e-Learning 2.0 vision update.

e-learning 2.0--the new initiative consists of four bold inaugural projects that Blackboard will tackle in collaboration with clients. It represents a transformational shift for how the Internet can improve education. The Blackboard Beyond Initiative calls for the creation of a series of Web properties that connect the institutions, faculty, and students who use Blackboard worldwide across education segments and disciplines. The sites will be shaped and run by Blackboard's client community of practice and developed by Blackboard.

Each of the inaugural projects is designed to advance one of the four defining elements of the company's e-Learning 2.0 vision. Each project will be shaped by the active involvement of clients. The four pillars include:

Extending the platform: e-Learning 2.0 is about personalising the e-Learning environment to be more discipline and pedagogically specific to the educational activity at hand. This more tailored platform experience can be achieved through

specialised software extensions developed by and for educators, as well as with rich, interactive digital resources. As part of the Initiative, Blackboard announces its plans to establish a Global Learning Objects Catalogue, in which any Blackboard user can publish to or search for learning resources to enhance their instructional experience.

Facilitating Social Networking: e-Learning 2.0 is about enabling a social experience that recognizes the course is but on social-organisational group in a broader education environment. To help foster academically oriented relationships outside of the classroom environment, Blackboard announces plans to connect students and faculties across disciplines and across institutions through a new Scholar.com Web service. Scholar.com will provide users with the opportunity to communicate and collaborate with other experts in and outside of their discipline and fields of interest.

Enabling Lifelong Learning: e-Learning 2.0 is about integrating the educational journey students take from elementary school to higher education to the workplace. As more and more faculties and students use e-Portfolios to store and showcase their scholarly achievements, Blackboard announces a unique "e-Portfolios-for-life" service that will allow Blackboard users to post their portfolios to a central site for long-term

Creating Network Learning Environments: e-Learning 2.0 is about moving beyond the course towards a more holistic conception of a networked learning environment. One consequence of this shift is a hunger by educators to conduct research and benchmark various e-Learning strategies and programmes using data from peer institutions. As part of the Initiative, Blackboard has announced a collaborative data warehouse service which will allow clients to share anonymously relevant data and gain better insight into best practices.

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