WASHINGTON, Sept. 6, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Blackboard Inc. BBBB today announced an upgraded integration for Blackboard Collaborate™ and Blackboard Learn™ 9.1 which significantly enhances the performance of the company's Web, video and voice conferencing platform within the latest release of its flagship learning management system. The integration enables users to create and experience virtual classes directly in their Blackboard Learn course.

With the integration, students, instructors and administrators can access all aspects of online learning – including virtual classes – within the same workflow, which can lead to greater adoption and a more dynamic learning experience. Students have access to live virtual sessions and recordings with a single click, and greater opportunity to interact in real time in social learning opportunities with peers and instructors. Teachers and administrators can save time by eliminating the need for multi-system training and streamlining administrative tasks.

"The new Blackboard Collaborate integrated with Blackboard Learn represents a significant leap forward for our user community, as it provides an improved interface and seamless access to all learning from a single, combined platform," says Tova Duby, senior manager for eLearning Platform Operations at Babson College. "The streamlined administrative workflows save our educators time, enabling them to focus on teaching and learning, while our students benefit from live, dynamic interaction in our online learning programs."

The integration gives greater control to instructors and administrators who can leverage the new interface to create live sessions in one click and configure settings to create a customized experience. Advanced administrative settings enable instructors to schedule multiple live sessions per course, set up sessions with telephony and Webcam options, pre-load virtual class content and designate moderators and outside guests.  

The fully-supported, Blackboard Collaborate™ Web Conferencing Building Block 3.0 for Blackboard Learn 9.1 joins a number of existing integrations available for earlier versions of Blackboard Learn.

"Blending the design principles of the Blackboard Learn platform with the user experience of the Blackboard Collaborate platform supports administrators by minimizing support and training costs," said Maurice Heiblum, president of Blackboard Collaborate. "We are excited to provide a solution that not only enhances the user experience, but also gives institutions a greater return on their technology investments."

In addition to the enhanced integration with Blackboard Learn, Blackboard Collaborate supports integrations with a wide range of learning management systems including Blackboard Learn ANGEL Edition®, WebCT®, Sakai, Moodle, Desire2Learn™, Pearson LearningStudio™ and Fronter™. The Blackboard Collaborate platform also includes an open Application Programming Interface (API) to support custom integrations and enhancements.

To learn more about Blackboard Collaborate, please visit http://www.blackboard.com/collaborate.

About Blackboard Inc.

Blackboard Inc. 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-K filed on February 18, 2011 and Form 10-Q filed on August 4, 2011 with the SEC. In addition, the forward-looking statements included in this press release represent the Company's views as of September 6, 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 September 6, 2011.

SOURCE Blackboard Inc.