GRCC at BbWorld12

Pictured left to right – Eric Kunnen (DLIT, Director), Cheryl Kautz (Computer Applications Department Adjunct Professor), Meegan Willi (DLIT, Instructional Designer/Technologist) at the Blackboard Exemplary Course Award Luncheon

Cheryl Kautz (Computer Applications Professor), Meegan Willi (DLIT Instructional Designer/Technologist), and Eric Kunnen (Director of Distance Learning and Instructional Technologies) had the opportunity to attend the 14th national BbWorld 2012 conference that was held at the convention center last week in New Orleans.

BbWorld’12 offered a wide array of over 175 client-led sessions and was the largest Blackboard conference to date with over 3,500 attendees from over 1000 institutions and over 280 Bb partners.

Here are a few photos and highlights from Grand Rapids Community College at the BbWorld12 national conference:

(Note: For an overview and summary of BbWorld’s keynotes and conference, please be sure to see: “BbWorld12 Conference Highlights and Summary” as well as the additional posts on this GRCC BbWorld Blog.)

On Social Media, Blogging, and Twitter

• 25+ blog posts were written by Cheryl, Meegan, and Eric.  The posts capture the notes and key learning from the event.  All posts are available on this blog at: https://bbworld.wordpress.com
• In the past week there were over 11,000 Twitter mentions about BbW12 and BbWorld with over 100 tweets coming from Meegan and Eric.  Twitter messages from the conference are available via Twitter’s search feature here.
• Meegan and Eric were highlighted as top influencers on Blackboard’s Hashcaster site.
  

  Blackboard’s Hashcaster Site

• Meegan Willi and Eric Kunnen served as official BbWorld bloggers.
  
  

  Meegan Willi, DLIT Instructional Designer/Technologist – Official BbWorld Blogger

  

  Eric Kunnen, DLIT Director – Official BbWorld Blogger

About and Around the Conference

• Eric spent time as an Ask Dr C (complete with lab coat 🙂 ) sharing best practices, answering questions, and connecting with peers from a wide array of institutions.
  

  Bb Ask Dr C, Eric Kunnen in the Upgrade Center and Digital Content Booth

  

  Pictured left to right: Eric Kunnen (GRCC), Henk van Rijssen (ROC Midden Nederland), Mike Zimmerman (University of Nebraska, Omaha)

• Eric served on the program committee for the conference.
• BIE Steering Committee and Bb Collaborate Product Advisory Council meetings were attended by Eric Kunnen.

On Presentations at the Conference

• Eric presented as a panelist with Jacksonville State University, University of Maryland, and Montgomery County  in 2 sessions: “Blackboard Analytics for Learn – Panel Discussion” and “Mobility and Course Communications: Bb Connect”
  

  GRCC DLIT Director Eric Kunnen – Presenting at a  Panel Session on Bb Analytics for Learn

• Adjunct Computer Applications Professor, Cheryl Kautz, was highlighted for receiving the Blackboard Exemplary Course Award in a special award luncheon where Ray Henderson, CTO and President of Academic Platforms, presented Cheryl with her award.  Cheryl also gave a live demonstration of her award winning course on the first day of the conference in the Digital Content Booth.
  

  Cheryl Kautz receiving the Bb Exemplary Course Award from President of Academic Platforms and CTO, Ray Henderson

  

  Cheryl Kautz receiving the Bb Exemplary Course Award from President of Academic Platforms and CTO, Ray Henderson

• Cheryl Kautz also presented with San Jacinto College, University of Miami, and Colorado State University on a panel at BbWorld entitled: “Beyond the Bells and Whistles – Exemplary Courses and Best Practices”
  

  GRCC Computer Applications Adjunct Professor, Cheryl Kautz – Presenting at BbWorld

BbWorld12 Conference Highlights & Summary

Cheryl Kautz (Computer Applications Professor), Meegan Willi (DLIT Instructional Designer/Technologist), and Eric Kunnen (Director of Distance Learning and Instructional Technologies) had the opportunity to attend the 14th national BbWorld 2012 conference that was held at the convention center last week in New Orleans. (See also the blog post and recap of “GRCC at BbWorld12” for the highlights and notes from Cheryl, Meegan, and Eric.)

BbWorld’12 offered a wide array of over 175 client-led sessions at this event that covered topics from teaching to the system administration of Blackboard.  The focus tracks this year included: digital content, social learning, analytics, and mobility.  Keynote sessions were delivered by Dr. Freeman Hrabowski, President of the University of Maryland Baltimore County, and Sal Khan, creator of the Khan Academy.  There was also a Blackboard keynote by Michael Chasen, President and CEO and Ray Henderson, CTO and President of Academic Platforms.

BbWorld12 was the largest Blackboard conference to date with over 3,500 attendees from over 1000 institutions and over 280 Bb partners.  This event was a huge success and provided the outstanding opportunity to:

• Connect with other Blackboard users and colleges from around the world.
• Network with peers who share in building, expanding, enhancing and improving the use of Bb in teaching and learning.
• Discover best practices and emerging technologies and teaching techniques.
• Explore and identify new products and services that can advance the services we provide at the college.
• Engage and participate in informal discussions and panel sessions around key themes and topics impacting education.
• Hear inspiring keynotes from thought leaders on the intersection of technology and education.
• Learn from innovative speakers that approach the next generation of teaching and learning with technology.

The top highlights from the BbWorld conference included:

• Keynote by Freeman Hrabowski, President, University of Maryland, Baltimore County on “Innovation in Higher Education: Leadership and the Role of Technology“

  

  The university’s president started out with a simple statement: “Education is becoming something you can get anytime/anywhere… Things are a changing…”.  President Hrabowski’s engaging keynote was inspiring and provided goals that all educators and institutions can aspire to.  We need to focus on “Academic Innovation” which allows education to becoming much better than we are currently.  Rather than focus on the notion of “access” – we need to focus on access AND success in the same sentence.  Online learning and hybrid courses can lead to better results than face to face courses and

  “We must believe that we can make a difference in the world.  America is great and can be greater than ever before.”

• Keynote by Michael Chasen (President and CEO of Bb), Ray Henderson (CTO and President of Academic Platforms) on: “Blackboard Corporate Keynote“

  

  This session opened with a thought provoking video of “The Voice of the Active Learner“.  Also highlighted was Blackboard’s innovative vision, a focus on the fundamentals, and several new services and a mobile showcase.

  Bb announced “Projectxp” which will bring several new innovations that include a new: discussion board, calendar, and an exciting new way to share learning content within the institution and beyond through “xpLor” which is a new learning object repository coming later this year.

  Support was also discussion with 89% of tickets resolved within 1 day and an 8X improvement in extensive product testing.  Client satisfaction is at an all time high and Bb is committed to quality at all levels of the platform.

  In addition to “xpLor” mentioned above, new features include: improved item analysis for assessments, new interface with easy global navigation, new enterprise survey tool included at no charge, improved text messaging support also included, enhanced 2 way SMS text messaging for Bb Connect, a brand new Analytics platform for reporting and student insights from courses, the live Bb Collaborate tool now has integration with the gradebook and mobile features, and finally, a brand new “Social Learning” system is coming the provides enhanced profiles, student social spaces, profiles, activity streams and more!  Blackboard also announced that students can now purchase Bb Mobile Learn on iOS and Android devices for $1.99 for a yearly subscription and $5.99 for unlimited use.

  Additional notes are available here: “Blackboard Corporate Keynote“.

• Keynote by Sal Khan founder of Khan Academy on: “Rethinking Education“

  

  Sal’s session was very inspiring and the mission of the Khan Academy is: “A free, world-class education for anyone anywhere”.

  He shared stories of how technology is benefiting students from around the world and how it can significantly increase student – to – teacher ratio time by shifting some of the lecture content from classroom time to homework aka “Flipped Classroom” model.  In this model (in use by several GRCC faculty) instructors can spend most of their time on interventions with students, working individually with them, group activities, and hands-on learning in the classroom.

• Day 1 Recap Video
  
• Day 2 Recap Video
  
• Day 3 Recap Video
  
• Voice of the Active Student Video
  
• BbWorld12 Session Presentations are available (74 to date) on Blackboard’s Slideshare account.