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As academic activity slows and students wrap up their finals, IT professionals on campuses around the country are just gearing up for a busy upgrade season. The winter break between semesters is a perfect time to make software upgrades and updates to the important systems on campus – like the LMS. So, when everyone returns in the spring, the latest version of Blackboard is installed – with new and improved features – like gifts under the tree. We’re hearing Ohio University, University of North Texas, Kent State University, Quinnipiac University, University of Tennessee Chattanooga, Madison Area Technical College, Palomar College, University of Alaska Anchorage and Pulaski Technical College are all working diligently to upgrade to the latest version of Blackboard Learn™ 9.1 this upgrade season.

The holidays are a wonderful time of the year to take time out of our busy schedules to give back to the community. During the first week of December, a small group from the Blackboard global marketing team spent some time giving back at the Capital Area Food Bank in Washington, DC. On this cold and rainy afternoon, the team spent three hours sorting through thousands of pounds of donations – including food and necessities – that are distributed to less fortunate members of the community each day. Many of our gracious colleagues even contributed their own items totaling more than 150 lbs of donations. It was a great afternoon giving our time to an organization that needed the help and truly appreciated our efforts. Last year, The Capital Area Food Bank distributed 25 million pounds of food and served more than 478,000 people in need across the DC-metro area. Blackboard looks forward to returning to the food bank to give more time to an organization in need.

Internships have always been viewed as a great way for students to put concepts learned in class into practice and develop practical skills that cannot be taught in a classroom. However, what was once viewed as a nice-to-have is now becoming an integral step towards achieving post-graduate success. More and more employers say that having real-world experience on your resume is crucial to getting a job in today’s ever competitive job market. Consider these staggering statistics:

• According to a recent study for Michigan State University, ninety percent of new hires will have had work-related experiences prior to entering the workforce and some companies said that they would not even consider a candidate who lacked internship experience.

• In the National Association of Colleges and Employers Job Outlook 2010 survey, more than 75% of employers said they prefer candidates with relevant work experience while 16% said they prefer any type of work experience, relevant or not.

Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki visited President Obama at the White House on Monday to discuss regional security issues, as well as trade, energy, American investment in Iraq and education. Sadly, I was not invited, but I want to pose a question to PM Maliki about the last, and surely least, point of discussion: education. First, a little background: As you may know, Saddam Hussein banned political and religious freedoms – and mobile phones. So my question, PM Maliki, is how you plan to use the relatively recent introduction of mobile technology to improve educational access, opportunity and outcomes.