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[b:feec590607]Standards[/b:feec590607]
http://www.w3.org/WAI/[b:feec590607]Tools[/b:feec590607]
http://www.w3.org/WAI/ER/existingtools.htmlThe combined Companies’ 3,700 academic clients will create an unparalleled
Community of Practice enabling collaboration and innovation around the world
WASHINGTON, Oct. 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Two leading providers of enterprise software and services to the education community, Blackboard Inc. (Nasdaq: BBBB) and WebCT, Inc., today announced a definitive agreement to merge. Under terms of the agreement, Blackboard will acquire WebCT in a cash transaction for $180 million, which values the offer at approximately $154 million, net of WebCT’s August 31, 2005 cash balance of $26 million. The ultimate value of the offer will vary depending on WebCT’s cash balance at closing. The transaction will combine two pioneering academic e-Learning organizations into a single company with the client base, resources and expertise to uniquely meet the rapidly evolving needs of educators around the world.
The merger of Blackboard and WebCT marks a major milestone in the build- out of networked learning environments by colleges, universities, schools and other education providers. It creates a large, collaborative community of academic institutions-a global e-Learning “Community of Practice”-supported by unsurpassed resources for innovation and support. Currently, more than 3,700 higher education, K-12, corporate, government and commercial academic institutions enhance their learning environments with solutions offered by the two organizations. Bringing Blackboard and WebCT together provides a powerful platform for innovating and supporting what at many institutions is the least developed, yet one of the most strategic segments of their technology infrastructure. Further, it will break down barriers and enable collaboration across institutions by developers and end-users at a critical time in the evolution of e-Learning technologies.
“This merger makes tremendous sense for our clients, shareholders and employees. It marks an unparalleled opportunity for two successful, mission- driven organizations to unify with a singular focus on being the premier partner and platform for educators on a global basis,” said Michael Chasen, Blackboard President and Chief Executive Officer. “Together with our clients, we have one of those rare and special opportunities to truly improve the access, quality and efficiency of education on a global scale.”
“Both companies are passionate about the academic market and, alongside our respective clients, have truly pioneered the category together,” said Carol Vallone, WebCT President and Chief Executive Officer. “Given the alignment of our visions, technologies, and overall strategies, the combination of our two companies will advance the teaching and learning technology industry, benefiting customers worldwide.”
Both companies’ Boards of Directors have approved the merger. Subject to regulatory approval and other customary closing conditions, the transaction is expected to close late this year or in early 2006. The combined companies will operate under the Blackboard name and brand with corporate headquarters located in Washington, DC. Operations will continue in WebCT’s facilities in Massachusetts and Canada. Michael Chasen will continue to serve as President and CEO.
Complementary Strengths and Synergies
The merger of Blackboard and WebCT unites two innovators servicing academic institutions, both with complementary heritages in academia. Key strengths of the combination include:
* Top rated, proven e-Learning solutions recognized for ease-of-use,
flexibility and scalability* A broad, unified platform for publishers and e-Learning software
developers that spans the globe* A world-class service and support organization benefiting from the
best-practices and infrastructure investments of both companies* A stronger presence in the global education markets, including an
expanded international footprint, including the UK, Canada, Australia,
Japan, South Africa, Finland, Netherlands, Singapore, Spain, Hong Kong
and Ireland* Expanded base of Blackboard clients, allowing Blackboard to better
serve those WebCT e-Learning institutions that also use the Blackboard
Commerce Suite(TM) product set* Larger revenue streams, enabling greater investment for innovation
Client Continuity and Product Strategy
Blackboard plans to enhance and support the existing products of both WebCT and Blackboard. New releases and ongoing software maintenance for WebCT and Blackboard will continue to be a key focus of the combined company. At the same time, Blackboard will leverage the Blackboard Building Blocks(R) architecture and WebCT’s PowerLinks framework as the joint foundation for these enabling interfaces that will allow the existing product lines to interoperate with one another and with other applications. Over time, Blackboard will incorporate the best features and usability characteristics from the two product lines into a new, standards-based product set that will incorporate a scalable, architecture, the use of Web services, unparalleled ease of use, and flexible customization features.
“I have had experience with both companies and view this merger as combining excellence with excellence to advance the e-Learning industry,” said Jack Wilson, President of The University of Massachusetts. “I also see this combination as a way to break down barriers across the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and to open the door to new opportunities for collaboration among institutions using different e-learning platforms.”
Financial Details
WebCT offers many of the same financial characteristics of Blackboard’s business model, including an annual recurring subscription-based licensing model, ratable revenue recognition, a stable educational institutional client base and historically high renewal rates. As a result, the combination is expected to enhance growth and profitability over time. Blackboard expects the acquisition to close late this year or in early 2006. Assuming the merger closes by early 2006, Blackboard expects the transaction to be moderately accretive to earnings on a non-GAAP basis and dilutive on a GAAP basis for calendar year 2006, and significantly accretive to earnings on a non-GAAP basis and dilutive on a GAAP basis for calendar year 2007. The combined company expects to realize significant efficiencies by leveraging shared development infrastructure, and mitigating duplicative marketing initiatives and administrative expenditures.
Blackboard retained Credit Suisse First Boston as its financial advisor and Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale & Dorr and McDermott, Will & Emery as its legal advisors. WebCT retained Goldman Sachs & Co. as its financial advisor and Choate, Hall & Stewart and White & Case as its legal advisors.
Additional Information
The Blackboard management team will host a financial analyst and investor conference call today at 5:00 p.m. EDT. The call can be accessed at (866) 578- 5788 (U.S.) or (617) 213-8057 (International) and using the reference code 56789081. The conference call will also be web cast at http://investor.Blackboard.com. For those unable to listen to the live conference call, a telephone replay will be available at (888) 286-8010 or (617) 801-6888 (reference code 18422925), through October 19, 2005.
Blackboard’s CEO, Michael Chasen, and WebCT’s CEO, Carol Vallone, will hold multiple meetings open to clients and other educators to discuss the merger and answer questions. These meetings will take place at the Educause conference during each company’s corporate presentations scheduled for Wednesday, October 19, 2005, 11:40 AM EDT in Meeting Room W204A and on Thursday, October 20, 2005, 2:20 PM EDT in Meeting Room W204A.
In addition, Blackboard has launched a new portion of its Web site, http://www.blackboard.com/webct, where anyone can track the latest news and information about the merger.
About Blackboard
Blackboard is a leading provider of enterprise software and services to the education industry. The Company’s product line consists of five software applications bundled in two suites, the Blackboard Academic Suite(TM) and the Blackboard Commerce Suite. Blackboard’s clients include colleges, universities, schools and other education providers, as well as textbook publishers and student-focused merchants that serve education providers and their students. Blackboard is headquartered in Washington, D.C., with offices and staff in North America, Europe and Asia.
About WebCT
Based in Lynnfield, MA, WebCT provides a highly flexible e-learning environment that empowers institutions across the educational spectrum with the ability to achieve their unique objectives for faculty empowerment, administrative efficiency and student outcomes. Colleges and universities around the world, from community colleges to large university consortia, are using WebCT to expand the boundaries of teaching and learning.
Forward Looking Statements
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, including statements about the expected impact of the acquisition on Blackboard’s earnings per share in future periods, 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 timing and extent of regulatory review, the timing of the closing, the ability of Blackboard to integrate the business, operations and personnel of WebCT following the acquisition, and the ability of both companies to retain their existing customers and gain new customers before and after the closing of the acquisition. Other factors that could affect the results discussed in our forward-looking statements include those set forth in the “Risk Factors” section of our most recent 10-Q filed with the SEC. In addition, the forward- looking statements included in this press release represent the Company’s views as of October 12, 2005. 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 October 12, 2005.
SOURCE Blackboard Inc.
http://investor.blackboard.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=177018&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=767025
[b:2260d4e754]Wheelock College Streamlines Operations Across Campus with Jenzabar Solutions[/b:2260d4e754]
Students, Faculty and Staff Will Benefit from Enhanced ERP System and Web Portal
Cambridge, MA, October 3, 2005 – Wheelock College and Jenzabar, Inc., the pioneer of Total Campus Management (TCM) solutions for higher education, announced today that Wheelock College will further streamline its campus operations through implementation of the Jenzabar EX ERP system and Jenzabar’s Internet Campus solution (JICS). Online registration and payment, enhanced student services, and improved data collection and analysis are just a few of the many efficiencies inherent in the Jenzabar implementation.
The College community will reap additional advantages from Web-based access to applications and data personalized to each user’s role. Wheelock students, faculty and staff are excited about the process improvements that are implicit in the new system. With the new system in place, students will be able to manage their collegiate business online, faculty will be able to access student data more easily, and students and faculty will be able to better communicate with each other for student advising and course-related issues.
“We expect the implementation of the Jenzabar EX system to transform our campus community,” said Jackie Jenkins-Scott, President of Wheelock College. “Students will benefit from enhanced services and greater efficiency in the administration of their education. Faculty will benefit by being able to more completely focus on their student relationships and teaching. Our staff will benefit from an improved data flow and the automation of otherwise tedious administrative functions. And the Wheelock leadership team and I will benefit from having up-to-the-minute data at our fingertips for more timely decision-making.”
The decision to advance the capabilities of the College’s administrative systems came out of a strategic planning process that included a survey of the needs of all campus constituents. The survey recorded a keen desire on the part of students, faculty and staff to improve the College’s administrative infrastructure. Wheelock College will see process improvements across all departments, from the Registrar’s Office to Academic Affairs. The College’s IT staff also is looking forward to the greater degree of self-service afforded by the Jenzabar EX system, allowing department administrators to create and run their own reports, while assuring data integrity and consistency throughout the College.
Chip Towle, Wheelock’s Director of Information Technology, noted, “The potential for Jenzabar EX to improve our administrative processes has energized the entire community. Not only will our data management and processing capabilities be vastly improved, but also system users- students, faculty and staff-will have more services at their fingertips. Jenzabar EX will provide a solid platform for our continuing growth and evolution as a technology-savvy institution. We also appreciate Jenzabar’s service-oriented approach as we take on the task of converting our system.”
“We are excited to contribute to the ‘new Wheelock’,” said Robert A. Maginn, Chairman and CEO of Jenzabar, Inc. “We strive to be a strategic partner for each of our clients and it is gratifying to witness Jenzabar products and services making a difference in campus communities across the United States and abroad. Jenzabar is committed to helping institutions of higher education leverage their technology investments in service of their missions and, as is the case with Wheelock College, facilitate the streamlining of their educational and administrative processes.”
Jenzabar EX is one of the cornerstones of Jenzabar’s Total Campus Management (TCM) framework. Helping client institutions improve the delivery of services and information to their constituents is the premise behind all Jenzabar offerings, and the ability to easily access comprehensive, real-time information is primary to the Jenzabar EX solution. Jenzabar EX helps institutions manage data through the entire student lifecycle, from Admissions and Registration through Financial Aid, Student Life, and Advising to Alumni Development. The fully-integrated business office applications in Jenzabar EX align administrative tasks in Human Resources, Purchasing, and Finance, including General Ledger, Accounts Payable, and Accounts Receivable.
Jenzabar’s Total Campus Management (TCM) framework meets the unique business needs of higher education with a comprehensive approach to software and services, from a front-end campus portal to fully integrated, functionally-rich enterprise systems. Each custom-tailored TCM solution is built from Jenzabar’s integrated ERP, campus intelligence, Internet portal, and constituent relationship modules. Total Campus Management offers colleges and universities Jenzabar’s i3 advantage-integrated, intelligent, and Internet-based solutions-to help manage the demands of the 21st-century campus.
About Wheelock College
Founded in 1888 and located in Boston, MA, Wheelock College is a private institution with the public mission of improving the quality of life for children and their families. The College fulfills this mission by providing a strong education in the arts and sciences and in its professional fields – child life, social work, and education – for which its undergraduate and graduate programs are nationally and internationally recognized. Throughout its academic programs and student experience, the College reflects the multicultural dimensions of the countries in which it operates and fosters diverse learning communities – all of which contributes to the success, leadership, and impact that its graduates enjoy in a wide variety of careers.About Jenzabar, Inc.
Jenzabar, Inc. is a leading provider of enterprise software and services developed exclusively for higher education. With more than 30 years of combined experience offering technology solutions to colleges and universities, Jenzabar is the trusted partner of choice to 700 campuses worldwide, including private liberal arts, state, and community colleges and business, medical, law and other graduate schools. Jenzabar is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with regional offices located across the United States. For further information, please visit http://www.jenzabar.net.Jenzabar, Jenzabar.com, i3 and Total Campus Management are trademarks or registered trademarks of Jenzabar, Inc. All other company/product names and service marks may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.
# # #
Wheelock College Contact:Mike Akillian
VP of Marketing & Communications
Phone: 617.879.2290
Email: makillian@wheelock.eduSINGAPORE AIRLINES ChOOSeS PLATEAU SYSTEMS FOR ENTERPRISE-WIDE LEARNING MANAGEMENT
Major Asia-Based Win Continues to Fuel Plateau’s International Growth
ARLINGTON, Va. – Oct. 3, 2005 – Plateau Systems, a leading provider of
software for developing, managing and optimizing organizational skills and
talent, today announced that Singapore Airlines has selected its learning
management software to bolster training and development for its 29,000
global employees, including its mechanics, pilots and customer facing
personnel.
Servicing over 90 destinations in nearly 40 countries, Singapore Airlines
is one of the most respected travel brands in the world. It ranked #28 on
Fortune Magazine’s All-Stars list of Global Most Admired Companies, and
was named the World’s Best International Airline for the 10th consecutive
year by Travel & Leisure Magazine. The company has earned its stellar
reputation by maintaining a distinguished safety record and providing
impeccable service to its customers – onboard its planes, at the check-in
counter and via its call centers.
“Safety and customer service are fundamental business drivers at Singapore
Airlines,” said Singapore Airlines’ Senior Vice President Human Resources,
Loh Meng See. “By deploying Plateau’s software across our entire global
enterprise, we are bolstering our industry leading capabilities in the
people areas.”
Singapore Airlines plans to use Plateau’s learning management system to
deploy and track mission-critical training to its flight mechanics, flight
crew members and reservation personnel. Training will range from repair
procedures for aircraft engines, safety procedures for flight attendants
and reservations system training for call center personnel. Plateau’s
proven success working with large complex organizations was among the key
reasons Singapore Airlines selected Plateau.
“Singapore Airlines is an extremely well run company, and should serve as
an excellent example to other companies looking to deploy our solutions in
Asia or within the aviation industry,” said Paul Sparta, chairman and CEO
of Plateau Systems. “The airline conducted a very thorough evaluation and
selected Plateau for our enterprise service oriented architecture, our
deep functionality and our track record of success with similar global
companies.”
# # #
About Plateau: Plateau is a leading provider of adaptable Web-based
software for developing, managing and optimizing organizational skills and
talent to increase workforce productivity and business operations
performance. Plateau’s software is being used by some of the world’s
largest, most successful enterprises, including the American Red Cross,
General Electric, Internal Revenue Service and Wendy’s International.
Industry analysts, including Forrester Research and Bersin & Associates,
have rated Plateau a leader in functionality, technology and customer
satisfaction. The company is headquartered in Arlington, Va. For more
information, please visit http://www.plateau.com <http://www.plateau.com>.About Singapore Airlines
Singapore Airlines is one of the world’s leading airlines, incorporated in
Singapore and operating, as a Group, to a network of 91 destinations in 37
countries around the world. The Airline is the world’s most awarded
airline, and operates a fleet of 90 passenger aircraft, the average age of
which is just five and a half years. Singapore Airlines employs 28,400
staff across its Group of companies, which includes subsidiaries such as
Singapore Airlines Engineering Company Ltd, Singapore Airport Terminal
Services Ltd, Singapore Airlines Cargo Pte Ltd and SilkAir, among others.
Singapore Airlines has been consistently profitable and is one of the
world’s most profitable airline transport companies.1. *ATutorDay Italia
2. *AChecker accessibility Verifier Upgrades
3. *TinyMCE ATAG Compliance.1. *ATutorDay Italia*
If you have not already made plans to attend ATutorDay Italia, time is running out. There are only 10 days remaining. The first ATutorDay is being held on October 14 at the Hotel La Palma on the Island of Capri, south east of Naples, Italy.This conference will be an opportunity for an international audience to learn about the successfully use of ATutor throughout Italy, and an opportunity to meet with Greg Gay, the lead developer on the ATutor project. Greg will be speaking about ATutor Accessibility, and about directions ATutor will be taking over the coming months and years.
Full details about the conference can be found on the ATutorDay Web site:
*ATutorDay*
http://www.atutorday.it.2. *AChecker Accessibility Verifier Upgrades*
The AChecker Accessibility Verifier has been upgraded, and the AChecker Web service updated. This version of AChecker includes a variety of new features and enhancements. Some of these include:* a new user friendly interface
* improved display of accessibility reports
* upload local HTML files to check their accessibility
* extended support for the EARL report language
* a plugin AChecker for the TinyMCE EditorFor more details visit the AChecker Web site:
*AChecker*
http://checker.atrc.utoronto.ca3. *TinyMCE ATAG Conformance*
Over the past couple months, the ATutor team has been working with the Johan “Spocke” Sörlin and the developers at Moxiecode, to upgrade their Open Source TinyMCE Javascript-based WYSIWYG HTML editor so it conforms with the W3C Authoring Tool Accessibility Guideline (ATAG 2.0).This is a very significant advancement in the development of access conformant Web-based authoring tools, being the first such tool that is able to claim ATAG conformance. Since TinyMCE can be used with virtually any Web-based content management system, the accessibility features it offers will be available through many other Web-based content development applications.
In the next version of ATutor, TinyMCE will replace the current HTML editor, now ensuring not only that the learning environment is fully accessible, but also that the content created in ATutor is also fully accessible.
For more about the coming TinyMCE release, or to try it yourself, visit the MoxieCode web site:
*TinyMCE*
http://tinymce.moxiecode.com/The official release of the ATAG conformant TinyMCE editor is only a few weeks away.
Some answers to this questrion may be found at
–http://www.brandonhall.com/public/publications/lms/
–http://store.bersinassociates.com/lms-selection-rfp.html
–http://www.ziiva.com/choosing.htm
–http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_go1517/is_200204/ai_n6895932IMS Global Learning Consortium, Inc. (IMS) is a nonprofit corporation that began with a focus on higher education. Today, they’ve expanded their specifications and projects to address a wide range of learning contexts.
The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Computer Society Standards Activity Board has chartered the Learning Technology Standards Committee (LTSC) to develop technical standards, recommended practices, and guides for computer implementations of education and training components and systems
Aviation Industry Computer-Based Training Committee (AICC) is an international association of technology-based training professionals that creates guidelines for the development, delivery, and evaluation of training technologies
Sharable Content Object Reference Model (SCORM) project focuses on next-generation open architecture for online learning
The title comes from an article in The Age ( 25/3/2003). May be of interest to people.
