Schools, Universities Rely on Blackboard for Education Continuity
30 Settembre 2009 - 3:00PM
PR Newswire (US)
E-Learning, Mass Notification Help Keep Teaching and Learning Going
WASHINGTON, Sept. 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- At George Washington
University (GW) in Washington, D.C., e-learning has long been a
central part of the school's plan for education continuity.
Prompted by concerns over the H1N1 flu, GW officials have now
stepped up preparedness efforts -- much like their counterparts at
schools and universities nationwide --according to Blackboard Inc.
(NASDAQ:BBBB), a global leader in education technology. Having
already set minimum e-learning competency standards for faculty and
staff, GW has now launched a series of workshops in partnership
with Blackboard consultants to give staff the chance to gain more
confidence in the key areas of holding classes online: posting
course materials, creating assignments and using communication
tools like discussion boards and forums. "The Blackboard platform
is a core component of our academic continuity preparedness plan,
which makes sense since so many use it on a daily basis," said
Yordanos Baharu, Director of GW's Instructional Technology Lab.
"Part of what we're doing in training is getting faculty to think
about Plan B. With this plan, we're confident that we can mitigate
potential disruptions and provide students and faculty the support
they need to continue teaching with Blackboard's system." "Across
our community of practice, we're seeing a great deal of work to
leverage e-learning and mass notification technologies in response
to H1N1," said Michael Chasen, President and CEO of Blackboard.
"But much of that work is not new, nor is it limited to H1N1. In
many cases, it builds on efforts by school and university officials
to develop broader preparedness and continuity plans that center on
key technologies that already touch students, staff and parents
every day." Earlier this year, officials at Clear Creek Independent
School District near Houston, Texas communicated regular updates on
H1N1 to students, parents and staff using the Blackboard
Connect(TM) mass notification technology. The outreach helped to
prevent the spread of false information and assured the school
community that no cases of H1N1 had been reported. "To be able to
reach 37,000 students and their families in a matter of minutes --
in our superintendent's own voice -- is a very powerful
capability," said Chad Stevens, Chief Technology Officer at Clear
Creek. "That would have been impossible before. Now we know that if
something happens we can get the right information out and keep our
customers at ease. We put a lot of systems in place to communicate
and keep students caught up, and Blackboard Connect and Blackboard
Learn(TM) are a big part of that." Clear Creek officials have also
applied lessons learned during hurricanes to the present concern
over H1N1. Last year, when Hurricane Ike shut down the district for
nearly two weeks, teachers and students leveraged online learning
to avoid missing academic targets for the year thanks to the
ability to communicate and complete assignments even while school
buildings were closed. "We would not have reached all of our
academic goals without hard working teachers who were able to use
Blackboard technology to do more work in less time," said Stevens.
"Going forward, we know we can keep kids from falling behind
despite absenteeism we may see due to H1N1 or other issues. We can
continue the business of education without interruption." Across
the globe, universities in Asia have used Blackboard technology for
years to enable schools and universities to deal with pandemic
situations. In response to the SARS and Avian influenza outbreaks,
Singapore's Nanyang Technological University (NTU) launched a
preparedness program in 2005 that includes closing segments of its
35,000 student campus for one week at a time each year to help
faculty and students be better prepared for what might happen
during a real emergency. During "E-Learning Week," instructors
communicate lesson plans that enable students to interact online,
complete assignments and tests and follow video lectures. Progress
is monitored by faculty and university officials, and in addition
to supporting uninterrupted academic work, the plan can help
prevent the spread of infection or illness by limiting physical
contact or proximity. "With pandemic events it's not if, but when,"
said Daniel Tan, Director of the Centre for Educational Development
at NTU. "What we're trying to achieve is learning continuity. Our
plan allows university officials to close the campus with a high
level of confidence that education operations can continue
successfully online. We're more prepared each time we do it, and we
can make the transition without panic, ensuring a comfortable and
routine change of learning mode." According to Tan, NTU's
E-Learning Week initiative helps go beyond preparedness to promote
the general use of technology in teaching and learning. Students
have responded positively to the ability afforded them by online
learning to work independently and at their own pace, prompting
some to call for the program to expand to cover additional weeks,
or even months. For more information about Blackboard solutions
that support education continuity, please visit
http://blackboard.com/Company/Education-Continuity.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 September 30, 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
September 30, 2009. DATASOURCE: Blackboard Inc. CONTACT: Matthew
Maurer, Blackboard Inc., +1-202-463-4860 ext. 2637, Web Site:
http://www.blackboard.com/
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