On July 9^th and 10^th DevCon 2012 will descend onto New Orleans and give its attendees over 30 sessions devoted to topics like system administration and integration, security and performance, Blackboard Building Blocks development, and openness. This year we will also have sessions devoted to Blackboard mobile development, so those of you that are curious about how to develop using Blackboard Mobile’s SDK (software development kit) can satisfy that curiosity.

We’ll also have the Ask the Experts lounge area that will allow you to sit down, one-on-one, with Blackboard technical experts and ask them questions. One recent attendee noted that this time was, “like free consulting.” The Ask the Experts lounge will be staffed with Blackboard tier 3 support staff, database experts, expert developers and product managers all equipped with the knowledge to tackle your most difficult technical questions.

Our sessions this year run the gambit from highly technical to moderately technical. Here’s a snapshot of just two of the over 30 sessions:

One of Blackboard’s newest members, Charles Severance will be presenting on the future of the Basic LTI standard and best practices with how to integrate Basic LTI tools into your courses.
Patricia Goldweic of Northwestern University will provide insight into Blackboard Building Blocks development best practices and will be demoing her Bboogle Building Block.

This year’s DevCon promises to be the premier professional development event for Blackboard system administrators and developers. Make sure not to miss out this year, and don’t forget those beignets!

Here’s a short video about the DevCon highlights.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xa-q2KFw_y0

Register here.

We rolled out the theme “Social Learning” last week and now we are proud to announce the Feature Theme Session Keynote Speaker for Digital Content – Tom Caswell! An Open Education Policy Associate at Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges, Tom handles special projects that directly impact the power of Digital Content such as running the Open Course Library, piloting a community college Open Learning Initiative (OLI) in Washington State, and supporting the OPEN initiative for Department of Labor C3T grantees. As a Policy Associate, Tom also raises awareness about the use of Digital Content and sets policies for sharing content.

Digital Content has been getting a lot of attention lately as the Internet provides a wonderful distribution channel and allows anyone to share digital content at little or no cost. Blackboard has also recently partnerships with commercial Publishers such as Wiley to integrate content into the online platform.

Tom will be sharing more about his initiatives to break down the boundaries of sharing content at BbWorld in his Feature Theme Session on Digital Content: This Changes Everything.

Check out this sneak peak from Tom and follow him on Twitter @tom4cam:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcF8u0AyevU

The following is a guest post from Mark Radcliffe, Director of Learning Management Technologies at blendedschools.net

Mark Radcliffe is the Director of Learning Management Technologies for the not-for-profit company blendedschools.net. Mark has worked in various K-20 education positions for the last 10 years including working directly with students and teachers on technology integration projects. At blendedschools.net Mark manages the instructional technology program, communicates directly with Blackboard on a daily basis and handles many aspects of the company’s professional development program. Mark is currently located in Norfolk, Virginia, USA but is originally from Manchester UK. He enjoys the city and loves music and the visual arts.

Get an insider’s look….

This year at BbWorld I’ll be presenting “Wimba Classroom to Blackboard Collaborate – Make the Switch,” which is probably one of my simpler session titles in a while. I usually try and cram as many buzz words into my titles as possible. My hope is that it will attract people who look for buzz words and also attract people that get the irony of session titles with buzz words. In the end I went with a simple title this year because I wanted to illustrate that the process of switching from Wimba to Collaborate should not be complicated.

I have been working with K-12 educators for over 10 years now, helping them integrate technology into their classrooms. For the past five years I have been working with blendedschools.net, which has the most active K-12 online learning community in the country. It’s a challenging job as we only have eight people supporting over 75,000 users in four different states.

Working “to the masses” like this gets you familiar with new tools pretty quickly because you have 1,000s of teachers just waiting to tell you what they hate about something new. The challenge is getting them to like it before the hate switch kicks in.

In my session at BbWorld 2012, I am going to detail how we went about switching from Wimba Classroom to Blackboard Collaborate.  We spent a lot of time crafting a very detailed list of differences between the two products and getting solid feedback on what items were showstoppers for teachers. I also spent a lot of time saying, “Really that’s a show stopper? You couldn’t just click that button instead?”

My hope for this session, and for BbWorld 2012 in general, is that we take “misery loves company” and make it “happiness loves company.”

Let’s not pretend that change is easy; at blendedschools.net we still have plenty of teachers that have not switched, but I hope to communicate that embracing change can be much more fun and fulfilling than trying to make the new conform to the old. My first thought when I see anything new is “what is it about this tool that is awesome?” not “What can’t it do?”.

If you are reading this blog before my session, please feel free to throw out your questions and experiences and I’ll be happy to include answers to them through the blog or in the session itself. It wouldn’t be web 2.0 if I couldn’t use someone else’s ideas and pass them off as my own.

Also follow me on the various social media:

@bsnhomeroom
Blendedschools Facebook
http://share.blendedschools.net

Stay tuned for more coming attractions from Client Presenters and visit the BbWorld program for more information.

Eric, affectionately known to many as @NMHS_Principal, is a K-12 administrator who has adopted social media and web 2.0 technologies to engage students, improve communications with stakeholders, and help educators grow professionally. He is passionate about establishing and fostering learning environments that are student-centered, collaborative, flexible, and prepare all learners to succeed in the 21^st Century. We are thrilled that Eric is able to join us this summer; check out this video message he shared about his upcoming presentation.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWhHoXxsi8E

You can read more from Eric on his personal blog, A Principal’s Reflection, and in his frequent contributions on Huffington Post.

In the coming weeks, we’ll be highlighting other pieces of the BbWorld program that are relevant to the social learning conversation. In the meantime, if you have questions or comments, please share them below or tweet us, @Blackboard, and remember to include the #BbW12 hashtag.

We know that many of you have booked your flights and are already thinking about how you’ll capture the sights and sounds of this year’s BbWorld. So this year, if you’re planning to blog, we want to make it a little bit more enticing: register here to be an official BbWorld Blogger and let us reward all your hard work!

As an official BbWorld Blogger, your peers will recognize you as a thought-leader, sharing a personal perspective and reflecting on all aspects of the event. You’ll get reserved seating in all keynote presentations, a blogger badge that you can add to your personal blog TODAY, and a BbWorld Blogger t-shirt (rock your t-shirt at the Client Appreciation Party). We’ll also feature some of the posts on Blackboard Blogs during the week of the show, July 9-13. More details will be shared in June; keep an eye on your email.

BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE…

For three exceptional bloggers, we’re giving away three FREE passes to BbWorld. Starting today through Friday, May 4, you can enter to be a BbWorld VIP Blogger. Here’s what you need to do:

1. Write and post to your personal blog an entry titled, “Why I want to be a VIP BbWorld blogger.” Tell us who you are and why you want to go to BbWorld – we’ll be judging on originality of submission and enthusiasm.
2. Tweet your post to @Blackboard using the #BbW12 hashtag. And email andrea.meier@blackboard.com to guarantee entry.
3. Complete the BbWorld Blog form and make sure you select ‘Yes’ to enter the contest.

What do the VIP Bloggers receive?

-        FREE registration to BbWorld 2012 (Does not include T&E)

-        Access to your peers from around the globe for unbelievable networking and collaboration opportunities.

-        Before BbWorld, we’ll profile you on the Blackboard Blog

-        Backstage access to keynote speakers and Bb leaders

-        Plus a few other surprise we’ve got in the works.

-        Click to download official contest rules.

Did we mention it’s in New Orleans?

This year, we’ve expanded the program and are so excited to bring together outside leaders from across the global Higher Ed, K-12 and Professional Education community to share their perspective on key education topics, directions and trends.  The 2012 program is centered on a few key themes, which were introduced during the CFP process; here they are again:

Social Learning

• Learning from interaction and collaboration with peers through both formal and informal educational spheres

Digital Content

• How advancements in digital content are changing the way students and faculty engage with and share educational information and activities.

Analytics in Action

• The power of data-driven decision making across the institution.

Technology Adoption

• Best practices for improving user success to maximize the value of your technology investment.

Mobility

• How to meet the growing expectation that student have for access and engagement through mobile devices.

We regularly find ourselves in conversations with you and fellow experts exploring social learning approaches, digital content resources, best practices for technology, and the speed at which mobile is being adopted on campus to create a new student experience. We feel certain that these themes will resonate.

So we’re bringing the conversation from the edu-sphere to NOLA, in client-led sessions, Blackboard-led sessions, keynotes and more. Most importantly, as part of these themes, we are excited to announce a new addition to the program called “Feature Theme Sessions.” These sessions will be presented by an impressive list of thought leaders from around the education community. Beginning on Tuesday, April 10, we’ll announce the first Feature Theme Session presenter and even share a special video message from him. Make sure to check back and hope you can join us in the Big Easy!

With 99% of the tournament teams using Blackboard, we decided to host our own Final Four Pool. No money involved just good, clean fun. The client with the closest entries for the final winner will win a non-transferable free pass to BbWorld 2012 in New Orleans, LA.

Whether you’re pulling for a Trojan or a Jayhawk, you must enter your final four bracket picks by 12PM EDT on March 22, 2012 – and hopefully we’ll see your team in the Final Four.

Click here to enter your picks and be sure to follow us on Facebook and Twitter for more March Madness trivia!

Please see the contest terms and conditions,  for more information.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=KASxx4tL6Kg

We’re thrilled to reveal that Freeman A. Hrabowski, III, President of UMBC, will deliver the BbWorld 2012 opening keynote on Tuesday, July 10.

In 2008, Freeman was named one of America’s Best Leaders by U.S. News & World Report, which in 2009, 2010, and 2011 ranked UMBC the #1 “Up and Coming” university in the nation.  In 2011, U.S. News also ranked UMBC 4th nationally for “Best Undergraduate Teaching” – tied with Yale.  In 2009, TIME magazine named him one of America’s 10 Best College Presidents. This past year, he received both the TIAA-CREF Theodore M. Hesburgh Award for Leadership Excellence and the Carnegie Corporation of New York’s Academic Leadership Award, recognized by many as the nation’s highest awards among higher education leaders.  Also in 2011, he was named one of seven Top American Leaders by The Washington Post and the Harvard Kennedy School’s Center for Public Leadership.

… yeah. We’re blown away by him too! Not familiar with Freeman’s work? don’t worry! You will be an expert by July with all the exclusive updates we have to share with you. Stay tuned!

For all our opening keynote contest participants, if you guessed Freeman A. Hrabowski, III, you’re ONE Step closer to joining us at BbWorld 2012 for FREE! Our officials are in the process of collecting all eligible posts and we will be revealing the lucky winner this Wednesday, March 14th at NOON sharp!

This year, instead of just announcing our opening keynote speaker as we’ve done in years past, we decided to spice it up a bit! Starting today, all week long, we will leak one new clue about this individual. And each day, we want you to guess who you think it might be. If your guess is correct, you could be joining us in New Orleans this summer for our annual user conference and biggest event of the year!

All you need to do is:

1. Like us on Facebook
2. Tweet us your guess and include the hashtag #BbW12
3. Post your guess in the comments below!

It’s that simple! You may guess up to five times, once per day. The prizewinner will be randomly drawn from all eligible entries (those that have correctly guessed the keynote speaker) received by 11:59 p.m. EDT on March 9, 2012 and the winner will be announced on Wednesday, March 14, 2012.

Clue 1: Some would say this individual is a Top American Leader – and they’ve got an award to prove it!

Clue 2: Have you ever had a conversation with President Obama? Our opening keynote speaker has!

Clue 3: Let’s just say…our keynote knows what the inside of a jail looks like!

Clue 4: What do our opening keynote speaker and this picture have in common?

Ready for your FINAL clue?

Clue 5: Our opening keynote speaker is a math and science whiz, an author, and a doctor. This individual’s astrological sign is a Leo.

Who is it?

Good luck and happy guessing. Can’t wait to announce the winner next week!

Please see the official contest rules for more information. No purchase necessary.