Welcome

More and more news articles continue to be written about the flipped classroom. Its popularity stems from more teacher-student interaction and more differentiation of instruction. Districts either are intrigued and researching the topic or beginning to implement it. The goal of this teaching model is to be able to encourage students to be active learners. Lectures are recorded and students can watch them at home at their own pace. Class time is then dedicated to discussion questions which students can answer individually or in groups. Teachers are then able to help students when they have questions about a math problem or a science lab because all work is done in class.

Recently, I had the opportunity to sit down with Dana Aldis, LivingSocial’s, Director of Sales Training and Development, to discuss how her company uses Blackboard’s Salesforce integration throughout the sales training process. If you’re not familiar with LivingSocial, it is the local marketplace to buy and share the best things in your city (and their headquarters is just across the street from Blackboard’s here in D.C.!).  Since LivingSocial relies heavily on developing relationships with small businesses to create unique offers for its members, having an informed, agile sales force is critical to the company’s success.

 

Q: Why did you decide to incorporate your training programs within Salesforce?

Aldis: Salesforce is one of the main ways we communicate with our sales team, so having this integration is key. Through Blackboard’s integration with Salesforce, for example, our users can access training directly from Salesforce so training courses are easy to access and are more directly aligned with company goals. The powerful reporting tools have also been a huge asset allowing us to see what training is most useful to individual sales reps while analyzing the relationship between a rep’s training and performance metrics.

 

Guest Blog Post from Kimberly Seeber. Kimberly lives in Bloomington, Indiana, US. She is a licensed elementary teacher and a graduate student in the Instructional Systems Technology residential master’s program at Indiana University. Her interests include technology integration in the K-12 environment and online learning.

In response to the video, The Voice of the Active Learner, instructors considered what it means to be an active student and an active instructor. The discussion focused the following themes: digital natives, digital divide, technology effectiveness, lack of technology support, challenges of learning new technology, novice and expert technology users, surface learning versus deep learning, and the transition from “sage on the stage” to “guide on the side.”

After reviewing and piloting several learning management systems (LMS), The Pennsylvania State University has decided that the University will continue to use Blackboard Learn ANGEL Edition, and will explore future options with Blackboard’s mobile learning capabilities.

With the announcement that Blackboard is extending its support for the ANGEL platform, Penn State’s e-Learning Strategic Committee determined that continuing the University’s use of ANGEL was the most cost-effective solution among the options evaluated.

University officials cited the desire to continue its positive relationship and collaboration with Blackboard’s product development team, as a reason for the decision to stay with ANGEL.

Blog Post co-authored by Jim Hermans, General Manager of Blackboard Analytics and Mark Max, VP of Product Development and Operations for Blackboard Analytics to formally invite you to this year’s Users Group Conference.

The must-attend event for Blackboard Analytics clients is only a few weeks away – and it’s not too late to register.  This year’s three-day user conference will be held October 10-12th at Gallaudet University in Washington, DC and will featuring multiple breakout sessions, keynotes and product roadmap discussions.

Top 5 Reasons To Attend:

1.  Learn how to better identify at risk students during the new, hands-on Learning Analytics Practitioner’s Forum.

2.  Get answers to your technical and operational questions – at either one of three ‘Ask the Experts’ sessions, or 1-on-1 at our Genius Bar.

3.  Discover methods for driving Analytics adoption on campus and getting staff up and running quickly.

4.  Hear ways to get more out of your Analytics investment from clients like UMBC, Drexel University and Stony Brook University.

5.  Find out about the latest upgrades, features and solutions on the horizon during our product roadmap session.

We welcome all Blackboard Analytics clients at the conference!  To join the 130+ who have already signed up, click here