on the military training industry across the spectrum of technologies and services.”

With the widespread use of the Internet and social media among young adults, constant connectivity has become a part of their everyday life.  As members of this tech-savvy generation enter the workforce, they will form a new breed of learners- connected learners- who will demand that professional education adapt to the technological trends being utilized every day.

A few weeks ago, salesforce.com hosted its 9th annual Dreamforce conference in San Francisco, CA. As a premier event for the cloud computing and sales industries, Dreamforce brings today’s technology minds together to provide attendees with the tools and techniques they need to take their businesses to the next level. And just in case you consider conference participation an indicator, you should know that this year Dreamforce had over 45,000 attendees and 270 exhibitors.

Of course, the conference was of particular interest to us as we launched the integration of Salesforce and Blackboard with Blackboard Learn for Sales. Attendees were very excited about the news! They see this new application as a way to not only certify sales reps before they go out and sell, but also as a tool to see greater sales results through a more educated team. Read more about the benefits of Learn for Sales here.