"There is a major disconnect between what today’s learners want and what the educational system is giving them – and it’s about time that we all take a close look at how to change that," said Jay Bhatt, President and CEO of Blackboard. "In order for learners of all types and ages to be truly successful, we need to be brutally honest about what’s working and what’s not. We need to re-imagine how learning can happen, and we’ve taken a major step toward realizing that vision today."

The vision will be brought to life through technology and services that are focused on the wants and needs of the learner; tightly integrated into connected and sensible workflows; packaged in a totally new, intuitive and delightful user experience; accessible, mobile, and always-on; and layered with data and analytics capabilities. 

The company also presented its first market offering that is fully aligned with the New Learning Experience in the form of tightly integrated releases of its core products: its flagship learning-management system Blackboard Learn™, Blackboard Collaborate™ and the new Bb Student App™.

The new Blackboard Learn will deliver the New Learning Experience through multiple deployment options including several SaaS- (software-as-a-service) based options that give the user a choice of experience: a new, simple, and delightful user interface and a course view called the Ultra experience, or they can continue to use the original experience. In addition, the company will continue to provide enhancements and innovations on its earlier versions of Blackboard Learn.

Earlier this year, the company released the new Blackboard Collaborate, a state-of-the-art web-conferencing solution that allows for real-time communication on any device directly in the browser, requiring no plugins or downloads. 

Where the New Learning Experience comes together is in Bb Student, a responsive mobile app introduced earlier this year that will integrate Blackboard Learn and Blackboard Collaborate, as well as the new user experience to deliver a full and delightful educational experience through the cloud.