e-Learning Software Developers Gather for Fourth Annual Blackboard Building Blocks Conference

WASHINGTON, DC, Jul 24, 2006 (MARKET WIRE via COMTEX News Network) -- Software developers and system administrators from around the world gather this week for the Fourth Annual Blackboard Building Blocks Developers Conference at the Washington Marriott. Blackboard Inc. (NASDAQ: BBBB) hosts the conference each year to support an open community of developers and the creation of Blackboard Building Blocks(TM), innovative tools and software that extend Blackboard's e-Learning platform. This is the first year Blackboard is hosting an Open Source Day workshop, for which attendance has sold out. This workshop will be delivered by the Blackboard Open Source Developers Group, a community of developers dedicated to creation and use of open source Blackboard Building Blocks.

Millions of people around the world use The Blackboard Academic Suite(TM), an e-Learning platform, to access educational materials and resources at any time and from any location. Blackboard Building Blocks are custom built in-house applications, open-source extensions and other third-party applications which extend the Blackboard(R) e-Learning platform. The central source for discovering and downloading these extensions is the online Building Blocks Catalog, featuring more than 160 applications -- more than a third of which are free of charge or available as open source.

Blackboard President and CEO Michael Chasen will deliver the conference keynote, "e-Learning 2.0," at 9 am on Tuesday, July 25th. This presentation will be followed by two days of sessions from clients and Blackboard developers, engineers and executives about all aspects of Blackboard Building Blocks technology. Examples include innovative ways of using Ajax for development, WSRP, disaster recovery, handling hackers integrating custom tools, and much more.

"With more than 1,000 client and commercial members, the Blackboard Developer Network is one of the largest developer networks for an e-Learning platform," said Michael Chasen, president and CEO of Blackboard. "The Blackboard Building Blocks community and program demonstrates our commitment to work with open-source and third party technologies. This means clients can customize their e-Learning programs with confidence that the mission critical core of their platform will remain secure and supported by Blackboard."

On-site registration for the conference is still open. For more information visit https://www.mra-services.com/BBReg/2006/bbdw/BlackboardLookup.asp

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. Blackboard solutions are 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. WebCT is a wholly owned subsidiary of Blackboard Inc.

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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 Annual Report on Form 10-Q filed on May 10, 2006 with the SEC. In addition, the forward-looking statements included in this press release represent the Company's views as of July 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 July 24, 2006.

Senior Manager Public Relations at Blackboard:
Melissa Chotiner
Blackboard Inc.
202-463-4860 ext. 2404
Media Contact, Fleishman-Hillard:
Amy Storey
Fleishman-Hillard Inc.
+1 202 828-8819

SOURCE: Blackboard Inc.