2. About
0 Began in 1997 as education technology company
0 By 2001, serving over 1200 clients
0 International offerings, 2005
0 Merges with WebCT in 2006
0 Creation of Blackboard Mobile, 2009
0 Blackboard Mobile Apps downloaded almost 3 million
times by 2011

3. Markets
0 Higher education
0 K-12
0 Private industry
0 Government & Military
0 Associations

4. Platforms
0 Learn – comprehensive learning tools
0 Collaborate – learn collaboratively
0 Connect – alerts and notifications
0 Transact – campus commerce
0 Analytics – data analysis & reporting
0 Mobile – education anywhere
0 Engage – K-12 learning tools

5. Points to Consider
0 Conferencing
0 Content sharing
0 Hosting
0 Operating system compatibility
0 Windows vs Mac OS vs Mobile computing

6. Conferencing
0 Teleconferencing as a best practice in distance
education
0 Supportive tool for online and hybrid learning
0 Function supported by Blackboard
0 Potential obstacle – accessibility to computer and/or
internet by all users

7. Hosting
0 Decision to host locally or remotely
0 Blackboard allows for either
0 Hosting locally allows for reusability & repository
functions
0 More ideal for content sharing

8. Operating System
0 Functions in
0 Windows
0 Mac OS
0 Provides mobile computing solutions

9. Equivalency
0 As we incorporate distance education into our
offerings, we need to ensure equivalency between
online and traditional learning environments
0 We are not replicating identical environments
0 Blackboard effectively supports traditional, online,
and hybrid learning

10. References
0 http://www.blackboard.com/
0 Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S.
(2012). Teaching and Learning at a Distance,
Foundations of Distance Education (5th ed.). Boston,
MA: Prentice Hall.