by Angela Goldman
With a new semester kicking off at many professional colleges and universities, we’ve
been thinking about the ways these institutions will evolve over the coming year. There’s no doubt that technology will continue to play a pivotal role in the way career colleges educate learners – helping these schools maintain their leadership in leveraging technology for student success.
Here are the top five ways professional colleges and universities will continue to get the most out of technology in 2013:
MORE hybrid and online-only classes
Did you know that 30% of today’s higher education students take at least one class online? Recent studies show that those numbers are growing, and we believe professional and career colleges continue to lead in the pack when it comes to transitioning classes to the online environment. Of the many benefits to online learning, perhaps the most pertinent to career colleges is that e-learning will allow more non-traditional students to gain access to higher education.
MORE mobile course content
We’ve written before that nearly half of all students already use smartphones for school-related tasks, and with increasing adoption of smartphones and tablet PCs alike, we expect this number to grow in 2013. Professional colleges and universities are already delivering campus news and information, as well as course content, on mobile devices, and we look forward to seeing how they develop mobile-specific content such as lectures and exam delivery this year.
by Lee Perlis
Later this month, I will have the opportunity to present at
ASTD’s TechKnowledge 2013 conference. For those of you who have never been to TechKnowledge, it is a gathering of professional learning stakeholders to discuss progressive best practices in the design, delivery, and strategy of technology-based learning.
My presentation will focus on the ways companies can dramatically improve their sales training ROI. Specifically, I want to discuss how
our clients have seen direct results by leveraging training metrics, engaging in social learning, and aligning sales training with company goals. I’m particularly excited to share all of the new developments Blackboard has had in the past year in the sales training through our
Learn for Salesforce solution.
Check out the information below to learn more about my upcoming presentation, and let us know if we will see you at
ASTD TechKnowledge 2013!
Conference Dates and Location: January 30-February 1, San Jose, California
Session Date: Thursday, January 31, 1:45 pm – 2:45 pm
Location: Room 114
Even if you can’t make it to the presentation, be sure to visit Blackboard in booth 501!
by Lee Perlis
For many of us, the first thing we think of when it comes to smartphones and other mobile gadgets is the way we use them in our personal lives, from browsing the web to playing with our favorite apps.
But it’s not just about having fun, because these mobile and social technologies built for consumers are having a profound impact on the way we do business. According to one recent study, for example, organizations that gave their sales teams mobile access to their CRM realized a 14.6% increase in productivity, while those that provided social CRM tools saw an 11.8% increase.
At Blackboard, we’re proud to be a leader in this revolution in the technology of business. In Kelly Liyakasa’s recent article from DestinationCRM.com, “5 Emerging Sales Productivity Tools,” Blackboard’s Learn for Salesforce was listed as a top platform for a more social, mobile CRM, along with other tools such as Concurforce and Insideview.
Here’s an excerpt from the article:
Announced at Dreamforce 2011, Salesforce.com and Blackboard teamed up to launch Learn for Salesforce, a platform
by Angela Goldman
As colleges and universities of all types continue to expand their online learning offerings, professional institutions continue to lead the way in adopting the latest technologies to enhance the educational experience. So, we asked some of our cutting-edge professional college and university clients about their journeys into online learning, and what ‘best practices’ and ‘lessons learned’ they uncovered along the way.
In our new infographic, we explore some of these findings, questions, tasks, and ‘bumps in the road‘ schools often face as they develop and execute an online learning strategy, such as:
- Creating a business plan
- Avoiding mission creep
- Knowing your market and how to reach it
- Preparing your faculty
by Lee Perlis
I recently had the opportunity to catch up with WorldatWork, a human resources association that provides professional development and education opportunities to more than 65,000 members and subscribers worldwide. WorldatWork began using Blackboard a year ago to deliver their comprehensive certification courses, so I was particularly interested to hear why they chose Blackboard and what impact our solutions have had thus far.
Q: What challenges were you facing prior to using Blackboard?
WorldatWork: Before we began using Blackboard, we had three main types of course delivery: classroom, self-study, and e-learning. The main problem we faced was that the e-learning delivery was great for self-paced learning, but it lacked opportunities for one-on-one interaction with instructors and other students. In addition, face-to-face learning in a classroom was effective yet expensive due to the cost of travel. So we sought out a solution that would provide opportunities for networking and personal interaction, but with the efficiency and cost savings of e-learning.
Q: How have your participants responded to the Blackboard interface?