Blackboard Releases Updates for Popular Mobile Learning App

WASHINGTON, May 16, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Blackboard Inc. today announced a major update to its popular mobile learning app with the release of Blackboard Mobile™ Learn 3.0, continuing the company's investment in mobile innovation. New features make the app the first in higher education to enable students to take tests specifically designed for mobile devices and to receive push notifications when important updates or changes happen in their courses.

The app, which has been downloaded on over 3 million devices and accessed more than 60 million times, allows students to take tests through a beautiful interface from their iOS and Android devices.  Blackboard Mobile Learn 3.0 also provides a new streamlined test authoring tool, as a Web interface within Blackboard Learn™, that allows instructors to quickly and easily create mobile-compatible tests.

As part of the latest release, the app also enables push notifications which help students stay connected to their classes and track coursework without having the application open. Students can set preferences to receive automatic notifications when new grades are posted, when new course announcements are added and when tests are posted.

"We're very excited about the new features in Blackboard Mobile Learn," said Stephanie Richter, Instructional Technologies Coordinator at Northern Illinois University. "We're beginning to see more and more faculty and students use and experiment with the app and we're really glad to see Blackboard is committed to creating a more engaging and interactive learning experience. We think our students will be delighted with the new features."

The new features continue Blackboard's focus on elegant, intuitive applications that leverage unique features of mobile devices to provide the best user experience. For example, students begin a mobile test by "cutting" open a red ribbon on a traditional blue book. They can flag a question for later by tapping the corner of the page to create a dog-ear, and they can eliminate options on multiple choice questions with a swipe.

Mobile tests can be set up as in-class quizzes or to complement out of the classroom experiences like field trips or other events, and instructors can even ask students to submit pictures from their devices as part of an answer. Grades are automatically incorporated into the gradebook for a fully-integrated and seamless experience.

"We thought a lot about our days as students taking (online and offline) tests and we realized that we never really thought test-taking was a pleasant experience," said Kayvon Beykpour, General Manager of Blackboard Mobile. "Dull test booklets, machine-readable bubble sheets, and No. 2 pencils never really made it fun to take a test. Our ambition with Blackboard Mobile Learn 3.0 was to change the relationship a student has with tests. We wanted to make a beautiful test-taking experience on devices that students already love using."

Nearly 1,300 institutions around the world are using Blackboard Mobile Learn, which – in addition to the new features – allows students to create, upload and access documents and multimedia; submit assignments; read and comment on blogs and journals; create discussion posts; and more.

Blackboard Mobile Learn 3.0 is currently available for clients using Blackboard Learn™ 9.1 and supports Android™ 2.2 and above and iOS 4.0 and above for the iPhone^®, iPod touch^® and iPad^®.

For more information about Blackboard Mobile, please visit www.blackboard.com/mobile or follow @Bb_Mobile on Twitter. 

About Blackboard Inc.
Blackboard Inc. 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 represent the Company's views as of the date of this press release. Actual results may differ materially as a result of various important factors. 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 statements at some point in the future, the Company specifically disclaims any obligation to do so.

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SOURCE Blackboard Inc.