Connecting Your Campus, Expanding Your World
With different goals and different constituent needs, higher education institutions demand the flexibility to pick and choose the technologies that meet their e-learning objectives. Blackboard PowerLinks make it possible for institutions to incorporate innovative applications that interface with Blackboard's core services and tools.
Learn how you can:
- Leverage partner-developed PowerLinks
- Connect your own custom extensions
- Integrate your campus systems
- Preserve your investment in technology
Leverage partner-developed PowerLinks
Your institution can take advantage of a wide range of industry-leading applications, developed by members of the Blackboard Developers Network. Partners work closely with Blackboard to integrate and intertwine their learning applications with Blackboard's e-learning systems. Without having to spend time and effort on custom integration work, your institution can immediately leverage high-quality course authoring, synchronous communication, quizzing and assessment, and content management tools, all ready-to-use with the Blackboard platform.
For a list of Blackboard PowerLinks that are available today or are in development, visit our Blackboard PowerLinks Showcase.
Connect your own custom extensions
Does your institution require a unique, custom tool? Using the PowerLinks Kit, you can fully integrate your own custom applications (e.g., assessment, authoring, or communication tools) with Blackboard as though they were natively part of the platform. The PowerLinks Kit includes web services, Java interfaces and detailed documentation describing each interface, giving you a comprehensive, secure way to integrate powerful extensions into the Blackboard Vista environment.
Integrate your campus systems
With Blackboard PowerLinks, you can integrate your e-learning platform with commercial or homegrown campus systems - including student information systems, campus portals, library systems, and authentication schemes. Several technology partners in the Blackboard PowerLinks Network - including Datatel, SunGard, and PeopleSoft - have worked in close collaboration with Blackboard to develop PowerLinks to the Blackboard platform, facilitating the efficient transfer of data between their student information systems and Blackboard's e-learning systems. Your institution can also leverage PowerLinks technology to build your own custom integrations to the Blackboard platform.
Preserve your investment in technology
As you incorporate partner-developed PowerLinks, or build your own custom PowerLinks to meet the needs of faculty and staff on your campus, you can be confident that investment will be preserved over time. Blackboard PowerLinks technology includes web services and programming interfaces, designed to insulate partner-developed and institution-developed integration solutions from changes that are made to Blackboard's core e-learning platforms. As your institution upgrades to new versions of Blackboard, you won't have to spend significant time rewriting your integration solutions or application extensions - ensuring the longevity of your technology investment.
To learn more about Blackboard PowerLinks, download the Blackboard PowerLinks Fact Sheet (PDF).