Halmstad University Selects Blackboard Learn 9.1

- Move Brings the Latest Learning Technologies to Students and Faculty

AMSTERDAM, April 25, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- As part of its long-term effort to meet the evolving needs of a diverse set of students and teachers, Halmstad University in Sweden has selected Blackboard Learn™ 9.1 as its new learning management system (LMS). After a formal evaluation, Halmstad selected Blackboard Learn over three regional competitors to provide e-learning solutions with the flexibility to support a wide range of learning activities, Blackboard Inc. announced today.

In supporting a broad range of fully online, blended (both online and in-person) and traditional course offerings, Halmstad found Release 9.1 best suited to meet the needs of their diverse learners as well as the institution's long-term goals to improve retention in distance learning programs and to increase recruitment for prospective students.

Halmstad also recognized the need for a strategic partnership with an established, trusted vendor and found Blackboard's ability to develop new offerings as needs change over time critical to their long-term strategy for supporting learning technology and services. In addition to moving to Release 9.1, Halmstad plans to offer Blackboard Mobile™ Learn later this year to give students and faculty access to their course experience on their mobile devices.

"The e-learning solution we chose – Blackboard Learn 9.1 – is a mission critical solution for us," said Lasse Hagestam, Chief Information Officer at Halmstad University. "It is therefore important that the provider not only support the system, but is really a partner providing other services on which we can rely, such as customer networking, advice and recommendations and expertise – areas where we've already seen progress working with Blackboard."

With Release 9.1, officials at Halmstad saw a solution that could help them grow into the future and offer important customization opportunities. Equally important, officials were confident in Blackboard's ability to go beyond technology to help ensure performance quality and to provide excellent support, consulting and expertise in hosting through Blackboard Managed Hosting.

In the selection process, officials at Halmstad noted Release 9.1's superior usability, social learning tools like wikis and blogs that allow users to collaborate within the course environment, and integrations with other critical applications including the student information system.

Nearly 2,000 institutions have adopted Release 9.1, Blackboard's flagship learning management platform to take advantage of the platform's improved stability, social learning tools to drive student engagement, digital content integrations and greater workflow efficiencies for instructors and administrators. For more information about Blackboard Learn, please visit http://www.blackboard.com/International/EMEA/Overview.aspx.

About Blackboard Inc.

Blackboard Inc. is a global leader in enterprise technology and innovative solutions that improve the experience of millions of students and learners around the world every day. Blackboard's solutions allow thousands of higher education, K-12, professional, corporate, and government organizations to extend teaching and learning online, facilitate campus commerce and security, and communicate more effectively with their communities. Founded in 1997, Blackboard is headquartered in Washington, D.C., with offices in North America, Europe, Asia and Australia.

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