Dr. Jennifer Ellis Presents at 2012 BBWorld Conference

Dr. Jennifer Ellis, COTELCO/IDPP faculty associate, presented IDPP research to dozens of participants at the 2012 Blackboard Education and Technology Conference (BBWorld12) in New Orleans, Louisiana on 10 July 2012.

Dr. Ellis was invited by Blackboard Collaborate to showcase how the COTELCO-led IDPP designed and facilitated the world’s first virtual Master’s degree program in disability policy (the Master’s in Comparative and International Disability Policy program or CIDP) using the Blackboard Collaborate Learning Management System (LMS) in addition to other accessible technologies and cyberinfrastructure programs. Specifically, Dr. Ellis addressed the ways in which the IDPP has learned to leverage the Blackboard LMS to provide geographically distributed students with the ultimate learning experience.

Dr. Ellis serves as a CIDP faculty member, as well as the co-chair of the IDPP Evaluation Committee. COTELCO/DPP Executive Director, Dr. Derrick L. Cogburn and COTELCO/IDPP Director of Technology, Mr. Clyde White, Jr. serve on the Blackboard Accessibility Task Force.

BBWorld12 conference participants will also have the pleasure of hearing from the leaders of Blackboard in a corporate keynote address featuring Blackboard President and Chief Executive Officer Mr. Michael Chasen; and Blackboard Chief Technology Officer Mr. Ray Henderson on 11 July.

BBWorld12, which began with pre-conference workshops from 8-9 July, will be separated into two conferences: the Blackboard Developers Conference (held from 9-10 July), which was devoted to topics such as system administration and integration, security, and performance; and the Blackboard Collaborate Connections Summit (to be held from 10-12 July), which will unveil the highly anticipated Blackboard Collaborate 12, and provide workshops geared toward sharing best practices and tips on how to optimize the Blackboard Collaborate experience.

For more details from the conference, search #BbW12 and follow Dr. Ellis on twitter!