Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google


Blackboard Learn 9.1 Adds Updates for Competency Ed, More

  • By Dian Schaffhauser
  • 10/27/15

Blackboard Learn is adding a cluster of new features and assuring its customers that the flagship software still matters even as the company pursues development of its next-generation software. Sometime during the next two months the company will be rolling out updates to version 9.1 of the learning management system that will be of use to schools pursuing competency-based learning and seeking to exchange grade information between the LMS and the student information system.

The biggest update is the addition of a goal performance dashboard building block to map goals to courses within Learn. This tool, intended for competency-based education environments, lets learners and instructors track progress toward competencies and other learning milestones.

Grades Journey bolsters integration between Learn and the SIS to allow data exchange, such as grades between the two types of applications.

Additional updates include small enhancements or fixes. For example, users will be able to navigate to the next or previous thread in a discussion from the thread detail page instead of having to go through the discussion forum page. Also, "multiple fixes" to grades reporting will surface as will updates to content folders and notification processing.

"As we continue to work very hard to deliver new versions of our core products as part of the 'New Learning Experience,' we want to make sure customers understand that Blackboard Learn 9.1 will continue to be an absolutely critical focus area," said Mark Strassman, a senior vice president for product management. "We hope that our customers enjoy the improvements that this update brings them, and we will continue to listen to them to ensure that we bring continued enhancements and innovation in updates to come."

About the Author

Dian Schaffhauser is a former senior contributing editor for 1105 Media's education publications THE Journal, Campus Technology and Spaces4Learning.

Featured

  • Young Woman Programmer Uses Laptop To Analyze Neural Network Models

    AI Leaders Warn of Security Risks at United Nations Briefing

    The heads of OpenAI, Anthropic, and Hugging Face joined AI researcher Yoshua Bengio at the United Nations headquarters in New York to warn the UN Security Council about the security risks of increasingly capable AI.

  • networked node grid featuring illuminated connectors

    Infrastructure Accounts for More than Half of Worldwide AI Spending

    Gartner forecasts worldwide AI spending will reach $2.67 trillion in 2026, up 49.5% from 2025, with AI infrastructure accounting for nearly $1.5 trillion, or about 56% of the total. For every dollar Gartner expects to be spent on generative AI models, more than $52 will be spent on infrastructure.

  • woman

    AI Giants Back Nonprofit Focused on Workforce Transition

    The AI industry's biggest names are investing in more than just models and infrastructure — they're focusing on workforce readiness. OpenAI, Anthropic, Microsoft and Amazon are backing Raise US, a new nonprofit that aims to raise $1 billion to help American workers prepare for an AI-driven economy.

  • Futuristic metallic block with pixelated digital erosion effect

    Report: AI May Be Eroding the Very Skills Employers Need Most

    AI is changing which human capabilities matter most at work, yet employees are reporting that some of those same capabilities are being eroded, according to a new IBM study.