BBBB Blackboard (MM)

Students, for the First Time, Can Contribute Content to Courses, Participate in Class Blogs and Rate Peers' Discussion Posts Blackboard Inc. (NASDAQ: BBBB) announces today the immediate availability of Application Pack 1 for the Blackboard Learning System(TM)-- Vista Enterprise License and the Blackboard Learning System(TM)-- CE Enterprise Ltd License (formerly known as WebCT Vista(R) and WebCT Campus Edition--Institution(TM), respectively). The Application Pack, available now to current licensees of these systems, offers a host of active learning enhancements that give students new ways to express themselves and learn from peers. Blackboard unveiled Application Pack 1 at IMPACT 2006, the 8th Annual WebCT User Conference. Blackboard recently merged with WebCT, Inc. and the combined company continues to provide and support the full range of each organization's product lines to education institutions around the world. The new Peer Review feature in the discussions tool allows students to rate each other's posts based on criteria set by the instructor, promoting active engagement and quality student interactions. Instructors can create simple rating scales that foster richer feedback, and can elect to make ratings anonymous, visible only to the author or visible to the entire class. "We are very interested in learning how peer review in discussions affects the quality of those discussions and the value that students extract from them," said John Campbell, associate vice president for teaching and learning technologies at Purdue University. Purdue assisted WebCT's development of the feature and is conducting a formal study on the functionality. Interactive Class Blog capabilities enable instructors to create Weblogs that provide students a new genre and forum for expression and collaboration with peers online. Blogs are a popular new medium by which students stay connected and share ideas. Instructors can enable Student Contributions to the course environment, letting students incorporate their own suggested Web links or media library entries in a course to share with the rest of the class. Student-centered features like this help engage students and promote active learning. Students can keep individual Journals to reflect on their learning experiences. Journals provide a private space where students can include sample writings or reactions to a class lecture or discussion. Using a new journal review console, instructors can assess students' personal narratives by simply clicking on the student name to display his or her entries. "The Application Pack is our way of delivering immediate value from the combined development resources of WebCT and Blackboard without waiting for major product releases," said Michael Chasen, Blackboard president and chief executive officer. "Customers have expressed great hopes in the active learning potential of these new capabilities as well as many others on the Blackboard and WebCT product roadmaps." About Blackboard Blackboard Inc. (NASDAQ: BBBB) is a leading provider of enterprise software applications and related services to the education industry. Founded in 1997, Blackboard enables educational innovations everywhere by connecting people and technology. Blackboard solutions are used by millions of people at academic institutions around the globe, including colleges, universities, K-12 schools and other education providers, as well as textbook publishers and student-focused merchants that serve education providers and their students. Blackboard is headquartered in Washington, D.C., with offices in North America, Europe, Australia and Asia. WebCT is a wholly owned subsidiary of Blackboard Inc. Blackboard Educate. Innovate. Everywhere.(TM) 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 Annual Report on Form 10-Q filed on May 10, 2006 with the SEC. In addition, the forward-looking statements included in this press release represent the Company's views as of July 11,2006. 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 July 11, 2006.