Podcast My Class! Tegrity and Blackboard Bring Enhanced Podcasting to Colleges and Universities Nationwide

SANTA CLARA, CA AND WASHINGTON, DC, Jan 04, 2006 (MARKET WIRE via COMTEX News Network) -- Tegrity, a worldwide leader in student achievement systems, and Blackboard Inc. (NASDAQ: BBBB), a leading provider of technology to educational institutions, are making it possible for college students to watch and listen to class lectures on their iPods at any time and from any location. Through Tegrity(R) Campus enterprise software and the Blackboard Learning System(TM), recorded instruction from every class can now be automatically converted to enhanced podcasts for students to review later.

The Tegrity Campus enterprise software seamlessly integrates with Blackboard, and includes a Blackboard Building Block(TM), described and available for download at http://www.blackboard.com/extend/b2/. Blackboard Building Blocks are third party applications which enable academic institutions to extend and customize their Blackboard(R) application. The Tegrity Campus Blackboard Building Block enables institutions to automatically capture, store and index every class on campus for later replay by every student. The on-demand content is accessible through Blackboard on any computer, and is now available on iPods as well. Each podcast is automatically indexed and enhanced with instructor audio, slides and annotations from class, making it much more engaging than audio-only podcasts.

El Centro College of the Dallas (TX) County Community College District is the first Blackboard enterprise client to adopt Tegrity enhanced podcasting. Tuck Minnett, El Centro's Director of Distance Learning, says that "iPods are everywhere and their portability is becoming an inevitable part of education's future. Our students are now able to reinforce their learning while on the way to school, work, home or just juggling their busy schedules."

Blackboard provides the e-Learning platform used by colleges and universities across the country and abroad. For more than a decade, Tegrity's technology has enabled educational institutions to automatically record every class on campus and deliver them online for students to access. Together Blackboard and Tegrity will enable greater access to educational resources and content providing significant convenience and flexibility to the members of academic institutions around the world.

How Tegrity's Blackboard Building Block Works - Podcasts Automatically Created from Class

Tegrity Podcast setup starts at the beginning of the semester as the Tegrity Campus Blackboard Building Block adds a podcast subscription button in every Blackboard course and sends a personalized email to students with a one-click link for subscribing to their podcasts using iTunes.

During class, instructors press one button to start and stop recording and the software automatically creates visual podcasts broken down by chapter, that are automatically uploaded after class to the right place on the Tegrity Server. The Tegrity Campus Blackboard Building Block component uses information already available in the Blackboard Learning System to automatically catalogue the recordings by course. While listening to their podcasts, students can easily navigate to specific parts (chapters) of their class and get right to the information they need.

Blackboard administrators and other stakeholders in the institution can use the Tegrity Campus governance component to track usage, observing how students effortlessly take advantage of more instruction hours without burdening institution staff.

About Blackboard

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 and Asia.

Blackboard

Educate. Innovate. Everywhere.

About Tegrity

Since 1995, Tegrity has provided award-winning products that improve learning and increase enrollment at over 350 educational institutions. The ground-breaking new Tegrity Campus student achievement system is designed to be deployed institution-wide and used by every student. With Tegrity Campus, institutions automatically capture every class and deliver it online in-sync with optional students' hand written notes. At any time, students can replay entire classes from Blackboard; on their iPods; or by clicking on their digital notes to recall key moments. It reinforces learning with time-saving, flexible ways to learn and study, boosting retention and graduation rates. Tegrity Campus integrates governance tools to ensure a measurable impact on students, faculty, and program utilization. Tegrity is based in Santa Clara, California with regional offices throughout the United States. www.tegrity.com

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 Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed on November 7, 2005 with the SEC. In addition, the forward-looking statements included in this press release represent the Company's views as of January 4, 2006. 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 January 4, 2006.

Blackboard Public Relations Manager:
Melissa Chotiner
Blackboard Inc.
202-463-4860 ext. 2404

Media Contact:
Dan Baum
DBC Public Relations Experts
202-298-7600 ext. 205

SOURCE: Blackboard Inc.