Blackboard Inc. : Cuyahoga Community College Selects Blackboard Mobile

College finds Blackboard Superior to Competing Vendors and In-House Development

WASHINGTON - December 1, 2011 - Cuyahoga Community College (Tri-C) has selected Blackboard to bring campus services and information to mobile devices, the company announced today. After weighing the advantages of using on-campus resources and various mobile application developers, Tri-C found that partnering with Blackboard represented the best option for offering robust, native mobile apps on all major platforms and devices and customized to the Tri-C brand, without straining internal resources.

Tri-C initially started its own mobile initiative but quickly realized that they would not be able to maintain development and scale needed to be successful over time. Campus officials then moved to a formal review of several vendors and the eventual selection of Blackboard, which was recently identified as the leading provider of mobile applications to higher education institutions in the 2011 Campus Computing survey.

Tri-C Mobile launched on the iPhone®, Android™ and BlackBerry® in just 90 days and has already been downloaded more than 4,000 times. The application contains a suite of features within a single app including the course catalog, campus directory, event calendars, campus news, campus maps, financial aid information, and an "Ask-Tri-C" help module. Blackboard Mobile™ Learn was also added to the app this semester, bringing seamless mobile access to the college's instance of Blackboard Learn™ 9.1.

"When we tried to create a platform of our own, we recognized key limitations focused on management and scale," said Christina Royal, associate vice president for eLearning and innovation at Cuyahoga Community College. "By partnering with Blackboard, we were able to provide a solid set of apps right out of the box and we can quickly and easily adapt to our growing community and continue integrating innovative features as they become available."

As part of its larger mobile strategy, Tri-C is also adopting the Blackboard Connect™ communication and notification platform to replace its current, internally-developed emergency text message notification system.

"With more than 31,000 students spanning seven locations, including four campuses across northeastern Ohio, mobile connections help foster an important sense of community," said Gerard Hourigan, vice president and chief information officer at Cuyahoga Community College. "It is our goal to make it as easy as possible for students to stay connected to the college - even during the hours when they are at work or taking care of their families."

Blackboard Mobile Central™ and Blackboard Mobile Learn are available as native applications for Android; BlackBerry; iOS for the iPhone and iPod touch®; and Palm® webOS™. Blackboard Mobile Central is also available via the mobile Web on all Web-enabled devices, and Blackboard Mobile Learn is also available on the iPad®. When enabled by their institution, users can download both mobile apps, at no cost, directly to their device from their respective app stores.

For more information about Blackboard Mobile, please visit or follow @Bb_Mobile on Twitter.

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.

Any statements in this press release about future expectations, plans and prospects for Blackboard represent the Company's views as of the date of this press release. Actual results may differ materially as a result of various important factors. The Company anticipates that subsequent events and developments will cause the Company's views to change. However, while the Company may elect to update these statements at some point in the future, the Company specifically disclaims any obligation to do so.

CONTACT
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