Blackboard's Social Bookmarking Service, Scholar, Enables Global Information Sharing Across Academia
Users Can Connect and Share Resources Across Institutions and RegionsWASHINGTON, DC, Sep 25, 2007 (MARKET WIRE via COMTEX News Network) -- Blackboard Inc. (NASDAQ: BBBB), a leading provider of enterprise
software for the education industry, today announced that faculty and
students at academic institutions spanning more than 20 countries are
connecting and sharing resources through Scholar(R), Blackboard's
social bookmarking service. Customized for education, Scholar is
fully integrated into the Blackboard Learning System(TM). It provides
a targeted, innovative way for users to store online bookmarks, as
well as share resources and expertise with peers and colleagues
across institutions located around the world.
"If you're working on the Web, of course you've got external links,"
said Kate Boardman, e-Learning Manager of the Centre for Learning and
Quality Enhancement at the University of Teeside (UK). "Think what
rich resources you have in your Favourites. What if you could share
these collected starting points with your students? And hey, wouldn't
it be magic if you could describe, tag and search these resources?
You can. That's how we've moved from where we were before by
incorporating Scholar."
Launched in February 2007, Scholar is built on the principles of Web
2.0, delivering cutting-edge functionality through a rich user
interface. It enables users to organize and manage their own
collection of online educational resources they find valuable, share
them among other Scholars and discover more relevant and valuable
resources through them. It is also integrated directly into the
Blackboard(R) course environment, allowing instructors to supplement
course material with rich, dynamic information, while also enabling
students to contribute to the course content.
"The great benefit of Scholar is the integration into your Blackboard
course," said Willem van Valkenburg, e-Learning Technology Consultant
at the University of Technology, Netherlands. "Scholar enables
students to easily share their online discoveries and those they find
from other Scholar users across the globe, with the rest of the
(students in the) course."
Scholar recently incorporated new social networking functionality so
that users can connect in new ways and build relationships and
networks within the site. With this new functionality, users can
create and manage networks of Scholar Friends, Scholar Favorites and
Scholar Fans to share information and resources.
"Before Scholar, the academic community didn't have an efficient way
to share information with each other unless they had a formal
established relationship outside of the teaching and learning
environment. Now, educators, administrators and students can easily
share information and develop new relationships with others who have
similar interests around the world," said Michael Chasen, President
and CEO of Blackboard. "The global connectivity Scholar encourages
and facilitates will significantly deepen and improve the sharing of
educational information by teachers and learners everywhere."
Scholar is the first offering from the Blackboard Beyond
Initiative(TM), announced in 2006. A series of centrally-hosted Web
properties, the Blackboard Beyond Initiative leverages Web 2.0
technologies to empower the Blackboard(R) community with innovative
tools to pioneer the next generation of teaching and learning.
Scholar is available for Blackboard Learning System -- enterprise
clients at no cost and is delivered via a Blackboard Building
Block(TM) or Blackboard PowerLink(TM) found on the Behind the
Blackboard(TM) client support site. Scholar comes pre-installed with
Release 7.3 and higher of the Blackboard Learning System --
Enterprise License.
About Blackboard Inc.
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. With two product
suites, the Blackboard Academic Suite(TM) and the Blackboard Commerce
Suite(TM), Blackboard is 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.
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
Form 10-Q filed on August 7, 2007 with the SEC. In addition, the
forward-looking statements included in this press release represent
the Company's views as of September 25, 2007. 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 25, 2007.
Senior Manager Public Relations at Blackboard:
Melissa Chotiner
Blackboard Inc.
202-463-4860 ext. 2404
Email Contact
Media Contact:
Amy Storey
Fleishman-Hillard Inc.
202-828-8819
Email Contact
SOURCE: Blackboard Inc.
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