Blackboard Helps Keep Learning Going Despite Weather Events, School Closures
Teachers and Learners Stay in Touch through Delays, Cancellations with Blackboard's Collaboration Solutions
WASHINGTON, Feb. 15, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Blackboard Inc. (Nasdaq: BBBB) is helping schools keep teaching and learning going despite weather and pandemic events with collaboration solutions that have kept instructors and learners in touch through school delays and closures. By relying on Blackboard Collaborate™ solutions for real time collaboration, conferencing, messaging and more, schools have provided a unified learning experience that keeps communities connected and allows instruction to continue.
As school communities grapple with delays, cancellations and closures forced by winter weather or other unforeseen events, a growing number of institutions have turned to Blackboard Collaborate solutions to maintain a high-quality academic experience online.
"When a recent snow storm hit, we found that using Blackboard Collaborate solutions was an excellent alternative to canceling face-to-face classes, said Joel Ottenbriet, Assistant Professor and Academic Advisor at Spring Arbor University. "There are multiple ways to generate student interaction and provide variety to my lectures, including chat and polling features, the white board and groups for peer to peer discussions."
As part of Blackboard Collaborate, Elluminate and Wimba are the leading education focused Web, video and audio conferencing technologies used by thousands of higher education, K-12, professional, corporate, and government organizations worldwide. Both solutions are often used independently or are integrated with Blackboard's learning management platforms and other open source and commercial course management systems.
"When flooding forced Valley City State University to close down with just weeks remaining in the semester, Blackboard Collaborate solutions helped us salvage the term by allowing students and instructors to continue their coursework remotely," said Jerry Rostad, director, Advanced Learning Technologies, North Dakota University System. "With Classroom and Pronto, instructors were able to connect with the scattered students, continue classroom discussion and administer the remaining exams and assignments."
"The business of teaching and learning is too important to stop because of weather and other events," said Maurice Heiblum, President of Blackboard Collaborate. "Education collaboration solutions save time and money year-round, but it's during these times when we see multiple disruptions due to snow and other weather delays and events that institutions understand the significant value these solutions can bring."
Blackboard Collaborate tools are also helping institutions prepare for events and communicate necessary information to dispersed communities. One of Canada's top research universities, Dalhousie University uses Blackboard Collaborate so students can attend interactive classes and other events online. The university made the technology available to Nova Scotia's Chief Medical Officer to update 150 members of the province's medical community about an outbreak of the H1N1 virus.
"Blackboard Collaborate was the only technology that could ramp up almost immediately and be easily accessible by every physician in the province," said Phil O'Hara, Assistant Director of Academic Computing Services at Dalhousie.
To learn more about the only collaboration platform designed for education, visit us at www.blackboard.com/collaborate or contact us at [email protected].
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 November 5, 2010 with the SEC. In addition, the forward-looking statements included in this press release represent the Company's views as of February 15, 2011. 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 February 15, 2011.
SOURCE Blackboard Inc.
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