{"id":4978,"date":"2015-08-11T10:00:06","date_gmt":"2015-08-11T09:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsletter.alt.ac.uk\/?p=4978"},"modified":"2015-08-11T10:00:06","modified_gmt":"2015-08-11T09:00:06","slug":"event-report-from-blackboard-world-2015-bbworld15","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/2015\/08\/event-report-from-blackboard-world-2015-bbworld15\/","title":{"rendered":"Event report from Blackboard World 2015 (#Bbworld15)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Change management is a phenomenon pretty much every individual in every workplace in the world must have experienced in the last decade or so, an attempt to control the impact of multiple changes and keep the business, whatever it may be, moving forward despite disruption. The pace of change – particularly technological change \u2013 has had unexpected consequences. The industrial, commercial, educational and social status quo are challenged. Change has become a constant, we need to be open to change to find our place in a new world order. This is a very interesting era for researchers as we observe the tectonic plates shifting and forming new landscapes around us.<\/p>\n

It was with my researcher hat on that I attended the Blackboard World 2015 (#Bbworld15) conference this year. Well, I virtually attended it. That is a first, the conference has traditionally been a US only affair with this educational technology giant focusing first on their home market. Not so this year, the keynotes are available for all who register online. I became a customer when Bb acquired Wimba, an education company that provided voice over the internet products, very helpful for language teaching. Their slogan \u201cPeople teach people\u201d was dear to my heart as it underlines that human relationships are central to learning. I was pleased to find that this ethos echoed through Jay Bhatt\u2019s (President and Chief Executive of Blackboard, former teacher) keynote. His commitment to learner success was self-evident, going beyond revenue generation to social contribution \u2013 giving back. This was a new tune to the edtech giant\u2019s song. Less brash and confident, more self-aware and humble.<\/p>\n

\"bbword15-1\"<\/p>\n

\u201cLearners are not satisfied by their learning experience\u201d he told us. In an era driven by the importance of the student experience, we are all well aware of the possible consequences of such judgements. He stood before us openly admitting that Blackboard had taken their eye off the changing dynamic of \u201cnew learners\u201d \u2013 there are no \u201ctraditional learners\u201d, anyone who accesses education expects to learn on the go, wants accessibility and interaction at the heart of an engaging learning experience. The Blackboard tool suite has been redesigned from the ground up to offer a seamless experience, connecting students, teachers, communities and support staff. The redesign was informed using an applied ethnographic research approach which involved listening and empathising with the end user.<\/p>\n

\"bbword15-2\"<\/p>\n

OK, so that\u2019s good then. However, I\u2019m sure that many would remain sceptical of the motives of a commercial giant such as Blackboard. There were more surprises to come however. A central role for the recently acquired Moodlerooms<\/a>, putting the open source Moodle project on stage in the keynote, confirming Blackboard research and development expertise as a partner in developing learning for all. The \u201cUltra\u201d experience was shown live-browser based (java free) it \u00a0is already available for both Blackboard Learn 9.1 and Moodlerooms customers, more LTI compliant environments will also be supported , additional features are being released as they become available. There\u2019s no doubt that webRTC standards<\/a> are central to Ultra, \u00a0recordings will generate in mp4 format with development under way to provide non-proprietary video output formats which capture the rich media experience of Blackboard Collaborate, a trusted and robust distance learning environment.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s never easy to turn a large ocean liner on a sixpence but here was evidence of a determination to manage change whilst retaining a commitment to high quality, robust technology. The messages were consistent throughout the conference and, as a customer, I am pleased to say that the promised changes are being delivered in keeping with the timeframe I was given. I think it takes a deal of courage to reflect and change. No doubt a not insignificant allocation of resources is needed to deliver a new vision. When this giant says it is willing to be a catalyst for change in improving our education system for all we can be pleased that we have scale and experience on our side. The new landscape that is emerging is more interconnected than ever and as such is better placed to cope with the challenges we face.<\/p>\n

Tweets from the conference are curated here.<\/a><\/p>\n

See also http:\/\/www.wired.com\/2015\/07\/blackboard-reinvention\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Teresa MacKinnon, Principle Teaching Fellow, Language Centre, University of Warwick
\nt.MacKinnon@warwick.ac.uk (@warwicklanguage<\/a>)<\/p>\n

If you enjoyed reading this article we invite you to join the Association for Learning Technology (ALT) as an individual member, and to encourage your own organisation to join ALT as an organisational or sponsoring member<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Change management is a phenomenon pretty much every individual in every workplace in the world must have experienced in the last decade or so, an attempt to control the impact of multiple changes and keep the business, whatever it may be, moving forward despite disruption. The pace of change – particularly technological change \u2013 has […]","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4980,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[68,8],"tags":[709,1021],"class_list":["post-4978","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-conference-reviews","category-reviews","tag-bbworld15","tag-teresa-mackinnon"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2015\/07\/bbword15-1.jpg?fit=600%2C300&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1645,"url":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/2012\/06\/blackboard-conference\/","url_meta":{"origin":4978,"position":0},"title":"Blackboard Teaching and Learning Conference 2012","author":"ALT","date":"8 June 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"A review of the Blackboard Teaching and Learning Conference which took place between 23-25 April 2012 in Antwerp, Belgium.","rel":"","context":"In "Conference reviews"","block_context":{"text":"Conference reviews","link":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/category\/reviews\/conference-reviews\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Photo of Antwerp Centraal","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2012\/05\/antwerp.jpg?fit=640%2C478&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2012\/05\/antwerp.jpg?fit=640%2C478&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2012\/05\/antwerp.jpg?fit=640%2C478&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1576,"url":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/2012\/06\/blackboard-collaborate\/","url_meta":{"origin":4978,"position":1},"title":"Using Blackboard Collaborate 11 to deliver a global online conference","author":"ALT","date":"8 June 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Simon Kear reports on and evaluates the use of the Blackboard Collaborate 11 virtual classroom for delivering the Follow the Sun 2012 conference.","rel":"","context":"In "Featured"","block_context":{"text":"Featured","link":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/category\/featured\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Professor John Fothergill delivering his keynote via Collaborate","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2012\/05\/fts-collaborate.jpg?fit=606%2C467&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2012\/05\/fts-collaborate.jpg?fit=606%2C467&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2012\/05\/fts-collaborate.jpg?fit=606%2C467&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":212,"url":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/2015\/04\/webinar-recording-a-preview-of-oer15-mainstreaming-open-education\/","url_meta":{"origin":4978,"position":2},"title":"Webinar Recording: A Preview of OER15: Mainstreaming Open Education","author":"ALT","date":"10 April 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"This session will provide a preview of the OER15 Conference, due to take place in\u00a0Cardiff on 14-15 April 2015. 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