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RemoteLearner

Blackboard Canvas Desire2

Learn

Moodle

Rooms

Credly

Other

Mobile Abilities Readmore

LMS App

N/A

Faculty Grading App

N/A

Student App

N/A

ADA Compliance & Accessibility

Video Captioning

Read

more

Audio Transcription

Yes, viathird party

Same asabove

Compatibility

Innovations, Ratings &

Awards

Upgrades & Implementation of NewFeatures

Process

Timeline

Testing Before Release

Procedure

Training

Documentation

Tutorials

Feature Release Info.


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Face to Face Option

Product Improvement

Process

Web Meeting/Conferencing ReadMore

Webinar Online

Yes, viathird party

File sharing

Video Uploading

Diverse Meeting Roles

FERPA Safeguards Readmore

Verification Options

Internal

External Building Block Not

required

Metrics & Data

Course reporting

Student Activity Reporting

Options Blackboar

d

Canvas Desire2

Learn

Moodle

Rooms

System reporting Options

Intervention Reporting

Implementation

Implementation PlanDocument

Any Other Advantages


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Content Repositories

Provide informationregarding those that arenative or work within yoursystem

Competency Based Education

Systems to create andtrack competency basedlearning including anycapabilities relating tocustomized creation oflearning tracks fromexisting modules or assets


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LMS Review:

Additionalinsightneeded.

LMS: REMOTE LEARNER

Instructions: URL:We are interestedin your response indefining thefollowingcapabilities of yourhosted LMSproduct and

service.

CustomizedAdministrativeRole Capabilities

It is possible to customize any role within Moodle. However, the Administrative user

is a Super User with the ability to do anything on the site(Go Back)

Banner Integration

Yes, Moodle with integrate with Banner, Active Directory, LDAP and others.(Go

Back)

Single Sign OnAuthentication &Publisher Content

Both the Moodle LMS and Enterprise Learning Intelligence System (ELIS) work

with LDAP single sign-on authentication.

Publisher content works within the Moodle LMS.(Go Back)

CourseCartridges

Moodle handles publisher course cartridges provided in an .mbz file format.(Pearson, Cengage and McGraw Hill can all provide these file types).(Go Back)

LTI CompatibleLearning Apps

Moodle is LTI Compatible.(Go Back)

Social Learning

Groups

oodle allows for the creation of separate or visible groups that can be used in

ocial activities, as well as for instructor management.(Go Back)

Opt In

Link toFacebook,Twitter,LinkedIn, etc.

You can create links to anywhere within Moodle. Some themes have special

social media portions built in that make your site look professionally designed.(Go Back)

Discussion Feed

Moodle is founded on social constructivist pedagogy, which means there are

multiple discussion forums, as well as other activities that will allow for open

discussion among students. These options can be turned off and on at will.(Go

Back)

Avatars, Bio, orCustomizableProfiles

Moodle profiles allow users to upload any image they would like. The description

area allows for any additional information they would like to add, and custom

profile fields can be added quickly and easily.(Go Back)


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Internal/ExternalAccess or Sharing

Video & AudioMessaging

Moodle has the ability to capture video and/or audio utilizing plugins (e.g,

Kaltura or PoodLL).(Go Back)

Badges, StudentIncentives &Retention

Mozilla OpenBadges

Moodle supports the Mozilla Open Badges effort, and provides for awarding of

badges. (Go Back)

Credly

Moodle provides badges for award/certification. (Go Back)

Other

Mobile Abilities

Depending upon the theme chosen (some themes are inherently offer less

responsive web design than others), Moodle adapts to any device with which theuser chooses to view it. As such, any functionality within Moodle can be done

with any device. (Go Back)

LMS App

Faculty GradingApp

Student App

ADA Compliance &Accessibility

VideoCaptioning

Video captioning can be done with the Kaltura/CaptionSync integration tool.

(Go Back)

Audio

Transcription

Automatic audio transcription is not available within Moodle. (Go Back)

Compatibility

Moodle is Section 508 compliant, and adheres to other, stricter global standards

of compliance.(Go Back)

Innovations,Ratings &Awards

The Moodle LMS has received multiple awards over the last 10 years: Best

Learning Management System, Best Project for Educators, three Platinum and

one Gold award from the eLearning Guild, and many others.View the complete

list.(Go Back)

Upgrades &Implementation ofNew Features

Process The Moodle LMS development process includes four essential components thatoverlap. These sub-processes include 1) integration workflow in the Moodle

Issue Tracker; 2) stable maintenance cycles; 3) major release (upgrade) cycles;

4) new feature development.(Go Back)

Moodle Tracker

The Moodle [issue] Tracker provides up-to-date status reports for all bug fixes

and new features of Moodle. Moodle.org developers (and open-source

contributors) use a workflow that ensures that new code receives multiple

reviews before it is included into core Moodle code. Different stakeholder

Timeline

Testing BeforeReleaseProcedure
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groups perform these reviews--e.g., Developers, specific Component Leads,

Integration Reviewers, Testers, and Production Maintainers. The review process

itself encompasses four iterative stages before it is considered closed: 1) initial

development and peer review, 2) integration review and problem identification,

3) QA testing, and 4) production testing. At any time, the bug fix or feature

request work may return to the beginning stage, starting the process over again.

Stable Maintenance Cycles

Moodle releases regular updates of the stable version of the software to fix bugs

and other issues. After major version releases, minor updates (releases) will be

required. Version Moodle x.x.1 will occur approximately two months aftereach major release (e.g. 2.x). Moodle.org will then be another point release

approximately every two months after that.

Issue triage involves evaluating new issues, recording them, and identify if

issues should be fixed in the stable branch. At Moodle HQ two teams work on

FRONTEND issues (mostly related to user interface) and BACKEND issues(mostly related to APIs).

Scrum: At Moodle HQ, every three weeks, the FRONTEND and BACKEND teams

review the most urgent issues during a period known as a sprint. At the start of a

sprint there is a period of planning and estimation. Issues are given a relative

rank that is based on features including priority, security, Partner interest,

patches and votes. During the sprint, the team meets daily to discuss solutions

and progress, as well as to organize testing and peer reviews of code. The teams'

work is documented publicly in the tracker. Whenever a solution for an issue is

finished, it is submitted into to the standard integration workflow process

described above.

Major Release Cycles

Since Moodle 2.0, Moodle HQ releases major versions (e.g. 2.1, 2.2) every six

months in May and November. Each release can be different, but generally the

cycles follow a standard process: 1) defining the roadmap; 2) planning and

development; 3) testing; 4) sprints.

Roadmaps are defined based upon community wishes, third-party developments

and important issues within the existing code. Sometimes new features might be

based on earlier features, sometimes they may be something developed by a

third party that needs to be evaluated, and sometimes it might be somethingcompletely new.

Planning and development includes the FRONTEND and BACKEND teams,

employed at Moodle HQ, working on specifications of major new features for

approximately three to four weeks following a major release. The process of new

feature development is described below. When specifications are in place, new

code is developed during sprints and goes through the standard weekly

integration workflow described above.

Testing occurs during development. As new code is integrated, automated

testing is conducted at the code and interface levels, to make sure there are no


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regressions caused by new features. In the last month before the release, a

feature freeze is called (no new features can be added) and our QA team

performs manual functional testing of Moodle features. The current list of

functional tests is listed in the tracker in the MDLQA project. This list of tests is

extended as new features are added, but it is also being reduced as more

automated acceptance tests are developed.

At Moodle HQ, development takes place in sprints. The sprints are three-week

periods during which developers to focus on a fixed list of issues.

Once a major release has occurred from Moodle HQ, Remote-Learner conducts

its own testing and evaluating of the release with our own infrastructure and

approved plugin list. Remote-Learner generally releases the newest major

release between 90-120 days after the Moodle HQ release.(Go Back)

Training

Documentation

Moodle.org provides a vastly extensive documentation base, updatedcontinuously by both Moodle experts from Moodle.org, or the countless global

users who contribute to the documentation, debugging, and testing.(Go Back)

Tutorials

Moodle.org has many video tutorials available. In addition, Remote-Learner

offers Learning Spaces, 24/7, modular, online training that users can customize

for their specific set of needs. (Go Back)

Feature ReleaseInfo.

New release notes with each point release can be viewedhere.(Go Back)

Face to FaceOption

Two tools within Moodle allow for face to face scheduling. One module is called

Face-to-Face, the other is called Scheduler. (Go Back)

Product

ImprovementProcess

Moodle continuously updates their software. Remote-Learner releases a new

version approximately 90 days after Moodle HQ, to further the quality assuranceprocess, and ensure that any special code to client Moodle instances can be

seamlessly integrated.(Go Back)

WebMeeting/Conferencing

Webinar Online

Remote-Learner developed the integration for Moodle and Adobe Connect.

Adobe Connect provides the full functionality of a remote meeting space: web

conferencing, file sharing, video uploading and creation of meeting roles (e.g.,

participant, moderator, etc).(Go Back)

File sharing

Video Uploading

Diverse Meeting

Roles

FERPA Safeguards

VerificationOptions

The Moodle LMS works with Active Directory authentication login.(Go Back)

Internal

External Building Block

Metrics & Data
http://docs.moodle.org/dev/Moodle_2.6.3_release_noteshttp://docs.moodle.org/dev/Moodle_2.6.3_release_noteshttp://docs.moodle.org/dev/Moodle_2.6.3_release_noteshttp://docs.moodle.org/dev/Moodle_2.6.3_release_notes


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Coursereporting

Depending on the exact type of data and metrics you would like to obtain, Remote-

Learners ELIS product has a great deal of reporting functionality. In addition, there

are Moodle plugins for other reporting and analytics features such as Intelliboard,

Starfish Retention Solutions, Gizmo, and even a reporting tool called Configurable

Reports.(Go Back)

Student ActivityReportingOptions

SystemreportingOptions

InterventionReporting

Implementation

ImplementationPlan Document

Implementation for the Moodle LMS and/or Enterprise Learning Intelligence

System (ELIS) takes place with SmartStart, our concierge service for Moodle

onboarding. SmartStart personnel work with each client to determine the best

method of implementation and integration with existing data, business processand educational goals.(Go Back)

Any OtherAdvantages

Remote-Learner supports and provides services for Alfresco.There are a number of standard repositories which work with Moodle. The entire

http://docs.moodle.org/27/en/Repositoriesand includes google docs, flickr, pica

to name a few.(Go Back)

Provideinformationregardingthose that arenative or workwithin yoursystem

Moodle offers a variety of content repositories. There are many internal

repositories, as well as others that tie into third party systems such as GoogleDrive, Microsoft OneDrive, Dropbox, and others.(Go Back)

CompetencyBasedEducation

Systems tocreate andtrackcompetencybased learningincluding anycapabilitiesrelating tocustomizedcreation oflearning tracksfrom existingmodules orassets

Core Moodle has the ability to track progression based on criteria set at the

activity and resource level.(Go Back)
http://docs.moodle.org/27/en/Repositorieshttp://docs.moodle.org/27/en/Repositorieshttp://docs.moodle.org/27/en/Repositories


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LMS Review:

Additional insight

needed.

LMS: Blackboard Learn

Instructions: URL: www.blackboard.comWe are interested inyour response indefining the following

capabilities of yourhosted LMS product andservice.

Please check off if the feature is available and add a descriptio

of the feature(if needed) in the spaces below:

Customized AdministrativeRole Capabilities

COURSE OR ORGANIZATION USER ROLESThere are five Course User Roles: Instructor, Teaching Assistant,Course Builder, Grader, and Student.

Administrators can create custom roles based on any of thestandard roles shipped with the product. Standard and customroles can be made available to specific courses, and withconfigurable privileges. This flexibility focuses on separating, forexample, course builder privileges from instructor privileges, and iparticularly important for institutions with strict expectations about

the responsibilities of different types of staff.The privileges assigned to all teaching roles (standard or custom)can be enabled; or disabled using a privilege managementinterface. More than 100 privileges are available. As a result,users may be assigned granular permissions that closely align witwhat they are expected to do in Blackboard Learn. New roles arecreated from existing roles; and inherit their privileges by default.Following are the default roles that can be copied to make newroles: Course Builder/Organization Builder Grader/Grader Instructor/Leader

Teaching Assistant/AssistantIn addition to these course roles, Blackboard Learn also includes aGuest Role and an Observer Role. The Guest role allows thecourse instructor to designate resources that can be viewed by anindividual who is not a member of the course. For example, CCCDcan allow prospectivestudents to preview and evaluate a course without necessariproviding them the ability to modify the course contents or participain that course.The Observer role allows instructors to set access to the course foadvisors or other individuals responsible for observing a student in
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course. Observers can observe multiple students in each of thcourses in which they are enrolled from one central page.INSTITUTIONAL USER ROLESThe flexibility to tailor institutional roles within the system is madepossible by allowing the System Administrator to:

Customize existing System Roles Create new customized System Roles Copy existing System Roles Allow users to have more than one System RoleUser roles can be as general or as specific as the institutiondesires.For example, institutions can create the following general userroles: Student Faculty Administrator Alumni

Prospective StudentOr institutions can create highly customized user roles to furtherpersonalize the experience, such as: West Campus Undergraduate East Campus Undergraduate Undergraduate Faculty Medical School Student Medical School Faculty Recent Alumni Incoming FreshmanTailored content can then be delivered based on the individual'sdefined role within the institution. This level of customization

allows the school to deliver the right message to the right person athe right time.For example, institutions can:

Create specialized content to be delivered selectively tousers with defined roles, such as a Homecoming Weekendcalendar module forrecent alumni; Develop role-based tabs, such as an entire tab dedicatedsolely to orientation activities for incoming freshman; Create unique user experiences across consortia, multiplecampuses, system-wide implementations, or other instances ofshared Blackboard installations;

Enable or disable access to targeted content areas, such asrestricting student access to the Faculty Senate organization-site.

System administrators can create an unlimited number of newSystem Roles and selectively assign hundreds of AdministratorPanel and Control Panel privileges to them. For example, aninstitution might not allow anyone other than the System

Administrator to remove users, or might allow only certainadministrators to categorize courses.Furthermore, an institution might need to create roles that have acombination of administrative privileges and course/organization


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privileges; for example, instructional designers may managecourses from the Administrator Panel and also from within thecourse or organization Control Panel.Once the System Roles are defined, each Administrators view ofthe Administrator Panel and Control Panel will be specific to the

privileges of their System Roles. For example, a Help Deskemployee might have access to the Administrator Panel only tochange user passwords. An instructional designer might haveaccess to the Courses link on the Administrator Panel but berestricted to only the content areas of the course Control Panel, fodesigning course content. Users will only see those options thatare available to them in the Administrator Panel;options that are not available based on permissions do not appearINSTITUTIONAL HIERARCHY

Administrators can create and manage a hierarchy that reflectsinstitutional organization in order to share and delegateadministrative duties. Multiple organizational units within an

institution can be given varying degrees of independence in orderto manage their courses, organizations, and users. Institutions casupport multiple organizational units on a single instance ofBlackboard Learn. Administrators with appropriate privileges cancreate new Nodes in the hierarchy. Courses, organizations, andusers are then associated with the node, and an administrator canbe assigned with privileges to manage just those associatedobjects. Although Administrators can manually create Nodes andassociate objects through the user interface, all of the creation andmanagement of Nodes and the association of courses,organizations, and users to Nodes can be managed throughdata integration with the student information system.

Flexible System Roles can be used in combination with thehierarchy to create a robust delegated administration that reflectsthe real-world organization of any institution.USER RIGHTSTo further customize access to information in the Blackboard Learplatform, each user has a unique login name and password. Userlogin information can be centrally managed via single sign-on andauthentication applications. The login information identifies whothe user is and what portions of the community or communities thecan access. For example, a user logging in, a student can receive

One-click access to the courses and communities in whichthe user is involved;

Easy viewing of recent announcements related to theinstitution or to her specific courses and communities; Single-step access to information about her studentaccounts and registration information

The system administrators ability to define user roles and rightsprovides a contextually rich environment that delivers a uniqueexperience for each individual. Institutions can apply this level ofcustomization and personalization to accomplish strategicobjectives, such as increasing student, faculty, and staff retentionor forging closer relationships with parents, a lumni, and prospectivstudents. Additional features and functions include:


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Creation of unlimited customizable, institutionally-named portaroles

Creation of unlimited role-based tabs User-level customization capabilities

Special suite of tabs to display select information for users

not yet logged into Blackboard Context-passing functionality to create a seamless user

experiencewithin Blackboard and other Web-based services and sites. Foexample, when a student links form Blackboard to the libraryWebsite, the library Website recognizes the user as a studentregistered for certain classes and shows the bookson reserve for those classes.

(Go Back)

Banner Integration

The SIS Framework is a Building Block-extensible framework thatprovides common functionality to all integrations while facilitatingintegration creation, configuration, and management within the

Blackboard Learn Administrator Panel user interface. The principleis based on a separation of functionality. The SIS Frameworkprovides the UI-based create, configure, andoperation/maintenance capabilities, and the Integration Types(based on Building Blocks) provide the logic specific to each SISintegration type.This enables the SIS Framework to support a mix-and-matchapproach to integration while also enabling multiple instances of aintegration type.This provides a great deal of flexibility in building out SIS

integration solutions as it provides the ability to address integrationeeds from the simplest to the most complex.

An additional capability available to all integration types is on-the-fly damapping. This enables custom mapping of incoming data objects toBlackboard Learn data objects. This mapping ability allows you to applycustom scripts (JavaScript) to incoming data. In the case of the SnapshFlat File integration type, you can apply custom header mappings tomatch existing data formats to Blackboard formats.(Go Back)

Single Sign OnAuthentication & PublisherContent

The Blackboard Learn platform ships with several methods for enduser authentication, including: LDAP, Active Directory, andShibboleth. Comprehensive, documented programming interfacesallow customers to integrate the platform with other systems toimplement single-sign-on (SSO) environments. BlackboardConsulting also offers several standard and custom services to

implement a variety of SSO solutions. Any single sign-on solutiondeveloped for one application in the Blackboard Learn platform isapplicable to all applications in the platform. (Go Back)

Course Cartridges

Blackboard Learn is the only learning management system thatincludes out-of-the-box strategic integrations with leadingpublishers. These integrations, available through exclusivepartnering agreements, are based on Basic LTI and openstandards. While many other learning management systems will laclaim to integrating with digital content providers, no similar


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relationships exist among any publisher which provides integrationto this depth with a learning platform. CCC willbenefit from: Access to infinite content sources from around the world Ability to build and manage courses quickly and efficiently

Powerful learning tools that engage students more Opportunity to improve student outcomes by addressing varied

learning modalities Ability to easily exchange ideas and content with peersThe robust integrations Blackboard has with Cengage Learning,John Wiley and Sons, McGraw-Hill, and Pearson are the deepestdigital content LMS integrations available on the market today. Thuser experience also includes integrations with commercialpartners, individual content creators, shared courses, streamingservices, mash-ups, and open education sources such as CreativCommons. In addition, our approach enables faculty to choosewhich instructional materials are most applicable to their course.

Whether through digital content that has been peer- reviewed andcurated or user-generated video provided by Kaltura, Blackboardallows our partners in the content industry to remain LMS agnosticand focus on curriculum. Blackboard also supports the import ofCourse Cartridges, which are prepackaged, text- and discipline-specific digital content developed by leading educationalpublishers, delivering professional eLearning toolsand resources.Please visit the following link for additional information on CourseCartridges:http://www.blackboard.com/Partnerships/Extensions.aspx(Go Back)

LTI CompatibleLearning Apps

IMS LTI SUPPORTThe IMS has merged the Basic LTI and the LTI specifications withthe release of LTI 1.1. Use of the term Basic LTI refers to BasicLTI 1.0.Blackboard support for LTI 1.0 has not changed. The latest releasof Blackboard Learn 9.1 brings LTI 1.1 capabilities andconformance to the LTI 1.1 specification. IMS LTI specification,provides for simpler integration with tool providers, openingopportunities for third-party vendors and our clients to moreeasily deliver curricular and content tools to Blackboard Learn.Tools may be created and delivered remotely in a write -oncedeliver-to-many platform manner. Institutions may enhance extant

services as LTI providers, facilitating integration of services withBlackboard Learn wherever a tool URL or Building Block may beinstalled. Authorized users are able to easily add LTI links tocourses in a manner similar to how external URLs/links are added(Go Back)

LTI tool links are copied when a course is copied and a tool willinform
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the instructor if the links require updated permissions to access thtool.The link will appear in area of placement and is launched byclicking the

link.In sum, Blackboard offers import tools specifically designed forcourse designers to import or add content created in, or by,external sources. There are also standard content exportcapabilities within Blackboard Learn, including IMS CommonCartridge export. Commitment to and continued development ofthese industry standards allow for increasing portability andinteroperability between Blackboard Learn and external content an

tools.

Social Learning

Groups

The Groupstool allows instructors to organize students into groupof any size. Instructors can provide communication andcollaboration tools that only group members can access. Groupscan be created one at a time or in sets. Groups can be designatedas self-enroll which allows students to add themselves to a group,or manual enroll which allows the instructor to assign students to agroup.Blackboard Learn includes a wide variety of tools and

functionality to support students group work. New groups arecreated in four different methods: ManualGroup shells are created; instructor manuallyselects which students go into which group shell. Multiple GroupsGroup shells are created, andBlackboard randomly populates the shells with students fromthe class roster. Group Sign-Up SheetsGroup shells are created, via a

signup sheet, and the student selects the group he/shewould like to join.

Student-Created GroupsStudents may create their owngroups, without requiring the instructor to be involved, in order


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to take advantage of the robust group communication andcollaboration toolsprovided.

An unlimited number of Groups may be created tha t representproject teams, related lab assignments, or study groups.

GROUP TOOLSOnce created, each group has its own space in the course towork together. The instructor can allow individual groupmembers to personalize their group space with personalmodules, such as My Calendar and What's New. The instructocan enable an assortment of tools to help students collaboratTools that can be made available to a group include: Blogs: In the group area, all members of a group cancreate entries for the same blog, building upon one another. Anycourse member can read and comment on a group blog, butcannot make entries if they are not a member of the group.Instructors can select the grade option for group blogs.

Collaboration: Users within the group can create andattend chat sessions and virtual classroom sessions. Discussion Board: Users within the group can create andmanage their own forums. Email: Users within the group can email individualmembers or the entire group. File Exchange: Group members and the instructor canshare files in this area. All members, as well as the instructor,can add files. They can also delete files, regardless of whoadded them. Journals: When used in the group area, all members of agroup can view each other's entries, but the group journal can

only be viewed by the group and the instructor. Instructors canselect the grade option for journals. Tasks: Users within the group can create tasks that are

distributed to all group members. Wikis: Users within the group can edit their group wiki. Alstudents within the course can view a group wiki. The instructocan view and edit a group wiki and can select the grade optionfor group wikis.When selecting to create a Blog, Journal, and Wiki for thegroups, the instructor can choose to make those group toolsgraded and reflected as grades in the Grade Center.When creating an assignment with the Blackboard Assignment

tool, the teacher can assign assignments to each student or ascollaborative work to groups. When using groups, it is possibleto give the assignment to select groups or to all groups. Groupassignments receive a single grade, or the instructor maychoose to grade each student individually.(Go Back)


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Opt In

Our proposed solution has been architected to optimizecustomization, interoperability, scalability, and role flexibility. Withthe technology skills of todays educator in mind, our enterprisefeatures under pin a suite of teaching and learning tools which aredesigned to enhance classroom instruction or deliver Web-basedinstruction. Using the single interface shown in the followingpicture, System Administrators have the ability to turn features,tools, and system components on as they are required withoutcompromising the rest of the system.

(Go Back)


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Link to Facebook,Twitter, LinkedIn,etc.

Yes. When creating a Blackboard profile, the user can choosebring in basic information (avatar, email, about me) from herFacebook or Twitter account. Users may also choose to add a linkto their Facebook or Twitter profile within their Blackboard profile,to allow colleagues and peers to easily access and connect to the

through these popular social networking tools.(Go Back)

Discussion Feed

DISCUSSION FORUMSThe Blackboard solution offers a discussion tool that allowsinstructors and learners to create, view, manage, and readdiscussion board topics and threads. Graded discussion boardsare linked to the Grade Center but graded in -line, so that theinstructor may view contributor content in context.The following picture shows a sample discussion forum.

Hyperlinks, graphics and graphic files, video fi les, multi-media fileand document files can all be attached to a discussion thread.Discussion board threads can be sorted by topic, author and date.Each discussion thread allows searching capabilities andBlackboards discussion threads are easily managed with the tooloptions. With the Blackboard platform, discussion threads can becreated at the course level and at the organizational level school -wide. In courses, teachers can establish group areas that providethe discussion capabilities to groups of learners collaborating on

joint projects or assignments. The discussion board features offer Create an unlimited number of forumsinstructors can create

distinct set of properties to allow for various pedagogicalapproaches to managing interaction. Manage participation in forumsUsers can sort messagesby thread, author, date, or subject; track read and unreadmessages; and collect multiple messages on one page for easreading, comparison, and printing.

Manage forums by assigning students administrativeresponsibilities.(Go Back)


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Lock messages so the messages can be viewed but notmodified or replied to, and creating archives of past messages Group Forumscreate groups of students for collaborativework and enable protected discussion boards and fileexchanges for each group.

Forum and Thread gradingGrade settings are available toinstructors when creating or modifying a forum. Grading the

forum or an individual thread allows instructors to turn gradingon or off for each new thread. Graded discussion boards arelinked to the Grade Center but graded in -line, so that theinstructor may view contributor content in context.

Discussion Board statisticsUsage statistics are availablethroughout the Discussion Board, such as number of unreadposts or total number of participants in a forum Post ratingPost rating can be enabled for any forumallowing users to rate posts in the forum on a scale of one tofive stars. If enabled, the rating functionality will be displayed tall users anywhere a post is displayed, including the view of apost in a thread and on the

Collections page, which is the page that displays all collectedposts.


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Forum copyAllows instructors to copy forums to the sameDiscussion Board or to another Discussion Board in the course Save Postsall users can save posts as drafts, allowingthem to work on a post in more than one Blackboard sessionuntil the post is ready for publishing. Access throughout the

course for learners and teachers All Posts on One Page and Instructor Highlighting - All of thposts in a thread are visible at the same time on one page.Posts also contain the users course role and forum role. Inline Replies - When replying to a post, the content editorused to write a response appears on the same page, in thecontext of the discussion.

Post FirstAllows instructors to require students to post to adiscussion before seeing other students posts

Users can receive notifications about any unread Discussion postson their home screen or via email; these notifications include linksdirectly to the new post. With Blackboard Mobile Learn, users canread Discussion posts and interact with classmates by postingcomments on their blogs or responding to comments on their own,directly from their mobile device.(Go Back)

Avatars, Bio, orCustomizableProfiles

PROFILESThe Profiles feature within Blackboard Learn allows each user tocreate a rich profile to identify him- or herself in Blackboard Learn

Profiles are available with Course Delivery only, but greatlyenhanced with the addition of the Community Engagement licenseWith Course Delivery, Profiles require the Cloud Profiles and Toolto be enabled through the Cloud Management settings on theSystem Administration panel. If enabled, the Profile tool will beavailable in My Blackboard, a basic Profile Card (with Avatar,Name, Nickname, About Me and academic discipline) will displayin the appropriate areas of the system, and the People tool willallow discovery of users within the college. When a user first logsin, they will be automatically prompted to create a Profile via theoverlay. If the user chooses to defer creation, they will continue to


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be prompted at log in, unless they check the "Don't show me thisprompt again" option. If they do that, they can still createtheir profile later by going through the Profile option in the GlobalNavigation.With Community Engagement installed, and both the Cloud Profile

/Tools and Social Profiles/Tools enabled, the Profile capability isgreatly enhanced. Because the Profile is cloud-based, a user canpresent the same Profile across multiple Blackboard instances.Once created, the user can access and edit his or her profilethrough the Global Navigation.The Profile feature includes:

Avatar: the institution can choose to display the local LearnAvatar (which might have been auto-populated by the institutioor added to Blackboard Learn by the user) in the Profile ordisplay the Avatar the user has uploaded to the cloud -basedProfile. Profile Card vs. Full Profile View : In many places where a

user's name is displayed (e.g. Discussion Boards, Blogs,Spaces, etc.), when a user hovers their mouse over anotheruser's name, they'll see a Profile Card:

The Profile Card is a brief overview of the user -- a condensed

version of the full Profile. With just Course Delivery and the cloudenabled, the Profile Card will only show the Avatar, Name,Nickname, About Me and academic discipline. With CommunityEngagement and the cloud + social tools enabled, the Profile Cardwill also show interest tags, the link to view the full profile, andthe links to Follow, Block, Report, or Message a user. Viewing thefull Profile is only available with Community Engagement.By clicking on the "View Profile" link in the Profile Card, a user canaccess another user's full Profile:


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(Go Back)

Internal/ExternalAccess or Sharing

Blackboard Learn provides enhanced content sharing options forinstructors within courses. Instructors can now create and organizcontent and related communications in any content area. Whencopying a Learning Module, all content within that Module remainsavailable in the new location. In addition, instructors can movecontent in the same manner.Students and instructors can sharecontent among other users on the system through the toolsprovided through content management technology, including:

Passes Permissions Versioning Tracking Workflows E-Portfolios

Additionally, students can share content with other group memberwithin the group area of a course.BLACKBOARD XPLORWith Blackboard xpLor, users can share rich learning objectcontent between systems. Sharing options are available whencreating, editing and publishing content within xpLor. To save timusers can create sharing defaults that populates the sharing fieldsautomatically based upon the userss settings. The options are:

Everyone: Any user within xpLor can add this resource totheir courses and to channels Approved Users: Only specified users can add thisresource to their courses and channels.

No one: Restricts the use of the resource to only theauthorUsers can change sharing options without creating a newversion. The new sharing option does not affect any resource thathas already been shared, but does affect how the resource isshared from that point on.(Go Back)

Video & AudioMessaging

Multimedia, video in particular, is a powerful tool for engagingusers online. Blackboard Learn include many options for capturing


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embedding, sharing and delivering online video to learners withtools easy to use by educators.The ubiquitous Content Editor (HTML, WYSIWYG) in BlackboardLearn allows instructors, course designers and students to uploadvideo content files in nearly any format in hundreds of places in th

system. Learn also includes an easy to use YouTube MashUp Toowhich make quick work of finding existing online videos fromYouTube and embedding them everywhere the Content Editordisplays.

With the content editor, users can also record video everywhere.Users can launch the process of recording video from the contenteditor and upload it directly to YouTube and have it immediatelyembedded in your content. The videos are all stored as unlisted inyour personal YouTube Chanel.PARTNERS AND BUILDING BLOCKSBlackboard Learn has many partners and relationships withorganizations that provide a variety of video creation, cataloging,and delivery capabilities. Several of these providers have

developed and provide deep integration with the Blackboard Learnplatform using our Building Blocks framework. For example, Kalturhas partnered with Blackboard to deliver a video application thatsupports robust integration of lecture capture and video materials,to video assignments, and sharing of student and faculty videocontent, all fully integrated within the Blackboard Learn platform.Users can upload, publish, search, create clips from existing videocontent, reuse videos across various courses and share videodirectly from their Blackboard environment.(Go Back)

Badges, Student Incentives& Retention

Mozilla OpenBadges

DIGITAL BADGESInstructors can award badges and certificates for coursecompletion, certain milestones and custom performance metrics.Our approach ties badge issuance to specific student performancemetrics and is transparent.


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Students have a complete view of all earned Achievements as welas those not yet secured. They can also view progress toward anunearned Achievement, so that can get visual cues about currentprogress and how far away they are f rom a reward.

And if the institution configures this funct ion with the MozillaOpenBadges,they can publish these achievements to their MozillaBackpack. This allows them to display verified badges across theweb and share them wherever they want on social networking

profiles, job sites or on a personal website

(Go Back)


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Credly Blackboard does not have an official partnership with Credly.

Other See above.

Mobile Abilities LMS App

Blackboard Learn can be accessed from a variety of mobile devicein a variety of ways. The key requirement of any mobile device isthat it must have a compatible browser.The majority of laptop computers and netbook computers will havecompatible browsers. Larger phones, such as the iPhone, are alslikely to have compatible browsers. With smaller mobile devices itmay be desirable to create device-specific brands that optimize thoverall experience for the end user. Below is an example ofBlackboard Learn being viewed on an iPhone:

The key challenge with mobile devices is not the access in itself;rather, it is the ability to maintain the quality of the user experienceBlackboard now offers an interface specifically designed tooptimize the user experience for the iPhone. The branding featureallows the system administrator to create brands that are designedto work with specific mobile devices, or categories of mobiledevices.(Go Back)

Faculty GradingApp

This is not a feature that is currently a part of our BlackboardMobile Learn product.

Student App

BLACKBOARD MOBILE LEARNJust as Blackboard saw the challenge over ten years ago forinstitutions to put course materials on the web and responded withthe powerful solution of Blackboard Learn, we have createdBlackboard Mobile to bring mobile services to a students smartphone. Blackboard Mobile Learn empowers students to use mobildevices for learning, and allows students and teachers to accessteaching and learning wherever and whenever they want through a


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variety of mobile devices. As an integrated platform, BlackboardMobile delivers one-stop access to student life in an easy andconvenient way. Blackboard Mobile Learn empowers students andteachers to use mobile devices for teaching and learning, includingnative applications for iPad, iPhone/iPod Touch, and Android.

These interfaces are optimized to facilitate easy use of theBlackboard Learn functions from the supported devices.BLACKBOARD MOBILE LEARN FEATURESBlackboard Mobile Learn currently supports much of the familiarBlackboard Learn content, tools and functionality found online,optimized for use on a mobile device.

Push Notifications:Push Notifications make it easy forstudents to stay on top of critical course activity. Studentscan elect to receive automatic, personalized notificationson their mobile devices that will connect them with coursecontent in Blackboard Mobile Learn as it becomesavailable.Mobile Tests:In Blackboard Learn 9.1, instructors can use

the Mobile Test Creator to easily create mobile-compatibletests. Students have the flexibility to take these tests eitherthrough Blackboard Learn, or via a beautiful interface ontheir Android and iOS devices.Announcements: Assignment due? Class cancelled? This isthe place where instructors go to post the news studentsneed to know now. Students have instant, on-the-go accessto the latest announcements, and instructors can postannouncements from their mobile devices..Grades:Students can find out how they did on their lastmidterm or homework assignment by using the Grades tool.They'll even be sent a Push Notification as soon as an itemin their course has been graded. No more waiting around

wondering if a Grade has been posted.Discussions:The Discussion Board is a key coursecommunication tool for engaging students. It's a forum forstudents to ask and answer questions while allowinginstructors to chime in. Students and teachers can easilyread-up and contribute to Discussions from BlackboardMobile Learnthey can even upload media from theirmobile device as part of a Discussion attachment.Journals: Students can reflect on their course Journalsthrough Blackboard Mobile Learn, as well as comment onpeer Journals. Instructors can also use the app to commenton student journals.Tasks: The tasks tool can help students track and manage

the progress of various tasks, from turning in homeworkassignments to midterm reminders to purchasing textbooks.The tasks tool allows students to mark when they've starteda task and when it's complete.Content:Students can access content uploaded by theirinstructors and interact with it on their device, usingBlackboard Mobile Learn or any other application thatsupports those documents.

Roster:With the class roster, students can quickly viewtheir entire class list, making organizing study groups awhole lot easier.


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Following are the supported technologies for Blackboard MobileLearn.

Mobile Device Ready Versions

iOS (phone & tablet) 4.0+

Android (phone & tablet) 2.3+

For more information on Blackboard Mobile Learn, including devicdemos, please visit the followinghttp://www.blackboard.com/Mobile/Mobile-Learn.aspx..(Go Back)

ADA Compliance &Accessibility

Video Captioning

Blackboard does provide accessibility options within the

application, which are outlined below: Visual System wide skip navigation, meaningful titledframesets; content authoring tools provide for ALT tags, courseand system icons Aural Accommodates auditory tools for creating closedcaptions and audio (video) descriptions Motor impairments Blackboard is keyboard accessible,using standard keyboard conventions.

Blackboard collaborates with clients and users from theAccessibility UserGroup; practices standards-based design anddevelopment, user testing and interviews; performs greatlyenhanced testing procedures (automated and human-executed);

and conducts an evaluation program before the release of theproduct to ensure success with real users.The following are a few accessibility features and functions ofBlackboard Learn:Keyboard reorderingPersonal styles acceptedEmbedded and optional helpHigh-contrast settingsIn partnership with Deque Systems and the National Federation fothe Blind (NFB) we have made significant accessibilityimprovements all across the product in Blackboard Learn, Release9.1. We received the NFBs non-visual access certification onRelease 9.1 on a critical series of use cases for instructors andstudents, ensuring that using tools suchas screen readers or keyboard-only is easy with Blackboard LearnBlackboard Learn was the first LMS GoldLevel Certified for Non-Visual Accessibilityby the National Federation of the Blind. Forexample, Blackboard Learn includes anaccessible wrap around the YouTubeplayer. This was a direct result of acollaboration with Blackboard IdeaExchange clients for mashups, who not only
http://www.blackboard.com/Mobile/Mobile-Learn.aspx.http://www.blackboard.com/Mobile/Mobile-Learn.aspx.http://www.blackboard.com/Mobile/Mobile-Learn.aspx.


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raised this issue, but collaborated with us on a solution.As we work with all of our clients, if a crit ical compliance issue isdiscovered in any of our releases, our Support and ProductDevelopment teams endeavor to address the issue in a timelymanner to maintain system accessibility.(Go Back)

AudioTranscription

Recordings created in the Voice Authoring tools can be savedas MP3 and WAV audio files, which are supported by manytranscription applications. Also, audio content allows for atranscript to be uploaded alongside the content item.(GoBack)

Compatibility

Please provide more information as to what type of compatibilityyou are referring.The Blackboard Mobile Learn application allows student users toaccess the same course map and content available on the webversion of the course. Users interact with the course in the sameway as they would via a laptop or desktop computer, including

posting discussions, updating blog posts, viewing the course rostetracking various tasks, viewing grades, and receivingannouncements. Students can natively view course documentswithout leaving the application (for example, viewing videos, PDFsand other documents directly within the course site).Additionally,instructors can use Blackboard Mobile Learn to addannouncements.Following are the supported technologies for Blackboard MobileLearn. Android 2.x Android 3.x iPod iOS 4.x iPad iOS 3.x iPad iOS 4.x Wi-Fi Access via Android PhonesTo view a demonstration of Blackboard Mobile Learn on Androidand Apple devices, please visit:http://blackboard.com/Mobile/Mobile-Learn/Device-Demos.aspx.(Go Back)

Innovations,Ratings & Awards

Conformance with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines(WCAG)2.0 Priority AA, Issued December 2012 by Deque SystemsBlackboard Learn is the first and only LMS in the world to deliver aconformance statement by a third-party, demonstrating our focusand determination to deliver excellence for everyone.Gold Level Certification for Non-Visual Access, Issued by theNational Federation of the Blind (NFB)Blackboard was the first LMS in the world to achieve thiscertification. With valuable input from our clients and a strong set development and testing tools, we invest in accessible productsand capabilities that meet the wide range of our clients needs. Tofulfill this promise we are continually partnering with industryexperts to audit our code and user interface design techniques toensure the accessibility of the products. (Go Back)

Blackboard is committed to ensuring that our e-Education platformis usable and accessible. With valuable input from our clients and
http://blackboard.com/Mobile/Mobile-Learn/Device-Demos.aspxhttp://blackboard.com/Mobile/Mobile-Learn/Device-Demos.aspxhttp://blackboard.com/Mobile/Mobile-Learn/Device-Demos.aspx


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a strong set of development tools, we will continue to invest indeveloping accessible products and capabilities that meet the widerange of our clients needs. To fulfill this promise we arecontinually auditing our code and user interface design techniquesto ensure that our applications are usable by everyone, to the

greatest extent possible, regardless of age, ability, or situation.Blackboard measures and evaluates accessibility levels using twosets of standards: Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act issued frothe United States federal government and the Web AccessibilityInitiative (WAI) issued by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)

A community of users has created an act ive user group that meetsregularly called the Blackboard Accessibility Interest Group. Thisgroup of over 100 clients works in sub-committees on varioustopics that interest them and have a real impact on the Blackboardcommunity at large. Fortunately, the group has allowed Blackboarteam members to be a part of their activities; representatives fromBlackboard Client Support, Technical Communications, Product

Design, and User Interface Design have all participated andcontinue to work closely with this strategic group of clients.Conformance with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines(WCAG) 2.0 Priority AA, Issued December 2012 by DequeSystemsBlackboard Learn is the first and only LMS in the world to deliver aconformance statement by a third-party, demonstrating our focusand determination to deliver excellence for everyone.Gold Level Certification for Non-Visual Access, Issued by theNational Federation of the Blind (NFB)Blackboard was the first LMS in the world toachieve this certification. With valuable

input from our clients and a strong set ofdevelopment and testing tools, we invest inaccessible products and capabilities thatmeet the wide range of our clients needs.To fulfill this promise we are continuallypartnering with industry experts to audit ourcode and user interface design techniquesto ensure the accessibility of the products.Our commitment to accessibility also extends to our userdocumentation. For example, online tutorials at our On-DemandLearning Center are generated with 508 compliance settings andinclude closed-captioning. As we work with all of our clients, if a

critical compliance issue is discovered in any of our releases, ourSupport and Product Development teams endeavor to address theissue in a timely manner to maintain system accessibility.(Go Bac

Upgrades & Implementationof New Features

Process

Blackboard Learn ships two releases per year. Each releaseconsists of maintenance fixes, enhancements and/or new featuresBlackboard may also release standalone Building Blocks at timeto address system needs. However, any new Blackboard Learnfeatures would be included in the two releases. Building Blocks wprimarily be used for integrations with external services such as


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SafeAssign and Blackboard xpLor. Below is the planned releaseschedule.

The College can download new releases and Building Blockswithout additional charge as part of the annual software license feFor a hosted solution, Blackboard Managed Hosting engineers

apply new releases and Building Blocks in coordination with theCollege System Administrators. All customers are notified aboutreleases, their availability dates, and the new features, functionsand capabilities through email and on our client support site,Behind the Blackboard. At this site, System Administratorscan access support bulletins (as shown in the following p icture) aswell as updated documentation including, but not limited to,Release Notes, technical specifications, user manuals, and quickguides. Our maintenance strategy and schedule of releases is alsoaccessible at this site.

Known issues are documented for our clients along with currentreleasenotes on our support website, Behind the Blackboard from theSupportBulletins interface shown in the following picture:


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Blackboard also provides a Customer Support Wiki, from whichclients may access dynamic support updates from the Blackboardteam as well as tips, solutions, and best practices from the largeBlackboard community of users.PRODUCT UPDATE CENTER

Blackboard is focused on continuous improvement of the clientexperience, including helping administrators easily and efficientlyaccess information and updates about the platform. The ProductUpdate Center provides a central location to easily and efficientlyimplement updates to the core platform and extensions.The Product Update Center, developed by Blackboard CloudServices and located in the System Admin Panel, provides updatespecific to your Blackboard Learn installation and any installedBuilding Blocks. If a newer version of Blackboard Learn isavailable, an indicator will display the number of versions; theCollege can select which version to download. For clients withcustomizations to the Blackboard Learn platform, Blackboard offer

additional support in the form of Integration and CustomizationMaintenance (ICM). ICM provides clients with BlackboardConsulting assistance to support planned Blackboard Learnsoftware upgrades or ad-hoc client questions. ICM is asubscription-based service to simplify client planning and budgetforecasting for upgrade management; helps relieve customization-related challenges clients may encounter when upgradingBlackboard software; and protects and provides a viable return onclient investments in custom technology solutions.(Go Back)

Timeline

Please refer to the immediately preceding requirement.

Testing BeforeRelease Procedure Blackboard has both a QA functional test organization as well asa dedicated Performance Engineering group. To ensure qualityduring the entire product life cycle, the QA group has a dedicatedteam for development and a dedicated QA Maintenance team.Blackboard follows an agile development process that involvesQA and Performance Engineering throughout the SoftwareDevelopment Life Cycle (SDLC). Blackboards QA process ismodeled upon industry best practices, including IEEE, CMMI, andISO9001 standards. QA and Performance Engineering begins inthe requirements phase and continues with the softwaredevelopment phase, then proceeds into the official QAtest phase, and completes with the review and processimprovement phase. Throughout the SDLC, Blackboard hasdefined and ensures that strict entrance and exit criteria are met.In the development phase, the QA and Performance team hasdedicated QA analyst and performance engineer for each agileteam, developing the test artifacts in conjunction with applicationdevelopment. All QA test cases include detailed step by stepinstructions to ensure repeatability (this also greatly helps inisolating any deficiency when client finds issues missed by QA) bya dedicated test execution team. During the development phase,continuous software builds during the day are monitored by thedevelopment team, followed by automated nightly builds by theConfiguration Management (CM) team that include build,


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Test Tools

Functional/AutomatedTesting:

Borland SilkTest Borland SilkPerformer JUnit APTest Manager Perforce Various Blackboard developed auto

toolsPerformance Testing(load generation):

Mercury LoadRunner Grinder

Performance Analysis: JProbe (Java Profiling) Eclipse Java Profiler DProf (Perl Profiling) Oracle SQL Analyze SQL Server Profiler Hotsos Oracle Profiler Various System Tools Various Blackboard Debugging Too

Trend Analysis andUsage Patterns

Webalizer Sherlog WebTrends Various Blackboard SQL Analysis S

(Volumetrics of data growth)deployment and installation, and automated nightly testing on all

supported platforms. When the application development phase isat a point in which development deliverables are complete, stablebuilds are handed over to QA and the QA group then takesresponsibility of testing for system assurance and scalability.

Every QA test cycle consists of over 2400 hours of manual andautomated functional testing that cover: Full regression testing of all existing features Full testing of all new test cases Test coverage across all certified and supported operating

systems, databases, and browsers Test coverage across application license levels and special

configurations Internationalization and Localization testing Performance verification test (PVT) across all supported

platforms to ensure that code incorporated into our releasedproducts has not degraded performance. The PVT is a

compilation of load simulation scripts across the Portal,Content and Learning Systems. The script activities anddistribution of activities are based on actual usagepatterns of various institutions hosted within the ASP.

Performance team follows SPE (Software PerformanceEngineering), which is a methodology developed by two leadingPerformance Engineers (Connie Smith and Lloyd Williams). Themethodology is a supported extension to UML (Gang of Four) inwhich we study the performance impact of the developmentprocess. Using modeling techniques, such as Performance Use


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Case Analysis (High-Risk Performance Use Cases) and sequencediagramming, we are able to reverse engineer existingcode or architect efficient new code by understanding theresource (interface, method invocations, sql executions, CPU,memory, etc.) that will be used by the application or subsystem

under load. We then work with the developers to design and thenprogram efficient, high-performing code.In addition to the Performance teams responsibility for the PVTduring QA cycles, they also spend time focusing on a givensubsystem, studying capacity, scalability, and most importantlyperformance inhibitions (inefficient method calls, poor SQLexecution, thread contention, improper synchronization). Theyalso use this time to expand the unit test coverage. Subsystemscovered during these cycles are identified for one or more of thefollowing: porting (Perl to Java), re-factoring, code optimization, oracceptable/scalable. The teams use a combination of a number oftools for each test cycle and for other specialized testing and

engineering activities. A list of tools by category, include but arenot limited to the following:

(Go Back)

Training

Documentation

Blackboards client support site has been recently redeveloped toprovide greater online help resources for our client community.First launched in 2002, Behind the Blackboard is a web-basedclient extranet where Blackboard clients and strategic partners canaccess up-to-the-minute resources and information aboutBlackboard products and services. It isa central hub for submittin

questions, reporting problems, and trackingtheir resolutions. The new Behind the Blackboard client supportsiteoffers many new features to enhance this process, including: A Static Navigation Toolbar so visitors can get around the site

quicklyand easily

"My Bookmarks" allowing users to book mark pages they wanttorevisit within the site

"Your Last 10 Pages" so users can see the last tenactions/tasks they

logged "Advanced Case Management" for finding support tickets by

status,date, and keyword

A Comprehensive Reference Center including a title search fordocumentation

Software Download Center to quickly and easily get the latestsoftware updates

Support Bulletins and RSS feeds for documentation updates,casecommunications and the product news


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Role-based Pre-login Pages full of support-related content sostudents, faculty and administrators can access informationaboutBlackboard

(Go Back)

Tutorials

Blackboards core functionality allows clients to create softwaretutorialsand demonstrations. Several of our clients have created tutorialsanddemonstrations of the Blackboard Learn platform and how they areusingthese applications to enhance their educational offerings.Blackboard also offers a digital resource library(https://help.blackboard.com/en-us/Learn/Reference/Blackboard_Learn_Videos). Blackboard LearnVideo Resources were created by Blackboards ContentDevelopment Team

and subject matter experts to aid in end user training for systemadministrators, faculty, students, and other users. Blackboard Learn Video Resources include over forty flash filevideos(Quick Tutorials), Getting Started Guides, and EffectivePracticesstudies available for clients at no cost. Clients may search forresourcesto help with understanding and building a course, communicatingandcollaborating, or assessing learners.Some examples of features highlighted on the site include:

Importing a Course PackageAdding MultimediaModerating Discussion ForumsCreating Notification and Alert Rules Deploying Group AssignmentsChecking the Student Performance DashboardBlackboard Online Help

All c lients have access to our client support site, Behind theBlackboard.Documentation is posted to this site and is user-specific. Thedocumentation includes User Manuals, Installation Manuals,Release

Notes, and Integration Guides for System Administrators. UserManualsmay be accessed in Word format and as online help; InstallationManuals,Integration Manuals, and Release notes are in a PDF format.Documentation is maintained by posting the latest versions to thesupport site. All users may access Behind the Blackboard and thedocumentation appropriate for their user role(student, instructor, system and administrator).These Role-based Pre-login Pages are full of support -relatedcontent so
https://help.blackboard.com/en-us/Learn/Reference/Blackboard_Learn_Videoshttps://help.blackboard.com/en-us/Learn/Reference/Blackboard_Learn_Videoshttps://help.blackboard.com/en-us/Learn/Reference/Blackboard_Learn_Videoshttps://help.blackboard.com/en-us/Learn/Reference/Blackboard_Learn_Videoshttps://help.blackboard.com/en-us/Learn/Reference/Blackboard_Learn_Videoshttps://help.blackboard.com/en-us/Learn/Reference/Blackboard_Learn_Videos


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from an individual client, a usergroup, a partner, or otherstakeholder.Blackboard Product Managersreview enhancement requests to

helpinform strategy, feature,and design decisions ineach release. Everysuggestion helps usunderstand our clientsbetter and ultimatelyhelps usimprove our products.

Blackboard

understands ourproducts are mission-critical systems at yourorganization. Toensure quality andstability, we carefully determine how and when we introducechange to the products. This means that suggestions aretypically addressed when we focus on a specific feature in arelease. During this process, we revisit suggestions and considerthem for inclusion in the release.

A recent example of this is Blackboard Learn, Release 9.1 andsubsequent Service Packs. Ideas to better enhance features

andworkflows come from the suggestion box (as well as face-to-face client meetings, our product development partnership,beta, and other client programs). Enhancements range fromfairly significant improvements with more change, such as ournew approach to assessment management, to simple clientsuggestion such as the need to see the point total for a test asan instructor adds questions. Data informs our decisions and isone of the factors weighed in our product strategy. Many timesthe suggestion is addressed by going beyond the initial ideaand solving the root of the problem. By adding context, we cansolve problems in creative ways that address a broader range

of issues, providing more value to more clients. Forimprovements to existing functionality, we use a crowdsourcingtoolto share the issues targeted for a specific Service Pack withBug Squadmembers. The members vote on the bugs they deem the mostcritical and can even add others to the list. Our SustainingEngineering team then uses the results to reprioritize therelease.We also offer on-site client visits where Product Managementmaypresent our roadmap and solicits feedback and ideas on broadcategories, or run focus groups on specific features to better


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Additionally, students can share content with other group memberwithinthe group area of a course.BLACKBOARD XPLORWith Blackboard xpLor, users can share rich learning object

contentbetween systems. Sharing options are available when creating,editingand publishing content within xpLor. To save time, users cancreatesharing defaults that populates the sharing fields automaticallybasedupon the userss settings. The options are:

Everyone: Any user within xpLor can add this resource totheir

courses and to channels Approved Users: Only specified users can add this

resource to their courses and channels. No one: Restricts the use of the resource to only the

authorUsers can change sharing options without creating a new version.Thenew sharing option does not affect any resource that has alreadybeenshared, but does affect how the resource is shared from that pointon.

Because Blackboard is fully scalable, Blackboard does not provide

filesize limitations. Upon award of contract, Blackboard would behappy toconsult with the College to assist you in determining theappropriatestorage size you need and assist you in developing your hardwareconfiguration to ensure the College is leveraging currenttechnology toassist you in making a sound investment.Blackboard Learn allows users to upload essentially any file typeincluding HTML, Word, XML, PDF, PPT, and multimedia files suchas

video sequences, still pictures, and sound files.Blackboard Learn also allows metadata fields to be added tocontentand populated by any content owner during or after the uploadprocess.The platform supports General Metadata, IMS, Dublin Core, andtheability to create custom metadata. Each category can be turnedon/off by the System Administrator. All files in the systemcollection can be taggedwith metadata.

General Metadata


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Name Description Keywords Learning Objectives IMS Metadata

Identifier Catalog Type Catalog Entry Language Resource Type Educational Context Age Range Difficulty Free Resource (yes/no) Restricted Use (yes/no) Dublin Core Metadata (which is a standard that librarians

use for

categorizing library materials) Title Creator Subject Description Publisher Contributor Date Type Format Identifier Source

Language Relation Coverage Rights Custom Metadata

Any(Go Back)

Video Uploading

VIDEO EVERYWHEREVideo Everywhere is the ability toseamlessly record and reuse videosin Blackboard Learn for faculty andstudents.

The ability to record a video on the flyand have it seamlesslyembeddedin course materials, interactions, andfeedback is included in thecontent editor and is ubiquitousthroughout course workflows.The ability to easily reuse videosprovides great efficiency. Animportant


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use case is faculty reuse of gradingfeedback. Students often have thesame problems or strengths in theirwork, and the instructor ends upgenerating the same feedback over

and over. The ability to easily choosefrom ones own library of videofeedback snippets as part of thegrading process will be very usefulfor faculty.The videos are created and managedthrough integration with YouTube.The user needs to have a Googleaccount, which is free. If the user hasnot already done so, they need to linkYouTube service to their Googleaccount. The user needs to perform

this once under Google AccountSetting page. Video storage andmanagement on YouTube is free, butsubject to YouTubes terms of use. Videos created this way by defaultuse the YouTube privacy choice ofUnlisted, which means the userneeds to have the URL to access thevideo, and that the uploaded videosdo not appear on YouTubes publicarea or in search results.This feature generates mobile-

friendly content. Video clips createdusing this tool render well in thebrowser on a mobile device as wellas inMobile Learn.

Record from Webcamenables instructors

and students to quickly record videos with

their webcams

Video Library lists all videos

t their YouTube account (newest

Users can preview and reuse any

previously recorded videos.


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Multimedia, video in particular, is apowerful tool for engaging usersonline. Blackboard Learn includemany options for capturing,embedding, sharing and delivering

online video to learners with toolseasy to use by educators.

The ubiquitous Content Editor(HTML, WYSIWYG) in BlackboardLearn allows instructors, coursedesigners and students to uploadvideo content files in nearly anyformat in hundreds of places in thesystem.Learn also includes an easy to useYouTube MashUp Tool whichmake quick work of finding existing

online videos from YouTube andembedding them everywhere theContent Editor displays.

With the content editor, users canalso record video everywhere. Userscan launch the process of recordingvideo from the content editor andupload it directly to YouTube andhave it immediately embedded inyour content. The videos are allstored as unlisted in your personalYouTube Chanel.PARTNERS AND BUILDING

BLOCKSBlackboard Learn has many partnersand relationships with organizationsthat provide a variety of videocreation, cataloging, and deliverycapabilities. Several of theseproviders have developed andprovide deep integration with theBlackboard Learn platform using ourBuilding Blocks framework.


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For example, Kaltura has partneredwith Blackboard to deliver a videoapplication that supports robustintegration of lecture capture andvideo materials, to video

assignments, and sharing of studentand faculty video content, all fullyintegrated within the BlackboardLearn platform. Users can upload,publish, search, create clips fromexisting video content, reuse videosacross various courses and sharevideo directly from their Blackboardenvironment.(Go Back)

Diverse MeetingRoles Please refer to our content in response tothe Customized Administrative Role

Capabilities requirement.

FERPA Safeguards

VerificationOptions

LEARN SOFTWARESUMMARY

The Learn platform is designed withsecure access and authorization modelsto support and help enforce the privacypolicies of each customer. Blackboarddevelops products that support FERPAand provide information, tools and utilities

that allow institutions to configure theirsystems so they can meet even stricterprivacy standards. While Blackboardcannot know or anticipate all state, local,or international laws and policies that mayneed to be applied to the handling ofpersonally identifiable information,FERPA regulations are used asguidelines to develop flexible privacymanagement within Blackboard Learn andother Blackboard applications.

LEARN SOFTWARE DETAILS(See contents ofhttps://help.blackboard.com/en-us/Learn/9.1_SP_10_and_SP_11/Administrator/020_Security/001_Privacy)

HOSTING & SUPPORT SUMMARY

In the event that Customer approves orprovides Blackboard staff access, in thecourse of providing any agreed upon orcontracted services, to
https://help.blackboard.com/en-us/Learn/9.1_SP_10_and_SP_11/Administrator/020_Security/001_Privacyhttps://help.blackboard.com/en-us/Learn/9.1_SP_10_and_SP_11/Administrator/020_Security/001_Privacyhttps://help.blackboard.com/en-us/Learn/9.1_SP_10_and_SP_11/Administrator/020_Security/001_Privacyhttps://help.blackboard.com/en-us/Learn/9.1_SP_10_and_SP_11/Administrator/020_Security/001_Privacyhttps://help.blackboard.com/en-us/Learn/9.1_SP_10_and_SP_11/Administrator/020_Security/001_Privacyhttps://help.blackboard.com/en-us/Learn/9.1_SP_10_and_SP_11/Administrator/020_Security/001_Privacy


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Our consultants work closely with ourclients from scope to implementation.In fact, we insist that our clientsassign a Client Project Manager tomanage the financial and operational

aspects of the project onsite andserve as the single point of contactfor all Blackboard project issues andquestions. This Client ProjectManager should have the authority tomake decisions concerning theintegration and provide leadership tothe client team members.

The Blackboard Project Manager islikewise responsible for overallmanagement of the project, as wellas tasking and supervision ofspecified project activities. TheBlackboard Project Manager isresponsible for ensuring that theproject is completed to specificationand within cost and schedule.

Blackboard consultants can providethe level of project management,analysis, design, and developmentexpertise through each stage of theproject lifecycle, required by thespecific needs and constraints of our

clients. Costs and timelines will varywidely based on the complexity andextent of the services provided;however, the process begins with thecompletion of a services agreementand is finalized with the deploymentof the system and a final report of thecustomization.

The following steps provide anoverview for a successfulimplementation of a tailoredBlackboard system.

Project Scope

Project Planning Call

Onsite project initiationengagement

Hardware/Software Plan

Initial Project Plan

Requirements

Requirements Analysis


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User Interface (UI)Specifications

Test Plan

Revised Project Plan

Design and Development Custom Software

Test Cases

Operating Procedures

Systems configuration

Design review

Testing

Test Results

Administrator Training

Deployment

Deploy system Finalize report of

customization

For more detailed information onBlackboards implementationprocesses, please refer toBlackboards Sample ImplementationPlan in the following pages past thefeatures table.

(Go Back)

Content RepositoriesBlackboard Learn content management technology

works by storing and controlling access toreusable content objects created by users fromacross and within the institution. For instance,an instructor who creates a learning object thatwill be used in 15 sections of a course wouldhave to create 15 different files (one for eachcourse) if the institution is without a contentmanagement system. With content managementtechnology, the learning object is created andstored just once, and the instructor simply linksto it from all 15 course sections. The online

course materials for each of the 15 sectionsreuse the learning object by linking to it. Theresult is reduced resource consumption andmore effective use of the teacher's time.Through the content management capabilities ofBlackboard Learn, a teacher can create, store, orupdate information in one place, regardless ofthe number of times that information is used fordifferent classes.


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Blackboards content management technology hasevolved as the first system in a new class ofcontent management applications required tomeet the needs of todays districts and schools.Blackboard believes that academic contentmanagement

Analysis of LMS Categories of Function

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