BBBB Blackboard (MM)

With Emphasis on Effective Practices and In-Person Training, Event Registration is Off to Record Pace WASHINGTON, April 27 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Blackboard Inc. (NASDAQ: BBBB), a global leader in education technology, today announced the program for BbWorld(R) '09 with a strong emphasis on effective practices and in-person training highlighting one of the largest e-learning gatherings of the year. Registration for the event, which will take place July 14-16 near Washington, D.C. in National Harbor, Maryland, is off to a record pace despite the difficult economic climate. The strong early response is trending well ahead of registration for the previous two years, underscoring the event's importance to members of the community who consider it a critical opportunity for training and development. Nearly 2,000 people from all 50 states and around the world are expected to attend BbWorld, including representatives from K-12, higher education and professional education. Together, they will engage in concentrated training, professional development and networking opportunities designed to help them maximize current investments in technology and more effectively address some of their most urgent academic and institutional priorities. "Today's educators and technologists are increasingly called upon to do more with less to support a wide range of student and learner needs," said Michael L. Chasen, president and CEO of Blackboard, who will deliver a keynote at BbWorld. "To better support them, we've re-engineered BbWorld to focus more deeply on roll up your sleeves training on solutions and strategies that can be implemented today to make a real difference." Sir Ken Robinson, a noted author and expert on education, creativity and innovation will deliver the opening keynote address. Robinson, knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for decades of service to education and the arts, currently works with governments in Europe, Asia and the United States as well as international agencies, cultural groups and Fortune 500 companies to address creative challenges facing education in today's global economy. In the last 12 years, more than 20,000 people have attended BbWorld events. This year's program includes an expanded range of expert led preconference sessions and more than 100 client led sessions that will focus on successful approaches to key educational challenges from increasing student engagement and collaboration to measuring learning outcomes and meeting the evolving expectations of teachers and learners at all levels. At BbWorld, participants will also have an opportunity to learn more about how Blackboard Learn(TM), Blackboard's significantly updated teaching and learning platform, has enabled institutions to leverage improved capabilities and complementary solutions to increase student engagement and achievement. And in addition to its main program, BbWorld will be highlighted by several notable related events, including: -- Community Impact @ BbWorld, where Blackboard staff and BbWorld event partners and attendees will work with Greater DC Cares, a leading coordinator of education and environmental volunteerism in the region, to assemble toolkits that will be donated to 50 local public and charter school teachers to better educate as many as 9,000 students about the environment and ways to reduce their carbon footprints. -- Blackboard Developers Conference, which will immediately follow BbWorld, where several hundred software and technology professionals will share ideas for independent, third-party applications that build on and extend Blackboard solutions to address specific academic and institutional needs; and Open Source Day, a meeting of the Open Source Community for Educational Learning Objects and Tools (OSCELOT), an independent volunteer community working to explore, develop and share open source solutions and tools for the educational community. For more information on BbWorld, including registration and the event's program guide, please visit 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-K filed on February 26, 2009 with the SEC. In addition, the forward-looking statements included in this press release represent the Company's views as of April 27, 2009. 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 April 27, 2009. DATASOURCE: Blackboard Inc. CONTACT: Matthew Maurer of Blackboard Inc., +1-202-463-4860 ext. 2637, Web Site: http://www.blackboard.com/

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