Competency-Based Education

Blackboard Debuts Self Assessment Tool for CBE Programs

• By Joshua Bolkan
• 08/09/16

Blackboard has launched a new competency-based education (CBE) digital readiness tool, an online self-assessment designed to help institutions as they develop and implement CBE programs.

"Competency-based education models are designed to allow learners to progress as they demonstrate mastery of academic content, regardless of time, place, or pace of learning. These shifts can lead to lower cost to learners, less time to degree, and increased workplace opportunity.   As institutions plan for a new CBE program, the Digital Readiness Tool helps them understand the whole picture of CBE and the resources needed to meet their goals.  "

The new tool is designed to help institutions examine their planned or existing program for viability, scalability, curricular framework, learning environment, high-quality touch-points for faculty and alignment of policy, practice and authority.

"Institutions are discovering that one of the most difficult pieces of CBE program development is not curriculum and assessment development, rather it's all of the changes in institutional programs unrelated to the curriculum," said Van Davis, Associate Vice President of Higher Education Research and Policy at Blackboard. "These are the elements that our new self-assessment tool helps uncover. Once an institution has a handle on where they are in the path, it's a much easier road forward."