WASHINGTON, May 16, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Blackboard Inc.
(Nasdaq: BBBB) today announced full support for Common Cartridge
1.1, making Blackboard Learn™, Release 9.1 the
first learning platform to support the newest version of a key
industry standard that makes it easier for instructors to share
educational content and resources.
Blackboard received official certification for the new version
of Common Cartridge from the IMS Global Learning Consortium in
April. Support for Common Cartridge includes full import and export
support for Basic Learning Tools Interoperability (Basic LTI).
Blackboard previously announced full support for Common Cartridge
1.0 and Basic LTI in January.
The announcement marks another key milestone in Blackboard's
work to establish a more open platform for teaching and learning
and to give clients and users greater choice and flexibility in the
use of course tools and content. The company plans to continue
support for each standard going forward. Blackboard is also the
only major education-focused provider of learning management
technology to offer clients open access to its platform system
database and detailed information on system activity that can help
improve overall performance and inform investments in technology
and training.
"We're excited to be the first to deliver on this new standard
and to provide another example of our commitment to standards and
execution in support of our clients and users," said Ray Henderson, President of Blackboard Learn and
a member of the IMS Global board of directors. "We thank IMS Global
for their leadership and partnership and renew our call for other
organizations and providers to join us in supporting and adopting
these standards to ensure greater benefit to users of education
technology."
With Common Cartridge, educators and instructional designers can
use learning tools and content across various learning platforms to
promote greater sharing of content and resources across the global
teaching and learning community. With Basic LTI, clients have more
choices for integrating external learning tools within Blackboard
Learn courses, and publishers can develop high quality content that
can be distributed to the teaching and learning community more
easily.
"It's very clear that Blackboard is committed to supporting open
standards at the core of their products based on their leadership
in implementing Common Cartridge 1.1," said Dr. Rob Abel, Chief Executive of IMS Global. "We are
definitely seeing the beginning of a new phase in the marketplace
where open standards are now becoming the de facto and default
option for educational content and the educational enterprise for
the benefit of educators, students, and administrators – and
Blackboard is playing a major role in helping to make this
happen."
In addition to supporting Basic LTI, Blackboard adopted the
standard in its work with McGraw-Hill Higher Education to launch a
combined course solution that represents the deepest integration of
an education publisher's content and tools in a learning platform.
The work represents the first commercial scale implementation of an
open education standard, offering a significantly streamlined
workflow for instructors and students.
For more information about Blackboard Learn, please visit
http://blackboard.com/Platforms/Learn/Overview.aspx. For more
information about IMS Global Learning Consortium, please visit
http://www.imsglobal.org/.
About Blackboard Inc.
Blackboard Inc. (Nasdaq: BBBB) is a global leader in enterprise
technology and innovative solutions that improve the experience of
millions of students and learners around the world every day.
Blackboard's solutions allow thousands of higher education, K-12,
professional, corporate, and government organizations to extend
teaching and learning online, facilitate campus commerce and
security, and communicate more effectively with their communities.
Founded in 1997, Blackboard is headquartered in Washington, D.C., with offices in North America, Europe, Asia
and Australia.
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 Form 10-Q filed on May
9, 2011 with the SEC. In addition, the forward-looking
statements included in this press release represent the Company's
views as of May 16, 2011. 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
May 16, 2011.
SOURCE Blackboard Inc.