1. Blackboard Learn 9.1 is coming!
This fall the UMass Boston educational technology team is working closely with UMass Online and
representatives from Blackboard .com to plan an effective rollout of the next learning management
system, Blackboard Learn 9.1. While a pilot group of faculty will teach the first group of courses in this
system during the upcoming spring 2012 semester, the target date for a fully supported, multi-campus
instance of Blackboard Learn 9.1 is not until fall 2012. As we work now to ensure that all important
teaching and learning functionality as well as key business goals and processes are incorporated into this
system, our hope is to hear from you regarding your own instructional needs so that we do not leave
any stones unturned. An example might be the need for synchronous conferencing, which is one of the
areas where we will make it a priority to have a seamless integration. This prioritization results from our
use cases, as well as the “user stories” we collected from interested faculty last spring and which we
continue to receive.
Many people don’t know that over half of all UMass Boston courses are now using Blackboard Vista,
which has been our learning management system since 2005. This number is up by more than 30
percent in the last two years. It includes not only the roughly 230 online courses run through University
College each semester, but also over 900 regular, face-to-face classes that utilize Blackboard in
numerous ways. Due to the widespread use of Blackboard Vista, we can assure all users that we will
continue to support the current system throughout the migration process, or until January 2014—
whicever comes first.
Numerous colleges and universities are undertaking similar migrations to Blackboard Learn 9.1 this year.
One institution that recently made the switch is Tulane University, another university where over half of
all courses use Blackboard. As UMass Boston seeks to serve larger numbers of students over the next
several years, new tools and functionality offered within Blackboard Learn 9.1 will enable us to
communicate with students beyond the course level. As instructional technologist Eric Dearholt
observed at Tulane, “By giving students personalized information on every aspect of their university
experience in one online centralized location, we’re giving them a richer overall experience, which in
turn has a positive impact on student loyalty to the institution over time.” We look forward to this and
many other enhancements that will strengthen our ability to meet our goals for the future.
You can learn more about such enhancements at Blackboard Learn’s “Feature Showcase”
[http://www.blackboard.com/Platforms/Learn/Products/Blackboard-Learn/Teaching-and-
Learning/Feature-Showcase.aspx – rather long link; should be embedded in WordPress]