Today’s students are increasingly reliant on mobile devices to
communicate and manage their lives, and many educational
institutions are looking for ways to use mobility to attract and
engage students. To help support them, Sprint (NYSE: S) and
Blackboard Inc. (Nasdaq: BBBB) today announced a partnership to
turn the “everywhere” mobile device into an anytime learning
option. The two companies will offer Blackboard Mobile Learn™ – a
new application from Blackboard that will let students learn when
and where they want – to users of Sprint devices at no additional
cost to institutions.
The application will recreate and enrich the course experience
of Blackboard Learn™, the leading Web-based teaching and learning
platform, in native applications for a range of devices. With it,
millions of students who log into their Blackboard® accounts each
day will be able to tap into mobile learning opportunities by
checking grades and assignments, adding comments to discussion
boards, e-mailing instructors and classmates and posting comments
to blogs – all from their mobile devices.
“Campuses are seeing increased demand from students and faculty
who want to do more on their mobile devices,” said Michael L.
Chasen, Blackboard’s president and CEO. “By partnering with Sprint
we’re making it easy for clients to get started fast, without
having to worry about startup costs that might otherwise delay
progress in this important area.”
Research indicates that the need for a mobile learning platform
is taking place rapidly, and Blackboard has received encouraging
feedback on its plans for Blackboard Mobile Learn, which will be
available to Sprint customers on select devices – at no charge to
universities – as well as a wider range of smartphones and Wi-Fi
devices in June.
“Learning is a deeply personal act and the better the experience
the better the results,” said Danny Bowman, president of Integrated
Solutions at Sprint. “Together, powered by a dependable 3G network
and rapidly expanding 4G network, Sprint and Blackboard are leading
a new era of innovative mobile learning where student experiences
are relevant, reliable and engaging.”
The recently released National Broadband Plan made
recommendations to the Federal Communications Commission to improve
education in the United States by supporting and promoting online
learning through the expansion of broadband technology.
“Innovative mobile technology and resources are keystones to
improving the education of America’s students and ensuring our
growing workforce is adequately prepared to enter future
industries,” Bowman added. “Sprint hopes this new partnership with
Blackboard will serve as a positive step and template for continued
efforts to make online learning accessible inside and outside the
classroom.”
A perfect complement to Blackboard Mobile Learn, Sprint 4G and
the new Overdrive™ 3G/4G Mobile Hotspot can provide blazing fast
speeds on any Wi-Fi-enabled device. The nation’s first-ever 3G/4G
mobile hotspot, Overdrive allows users to connect up to five
Wi-Fi-enabled devices simultaneously – including laptops, gaming
devices, cameras and even smartphones from other carriers – through
a single connection to run seamlessly over Sprint’s 3G or 4G
network where available.* These technologies can support students,
gathered in portable hotspots, downloading huge files, viewing
video lectures, and accessing collaborative discussion boards
powered by Blackboard Mobile Learn and Sprint 4G.
As part of the partnership, Sprint will also launch a
comprehensive campus awareness campaign, including an outreach
toolkit that participating clients can use to spread the word on
Blackboard Mobile Learn, Sprint’s device portfolio and discounted
plans at their institution.
Blackboard Mobile Learn will be available initially for U.S. and
Puerto Rico higher education and professional education clients on
Blackboard Learn Releases 8, 9 and higher. Details on availability
for K-12 and international markets, as well as for previous
versions of Blackboard Learn and the WebCT and ANGEL platforms,
will follow. Blackboard Mobile Learn will be enabled with the free
Blackboard Mobile Web Services Building Block™, which is available
for download today at Blackboard’s client support Web site Behind
the Blackboard.
For more information about Blackboard Mobile Learn, please visit
http://blackboard.com/Mobile/Mobile-Platform.aspx
Powered by the Now Network, Sprint offers voice and data
services for the education industry, including the first wireless
4G network from a national carrier; and has a full data-services
portfolio including business-continuity, wireless, wireline and
managed services and embedded mobile computing and M2M solutions.
To learn more about Sprint’s higher-ed solutions visit
www.sprint.com/highereducation
About Sprint
Nextel
Sprint Nextel offers a comprehensive range of wireless and
wireline communications services bringing the freedom of mobility
to consumers, businesses and government users. Sprint Nextel is
widely recognized for developing, engineering and deploying
innovative technologies, including two wireless networks serving
more than 48 million customers at the end of the fourth quarter of
2009 and the first 4G service from a national carrier in the United
States; industry-leading mobile data services; instant national and
international push-to-talk capabilities; and a global Tier 1
Internet backbone. The company's customer-focused strategy has led
to improved first call resolution and customer care satisfaction
scores. For more information, visit www.sprint.com.
About Blackboard
Inc.
Blackboard Inc. (Nasdaq: BBBB) 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 and other statements containing
the words “believes,” “anticipates,” “plans,” “expects,” “will,”
and similar expressions, constitute forward-looking statements
within the meaning of The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act
of 1995. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated
by such forward-looking statements as a result of various important
factors, including the factors discussed in the “Risk Factors”
section of our Form 10-K filed on February 17, 2010 with the
SEC. In addition, the forward-looking statements included in this
press release represent the Company’s views as of March 22, 2010.
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 forward-looking statements at
some point in the future, the Company specifically disclaims any
obligation to do so. These forward-looking statements should not be
relied upon as representing the Company’s views as of any date
subsequent to March 22, 2010.
* Coverage not available everywhere. The 3G Sprint Mobile
Broadband Network (including roaming) reaches over 273 million
people. Sprint 4G is available in over 25 markets and counting, and
on select devices. See sprint.com/4G for details.
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