Blackboard Connect Keeps Schools, Universities on Track for Back to School in the Face of Hurricane Season
19 Agosto 2009 - 3:00PM
PR Newswire (US)
New Caribbean Clients Keep Students Safe and Informed With Mass
Notification WASHINGTON, Aug. 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ --
Blackboard Inc. (NASDAQ: BBBB), a global leader in education
technology, today announced two new client agreements that extend
Blackboard Connect(TM) services to the Caribbean for the first
time. Inter-American University in Puerto Rico and the American
University of Antigua will now be able to send urgent news and
important information - within minutes - to students and staff to
keep them safe and informed. In Puerto Rico, Inter-American
University has been using the Blackboard Learn(TM) platform for six
years to provide instruction and education opportunities online,
helping to serve their population of 44,000 students across seven
unique campuses. The university has now expanded the agreement to
include the Blackboard Connect multi-modal communication platform,
enabling officials to quickly send voice, text and e-mail messages
to Inter-American students, teachers and staff. "It is a tremendous
relief to have the Blackboard Connect service in place for the
start of our new school year, which coincides with hurricane season
in Puerto Rico," said Manuel J. Fernos, President of Inter-American
University. "We are now able to notify students and staff instantly
about urgent news such as campus closures. In addition, we can
promote new class openings, campus activities and registration
deadlines to help ensure our students' academic success." American
University of Antigua (AUA) is another school that discovered
Blackboard Connect through its experience with the Blackboard Learn
platform, which helps to bridge the distance from the physical
campus for medical students participating in residency programs
abroad who need to engage with professors and stay on course with
the curriculum. AUA will also integrate the Blackboard Connect
platform as an important part of its campus-wide communication
plan. The school will be able to reach students and the community
with notices and instruction surrounding hurricane and tropical
storm warnings, as well as volcanoes and earthquakes that are not
uncommon in the area. Blackboard Connect also offers geo-targeting
technology so that notifications can be sent to special groups to
quickly address a specific need, without unnecessary disruption to
the entire campus. Last year, states, cities and schools
nationwide, including Houston Independent School District,
successfully used the Blackboard Connect platform to send more than
87 million messages to residents, students, parents and staff from
August 15 to October 15, during the height of hurricane season.
"Houston Independent School District used Blackboard Connect to
update faculty members and parents on a regular basis, keeping them
connected to what the district was facing during the storm and then
helping everyone get back on schedule throughout recovery," said
Abelardo Saavedra, Superintendent of Houston Independent School
District. In New Orleans, officials of St. Charles Parish Public
Schools are also living proof the Blackboard Connect platform is
powerful support in the face of a hurricane or other urgent
situations. In August 2005, as the area started to flood from
Hurricane Katrina, the school was able to send a message to 31,000
phone numbers with just one click of a button. Over the next 13
days, the school sent 279,863 calls to parents, teachers and staff
to help keep the community informed and directed toward safety. "I
truly believe in Blackboard Connect because I lived through
Hurricane Katrina using the system," said Rochelle
Cancienne-Touchard, Public Information Officer for St. Charles
Parish Public Schools. "The service allowed us to get important
messages out quickly and reliably, providing tremendous comfort to
all our stakeholders. You simply can't put a value on that." For
more information about Blackboard Connect solutions, please visit
http://www.blackboard.com/Alert-Notification/Connect-Platform.aspx.
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
August 6, 2009 with the SEC. In addition, the forward-looking
statements included in this press release represent the Company's
views as of August 19, 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
August 19, 2009. DATASOURCE: Blackboard Inc. CONTACT: Matthew
Maurer of Blackboard Inc., +1-202-463-4860, ext. 2637, Web Site:
http://www.blackboard.com/Alert-Notification/Connect-Platform.aspx
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