Learning Management Systems

Blackboard Kicks Off First Hackathon for Developers and College Students

• By Sri Ravipati
• 05/15/17

Education technology company Blackboard today launched its first-ever hackathon event called “Hackboard,” open now through mid-June.

Blackboard invites developers and college students in the United States to create an original, user-friendly and impactful application capable of integrating with the Blackboard Learn learning management system. The goal of Hackboard, according to the challenge website, is to recognize an integration that combines both IMS Global Learning Tools Interoperability and Blackboard Learn’s REST APIs. The contest launch comes after Blackboard last week rolled out a host of accessibility and mobile features to Blackboard Learn.

Entries will be judged by a panel of professionals from Blackboard, IBM and Amazon Web Services based on the following criteria:

• Innovation;
• User experience;
• Quality impact;
• Technical difficulty; and
• Presentation.

The winning developer in Hackboard’s Open Division will be awarded $2,000 and will present his or her integration at a session at BbWorld17, Blackboard’s annual user conference, taking place July 25-27 in New Orleans. As part of the Student Division, one winning student will be eligible to hold a session at BbWorld.

Blackboard’s community of developers includes more than 3,500 registered individuals, according to information from the company. Interested participants must submit the code for their app and a short video explaining their integration and demonstrating how it works. The deadline to submit entries is June 18, 8:00 a.m. ET.