Blackboard Blogs

Blackboard Connect: Ready for Winter Weather

Winter weather is gripping the nation, with snow and ice storms slamming communities from Texas to Maine. Dangerous road conditions and freezing temperatures have long presented educators and local government officials with difficult choices about school and road closures.

While those challenges remain unchanged, communicating about them certainly changed. Students might once have sat around the radio or television on a snowy morning.  But today mass notification tools like Blackboard Connect allow the community to learn the latest official information as soon as it’s available.

Now Live -- R9 Upgrade Center

We are constantly receiving inquiries from clients looking for resources and planning information as they consider upgrading to Release 9. So, I’m excited to tell you that no more digging and searching is needed. All the Upgrade information you need can now be easily found in one place – The Blackboard Learn, Release 9 Upgrade Center! The Upgrade Center is designed as a resource to help you through that process.

Empowering Students Through Technology

Hi, I’m Leslie -- another member of the K12 team and a new blogger. I’m excited to be here and I look forward to creating a dialogue with you over the course of the year.  Recently I have been reflecting on 2009 and contemplating what is in store for education and technology in 2010 (not only because it is my job but because it is so important!)

 

I was just introduced to Chris Lehman’s blog. He is a principal at a Philadelphia high school and has some exciting ideas about the role technology plays in schools. In one of his articles he challenges school leaders to shift the way they think about technology; more than just engaging kids, schools should be empowering them and providing more access to the tools and Web sites that teenagers’ are frequenting with on a daily basis.  Striving for empowerment leads to a more student-centered classroom, which is a concept we strongly believe in at Blackboard (bringing the students to the center of the educational experience is something we work hard to do every day!)