Blackboard and LAMS International Unveil LAMS Building Block

WASHINGTON, DC, Jan 24, 2006 (MARKET WIRE via COMTEX News Network) -- Blackboard Inc. (NASDAQ: BBBB), a leading provider of technology to educational institutions and LAMS, the world's leading open source learning design system, today announced the availability of the LAMS Blackboard Building Block, a unique software application for designing, managing and delivering online collaborative learning activities. This new Building Block provides instructors with an intuitive drag and drop authoring tool for creating learning activities for students. Using the LAMS Building Block instructors can design individual tasks, small group activities and whole class activities then organize them in sequence for students to collaborate and learn.

The LAMS Building Block seamlessly integrates with Blackboard and is available for download, free of charge in the Blackboard Building Blocks catalogue 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 LAMS Building Block is a prime example of open source and Blackboard working together towards the common goal of enhancing education," said Matthew Pittinsky, Chairman of Blackboard. "This new tool clearly demonstrates that open source and corporate developed/supported software do not and should not be mutually exclusive of each other; but instead can work side by side to create an end result greater than the sum of the individual parts. It is tremendously exciting to work with LAMS to facilitate this kind of cutting edge functionality."

Nanyang Technological University in Singapore is the first academic institution to utilize this new tool.

"Our LAMS integration within Blackboard has enabled us to package our distance education offerings and provide more stimulating and engaging interaction," said Paul Gagnon, Senior Deputy Director of the Centre for Educational Development at Nanyang Techological University. "Lectures are videotaped, chunked, inserted within a LAMS activity and surrounded with a variety of interactive strategies. We are still in our infancy with this technology but are very excited about the vistas it opens."

Blackboard provides the e-Learning platform used by colleges and universities across the country and abroad. LAMS provides open source software for the education market across all sectors to design and deliver collaborative lessons over the Internet. Blackboard and LAMS together will provide greater convenience and easier access to educational resources to the members of academic institutions around the world.

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 LAMS

LAMS is a revolutionary new tool for designing, managing and delivering online collaborative learning activities. It provides teachers with a highly intuitive visual authoring environment for creating sequences of learning activities. These activities can include a range of individual tasks, small group work and whole class activities based on both content and collaboration.

LAMS International is the organisation that provides a range of services built around the LAMS software. These services include; technical support, hosting, training, integration and software development.

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 24, 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 24, 2006.

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

LAMS Contact:
Professor James Dalziel
Director of MELCOE and Inventor of LAMS

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

SOURCE: Blackboard Inc.