Release 9.1 Will Establish Single, Innovative Platform for Users Across Campuses

AMSTERDAM – 20 April, 2011 – Blackboard Inc. (Nasdaq: BBBB) today announced that University College Syddanmark selected Blackboard Learn™, Release 9.1 as part of a strategic investment to establish Syddanmark as a leader in e-learning within University Colleges in Denmark and to better serve student and faculty users across different campuses that are currently using a variety of course management systems.

Syddanmark selected Release 9.1 after a formal evaluation of course management systems that included product demonstrations, faculty surveys and client referrals. Blackboard was selected over competing providers due to its ability to significantly enhance collaborative learning opportunities and the advanced functionality of its mobile solutions.

Formed in January 2010 through the merger of University College West and University College South, Syddanmark has two main campuses in Esbjerg and Haderslev and three smaller satellite campuses in Kolding, Aabenraa and Soenderborg. Blackboard Learn, Release 9.1 will be used as a single academic portal across the entire institution through which all departments can work together online.

Release 9.1 will enable university officials to provide a wider range of study options, giving users a range of social learning and collaborative learning tools such as wikis, blogs and user groups. The platform also enables teachers to increase student engagement by seamlessly integrating multimedia content from Web sources to create a more visually impactful course experience.

“Operating at the cutting edge of educational technology solutions, Blackboard is the perfect partner to assist us in achieving our strategic ambition of being at the forefront of educational excellence and efficiency,” said Chris Mienert, Educational Development Consultant at University College Syddanmark, which serves approximately 5,500 students and employs roughly 700 staff members. “With a number of geographically remote campuses and an increasing number of our students involved in blended and distance learning courses, Blackboard Learn, Release 9.1 gives us the opportunity to create a single virtual campus for all of our students and teachers and will dramatically improve our learning environment by making our courses much more interactive and dynamic.”

In addition to deploying Blackboard Learn, Release 9.1, Syddanmark officials are also planning to leverage the Blackboard Mobile™ Learn application in coming months to give the campus community access to courses and content on a variety of mobile devices.

In preparation for its upgrade to Release 9.1 in September, the University will leverage free resources including video tutorials and instructional training materials created by Blackboard to help acclimate users to the new system quickly and seamlessly.

“We’ve invested much in a comprehensive platform that brings courses, collaboration and mobile learning together to deliver a truly impactful platform,” said Ray Henderson, President of Blackboard Learn. “We’re pleased to see that our direction seems well aligned with that of leading institutions like Syddanmark that have a real vision for how technology can enhance the learning experience.”

Blackboard Learn, Release 9.1 is being used by more than 1,200 institutions worldwide. It integrates web 2.0 technologies such as YouTube, SlideShare and Flickr and is the most comprehensive technology platform for teaching and learning, community building, content management and measuring learning outcomes.

For more information about Blackboard Learn, please visit http://www.blackboard.com/Platforms/Learn/Overview.aspx.