Blackboard Inc. unveiled its latest and most significant product offering, the Blackboard Outcomes System(tm) in front of 400 European and International e-Learning leaders. The new solution facilitates the continuous improvement of academic and administrative processes with a focus on student learning, academic programs and co-curricular activities.
The Blackboard Outcomes System is a comprehensive, flexible platform to guide institutional effectiveness across the entire higher education institution or system- from classrooms to the President's Office. It was developed with guidance from national assessment experts and dozens of academic institutions including private teaching colleges, research universities, systems, and community colleges. The Blackboard Outcomes System leverages the capabilities and familiar user experience of the Blackboard Academic Suite(tm) to help institutions make evidence-based decisions, streamline assessment processes, and engage students in their own learning.
A Comprehensive, Flexible Platform
"Educational assessment is driven by the standards and culture specific to the discipline and school; one size does not fit all," said Michael Chasen, President and CEO of Blackboard. "The Blackboard Outcomes System is a flexible, customizable solution with tools that can be tailored to meet the needs of each individual course, program, department, college, system or administrator."
The platform is organised around the stages of assessment, 'Plan,' 'Measure,' and 'Improve;' with specific tools to help users meet the challenges in each stage. Tools enable building rubrics; documenting curriculum maps; managing standards; collecting and evaluating artifacts of student learning; surveying attitudes and interests, running online course evaluations; managing departmental improvement projects; analytic and operational reporting, and other key activities. Such a diverse set of tools in one system dramatically simplifies the work for faculty and administrators trying to improve learning at their institutions.
"Higher education has moved from collecting and reporting data to analysing and acting upon it," said Mary Allen, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus of Psychology at California State University-Bakersfield, a national expert on assessment, and one of several Blackboard advisors who influenced the design of the new system. "At the center of this new platform is the fact that it fosters visibility into the various assessment activities taking place, enabling people to see, interpret, and use data that have been collected to improve learning."
Accountability Cited as Top Priority for Academic Leaders:
In recent years a number of factors have contributed to an increasing demand for accountability in education, including changes in accrediting requirements and the creation of a Federal Commission on the Future of Higher Education by U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings.
A recent third party survey of higher education leaders across the country commissioned by Blackboard found accountability and assessment to be their second highest priority, following student experience.
Chasen added, "Before we began developing the technology for this new platform, we traveled around the country to meet with our education partners to learn about their critical institutional challenges. We worked very closely with them and others across the education industry to create the Blackboard Outcomes System, which we believe will enable institutions to meet increased demands for accountability and streamline their assessment processes. Most fundamentally, however, this solution will give our clients clear new visibility into their effectiveness and insight to drive improvement."
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