Blackboard Mobile Learn FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS – K-12 January 2011 DISCLAIMER: We may make statements regarding our product development and service offering initiatives, including the content of future product upgrades, updates or functionality in development. While such statements represent our current intentions, they may be modified, delayed or abandoned without prior notice and there is no assurance that such offering, upgrades, updates or functionality will become available unless and until they have been made generally available to our customers.

Table of Contents WHAT IS BLACKBOARD MOBILE™? ............................................................................................... 2 WHAT IS BLACKBOARD MOBILE CENTRAL? ................................................................................... 2 WHAT IS BLACKBOARD MOBILE LEARN? ....................................................................................... 2 WHEN WILL BLACKBOARD MOBILE LEARN BE AVAILABLE IN MARKETS OUTSIDE OF NORTH AMERICA? ................................................................................................................................... 3 HOW MUCH DOES BLACKBOARD MOBILE LEARN COST? ................................................................ 3 WHAT ABOUT THE EXISTING BLACKBOARD LEARN IPHONE APPLICATION? ..................................... 3 MY SCHOOL LICENSES THE BASIC EDITION OF BLACKBOARD LEARN. CAN WE USE BLACKBOARD MOBILE LEARN? .......................................................................................................................... 3 WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BLACKBOARD MOBILE LEARN AND BLACKBOARD MOBILE CENTRAL? .................................................................................................................................. 3 HOW DO I GET MORE INFORMATION NOW? .................................................................................... 4 TECHNICAL, SUPPORT AND SERVICE QUESTIONS .............................................................. 5 WHICH VERSIONS OF BLACKBOARD LEARN WILL WORK WITH BLACKBOARD MOBILE LEARN? .......... 5 DOES BLACKBOARD MOBILE HAVE OPEN APIS? ........................................................................... 5 WHO PROVIDES SUPPORT FOR BLACKBOARD MOBILE LEARN? ...................................................... 5 HOW CAN I ENSURE THAT BLACKBOARD MOBILE LEARN WORKS WITH MY INSTITUTION’S BLACKBOARD LEARN IMPLEMENTATION? WHAT TEST OPTIONS ARE AVAILABLE? ............................ 5 I AM A BLACKBOARD MANAGED HOSTINGSM CLIENT. HOW DO I ENABLE BLACKBOARD MOBILE LEARN FOR MY INSTITUTION? ....................................................................................................... 6 BLACKBOARD MANAGED HOSTING CLIENTS WHO HAVE PURCHASED AN ANNUAL LICENSE FOR BLACKBOARD MOBILE LEARN SHOULD CONTACT THEIR TECHNICAL SUPPORT MANAGER OR COMPLEX HOSTING MANAGER TO TALK ABOUT INSTALLING THE BLACKBOARD MOBILE WEB SERVICES BUILDING BLOCK ON THEIR IMPLEMENTATIONS. ............................................................ 6 WE USE CUSTOM AUTHENTICATION AT MY INSTITUTION. WILL BLACKBOARD MOBILE LEARN WORK FOR US? ..................................................................................................................................... 6 HOW CAN I GET MORE TECHNICAL INFORMATION ON BLACKBOARD MOBILE LEARN? ...................... 6 I UNDERSTAND THAT PRIVATE STUDENT DATA MAY BE PASSING THROUGH A CENTRAL SERVICE BETWEEN USER DEVICES AND MY BLACKBOARD LEARN INSTALLATION. SHOULD I BE CONCERNED? 6  

 

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Blackboard Mobile Learn FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS – K-12 January 2011 What is Blackboard Mobile™? Blackboard Mobile is a platform for bringing the education experience on to the mobile device. It allows schools and districts to meet the fast rising expectations their communities have for access to key services on their mobile devices. Today Blackboard Mobile features modules that address two vital parts of the student experience bringing student services to the mobile device (Blackboard Mobile Central™) and taking two-way teaching and learning mobile (Blackboard Mobile™ Learn). In the future, we plan to extend Blackboard Mobile to support additional elements of the campus experience including campus commerce, security, and mass notification. What is Blackboard Mobile Central? The Blackboard Mobile Central solution brings student services to the mobile device with custom, institution-branded applications. The Blackboard Mobile Central application is available natively for the iPhone, iPod touch, Android, BlackBerry and Palm webOS, as well as in mobile web versions for browser-enabled devices. Services supported today include Directory, Maps, News, Athletics, Courses, Events, Tours, Transit, Places, Library, Images, Video, and Get Help, as well as the ability to build custom modules based on the needs of your community using the Blackboard Mobile SDK. Learn more about Blackboard Mobile Central. What is Blackboard Mobile Learn? The Blackboard Mobile Learn app allows students and teachers to access teaching and learning wherever and whenever they want through two-way interactions on mobile devices. The Blackboard Mobile Learn app extends and enriches the course experience of the Blackboard Learn™ platform, the leading web-based teaching and learning platform, in native mobile applications for the most popular mobile platforms, including Android™, iPhone®, iPod touch®, iPad®, BlackBerry® and Palm® webOS™. Additionally, Blackboard Mobile™ Learn for ANGEL and Blackboard Mobile™ Learn for CE/Vista extend the course experience for clients licensing Blackboard Learn – ANGEL Edition 7.4 SP10 and Blackboard Learning System™ CE Enterprise/CE Enterprise Limited and Vista 8 SP5. Learn more about Blackboard Mobile Learn. When clients license Blackboard Mobile Learn, their institution is enabled for the Blackboard-branded app in all the relevant app stores. Students simply download the app, select their institution and log-in using their existing authentication credentials. Blackboard is on hand to help with testing tools and any custom authentication setup so the process from download to production can be quick and easy.

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Blackboard Mobile Learn FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS – K-12 January 2011 Some institutions may also be interested in the further step of taking both their student services and learning experiences mobile with a branded application all their own. For these clients there is a more tailored annual license solution, the Blackboard Mobile Central/Blackboard Mobile Learn bundle which brings multiple elements of student services (including teaching and learning) together on a mobile device under the brand of your institution in a standalone app. With this custom branded solution, students would search for your specific app (i.e. “[Your Institution Name] Mobile”), login, and away they go. In addition, clients that purchase the annual license for the Blackboard Mobile Central/Blackboard Mobile Learn bundle have access to the Blackboard Mobile APIs and Software Development Kit. This allows them to build new mobile applications that can be deployed to users and accessed within the Blackboard Mobile framework. When will Blackboard Mobile Learn be available for K-12 institutions? Launched in North America Higher Education in April, Blackboard Mobile Learn is available in K-12 as of August 2, 2010. How much does Blackboard Mobile Learn cost? Blackboard Mobile Learn is licensed an annual subscription basis based on the size of your learning community. Please contact your Blackboard representative for detailed pricing. What about the existing Blackboard Learn iPhone Application? Blackboard Mobile Learn replaces the existing Blackboard Learn iPhone application (primarily a one-way notification extension of Blackboard Learn instead of an interactive native mobile application for teaching and learning), which is no longer available for download on the Apple iTunes App Store. This previous iPhone app worked for all existing users until December 31, 2010. My school licenses the Basic Edition of Blackboard Learn. Can we use Blackboard Mobile Learn? Institutions that license the Basic Edition of the Blackboard Learn software can install the Blackboard Mobile Web Services Building Block through a command line installation process outlined in the Installation Guide. Clients must be running Release 8.0 Service Pack 6 or higher. The Blackboard Building Block will also be bundled with Release 8.0 Service Pack 7 later this year. Currently, clients who license the Basic Edition of the CE platform do not have access to the Blackboard Mobile Learn solution.

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Blackboard Mobile Learn FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS – K-12 January 2011 What’s the difference between Blackboard Mobile Learn and Blackboard Mobile Central? Together they represent two important steps in an institution’s mobile strategy. Blackboard Mobile Central brings student services – news, events, maps, sports - to the mobile device in a district or school-branded application. Blackboard Mobile Learn takes the next step by bringing teaching and learning to the mobile device to reach students wherever they are. Some clients may be interested taking both their student services and learning experiences mobile with a branded application all their own. For these clients there is the Blackboard Mobile Central/Blackboard Mobile Learn bundle which brings multiple elements of student services (including teaching and learning) together on a mobile device under the brand of your district or schools in a standalone app. With this custom branded solution, students would search for your specific app (i.e. “[Your Institution Name] Mobile”), login, and away they go. In addition, clients that purchase the annual license for the Blackboard Mobile Central/Blackboard Mobile Learn bundle have access to the Blackboard Mobile APIs and Software Development Kit. This allows them to build new mobile applications that can be deployed to users and accessed within the Blackboard Mobile framework. I’ve noticed there are multiple deployment options in other markets, why not in mine? As we’ve come to market, we’ve looked for opportunities to subsidize early usage and experimentation. In US Higher Education, that took the form of a special partnership with the telecom carrier Sprint and a limited no-cost offering, in addition to the annual license approach. Given the significant differences in the US K-12 market, we’ve not found similar opportunities but will work closely with K-12 clients to facilitate adoption of Blackboard Mobile Learn. How do I get more information now? For additional information, contact your Blackboard representative. If you’re not aware of who your representative is, please provide your contact information and we’ll have them contact you.

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Blackboard Mobile Learn FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS May 2010

Technical, Support and Service Questions Which versions of Blackboard Learn will work with Blackboard Mobile Learn? Blackboard Learn Releases 8, 9 and 9.1 are supported. The Blackboard Mobile Web Services Building Block has been bundled into the installer for the upcoming Release 9.1 SP1. It was also bundled in Release 9.0 SP4 and Release 8.0 SP7. As of late 2010, we now offer Blackboard Mobile Learn for ANGEL to clients licensing Blackboard Learn – ANGEL Edition 7.4 SP10, and Blackboard Mobile Learn for CE/Vista to clients licensing Blackboard Learning System CE Enterprise/CE Enterprise Limited or Vista 8 SP5.

Does Blackboard Mobile have open APIs? Yes, so in addition to the innovations that Blackboard develops, an emerging community of mobile application developers will be able to extend the platform in new directions tailored to the specific and diverse needs of institutions. More specifically, developers can build new mobile applications that can be deployed to users and accessed within the Blackboard Mobile framework. The open APIs are part of the Blackboard Mobile Central/Blackboard Mobile Learn bundle.

Who provides support for Blackboard Mobile Learn? As with other Blackboard solutions, the Blackboard support team provides support to system administrators at institutions. System administrators can submit help tickets for Blackboard Mobile Learn via Behind the Blackboard. Student and instructor users of Blackboard Mobile Learn should contact their school’s technology department for support.

How can I ensure that Blackboard Mobile Learn works with my institution’s Blackboard Learn implementation? What test options are available? We always encourage clients to test new applications before they put them into production and Blackboard Mobile Learn is no exception. Once you have downloaded the Blackboard Mobile Web Services Building Block, or installed the appropriate Service Packs for ANGEL and CE/Vista, you should install it on your test server before putting it into production.

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Blackboard Mobile Learn FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS May 2010

I am a Blackboard Managed HostingSM client. How do I enable Blackboard Mobile Learn for my institution? Blackboard Managed Hosting clients who have purchased an annual license for Blackboard Mobile Learn should contact their Technical Support Manager or Complex Hosting Manager to talk about installing the Blackboard Mobile Web Services Building Block on their implementations.

We use custom authentication at my institution. Will Blackboard Mobile Learn work for us? Blackboard Mobile Learn works with a wide variety of authentication configurations, including custom solutions. For those who are interested in some extra set up help, we are offering authentication assistance at no charge. For more information, open a Support ticket on Behind the Blackboard.

How can I get more technical information on Blackboard Mobile Learn? All clients interested in learning more about Blackboard Mobile Learn should login to Behind the Blackboard to download the Blackboard Mobile Learn System Administrator FAQ and Installation Guide.  

I understand that private student data may be passing through a central service between user devices and my Blackboard Learn installation. Should I be concerned? No FERPA-protected data passes through a central service. When an end user logs into and uses the Blackboard Mobile Learn app, certain information about that specific end-user is passed between the user’s mobile device and the Blackboard Mobile Web Services Building Block installed on that institution’s Blackboard Learn implementation. It is handled in the same way that user-specific data is handled on a desktop or laptop computer between the web browser and the institution’s Blackboard Learn installation. No FERPA-protected user-specific data passes through the central service that supports Blackboard Mobile Learn.  

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