Blackboard Announces Program, Keynote for BbWorld(R)
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.
SOURCE Blackboard Inc.
-0- 04/27/2009
/CONTACT: Matthew Maurer of Blackboard Inc., +1-202-463-4860 ext. 2637,
matthew.maurer@blackboard.com/
/Web Site: http://www.blackboard.com /
(BBBB)
CO: Blackboard Inc.; BbWorld
ST: District of Columbia
IN: EDU HED STW CPR MLM
SU: TDS
PR
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