BbWorld to Focus on Training for New Online and Mobile Learning Solutions

WASHINGTON, May 13 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Blackboard Inc. (Nasdaq: BBBB) today announced the program for BbWorld® 2010, set for July 13-16 in Orlando, Fla., which will emphasize practical, hands on training and development for attendees – particularly around the company's new online and mobile learning platforms.

Bestselling author Greg Mortenson will keynote the annual user event, which will include over 140 sessions on a range of key issues. Many will focus on building understanding and know-how around Release 9.1 of Blackboard Learn™, the latest edition of the company's leading online teaching and learning platform, and Blackboard Mobile Learn™, a new offering that extends and enriches the Blackboard Learn course experience for world's most popular mobile platforms.

"In the last year we've delivered some important new solutions that were engineered with a great deal of input from clients," said Michael L. Chasen, president and CEO of Blackboard, who will deliver a corporate keynote with Blackboard Learn President Ray Henderson. "This event is a big part of how we listen for feedback that helps drive the course for what comes next."  

At BbWorld, attendees will learn about Release 9.1 from Blackboard executives, technical experts, and especially their peers – many who have already begun evaluating or implementing the release at their institutions. Sessions will focus on the social learning and Web 2.0 features that come with Release 9.0 and 9.1, upgrade paths for different types of institutions, and a variety of new resources Blackboard has created to ease the upgrade process and help clients manage the changes the comes with it.

"I am looking forward to BbWorld and the opportunity to share my experiences from my initial work with Release 9.1," said Kathy Saville, Director of the MUOnline Design Center, Marshall University, who will present a session at the event. "I am excited to see Release 9.1 support varying styles for teaching and learning, plus its capabilities to interact with social networks and mobile devices." 

A range of client and staff led sessions will also focus on Blackboard Mobile Learn and Blackboard Mobile Central™, the company's student life and services application, and the company's mass notification platform, Blackboard Connect™, which has been integrated into Release 9.1 to let students choose how they receive course notifications and updates, including through messages to their mobile devices.

Greg Mortenson, author of Three Cups of Tea and Stones into Schools, will deliver the opening keynote address. An advocate for education, Greg co-founded the nonprofit Central Asia Institute, an organization that promotes education and literacy programs and has helped to establish or significantly support 131 schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan, providing education to children – particularly girls – where few education opportunities have existed before.

BbWorld will include more than 100 client-led sessions and special program tracks for clients running Blackboard Learn, WebCT and ANGEL platforms, and for K-12 and professional education clients. The event will also provide an update on Blackboard's work on the open database for Blackboard Learn and to advance open standards in e-learning including Common Cartridge and Learning Tools Interoperability (LTI).

A series of pre-conference workshops on July 12-13 will engage attendees in hands on development opportunities with Blackboard training and consulting staff and exemplary clients on topics ranging from Release 9.1 and assessment and grading efficiencies to course delivery and ways to engage learners. The Blackboard Developers Conference (DevCon) will also take place July 12-13, bringing together the community of institutional and third party developers who create customizations and enhancements to Blackboard Learn that are used widely throughout the Blackboard client community.

More information on BbWorld is available at http://www.BbWorld.com.

About Blackboard Inc.

Blackboard Inc. (Nasdaq: BBBB) is a global leader in enterprise technology and innovative solutions that improve the experience of millions of students and learners around the world every day. Blackboard's solutions allow thousands of higher education, K-12, professional, corporate, and government organizations to extend teaching and learning online, facilitate campus commerce and security, and communicate more effectively with their communities. Founded in 1997, Blackboard is headquartered in Washington, D.C., with offices in North America, Europe, Asia and Australia.

Any statements in this press release about future expectations, plans and prospects for Blackboard and other statements containing the words "believes," "anticipates," "plans," "expects," "will," and similar expressions, constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors, including the factors discussed in the "Risk Factors" section of our Form 10-Q filed on May 7, 2010 with the SEC. In addition, the forward-looking statements included in this press release represent the Company's views as of May 13, 2010. The Company anticipates that subsequent events and developments will cause the Company's views to change. However, while the Company may elect to update these forward-looking statements at some point in the future, the Company specifically disclaims any obligation to do so. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing the Company's views as of any date subsequent to May 13, 2010.

SOURCE Blackboard Inc.