Parents and Students Believe K-12 Schools Must Do More to Prepare Students for the 21st Century

Parents and Students Believe K-12 Schools Must Do More to Prepare Students for
the 21st Century
Integrating Technology into Learning, Teacher Training Seen as Critical for
Success

WASHINGTON, Oct. 29 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- While parents, K-12 students and
educators agree that using technology is essential to learning and student
success, parents are dissatisfied with the technology skills their children
are learning in schools according to a survey report released today by Project
Tomorrow®, a national education nonprofit organization, and Blackboard Inc.
(Nasdaq: BBBB), a global leader in education technology.

According to the survey, only one-third of parents and 40 percent of students
in grades 6 through 12 believe that schools are doing a good job of preparing
students for the 21st century. In contrast, more than half of principals
surveyed believe they are doing a good job of preparing students.

"The disconnect between educators and parents reveals the need for schools to
improve the integration of technology into the learning environment and
students' learning experiences," said Julie Evans, CEO of Project Tomorrow.
"Parents do not feel that schools are effectively preparing students for the
jobs of the 21st century, and view technology implementation as essential to
student success."

Parents believe that teachers need more training and more access to up to date
technology and support school adoption of 21st century technology-infused
approaches to teaching and learning, ranging from online textbooks to tools
such as interactive white boards, laptops for students, computer projection
devices and technology based organizational tools.

"As a parent, I want my son's school to provide a world class education and
prepare him with the skills he needs for the jobs of the future," said Pam
Young, a parent from Mission Viejo, Calif. "Using technology in school is key
to achieving both of these objectives. I think it is essential that our
schools provide opportunities for students to use a wide range of new
technologies in the classroom, and that the teachers are well trained in how
to use technology to increase student achievement."

The findings are included in the report Learning in the 21st Century: Parents'
Perspectives, Parents' Priorities, which examines parent responses to the
aspirations of students for technology enhanced learning environments. The
data is from Project Tomorrow's Speak Up project, an annual survey which has
collected and reported on the views of more than 335,000 U.S. K-12 students,
parents and educators about online education and 21st century learning.

"Parents recognize that information literacy is crucial to their children's
success in the 21st century global economy," said Jessie Woolley-Wilson,
President of Blackboard Learn K-12. "Today's students regularly utilize
technology tools and resources in many aspects of their lives, yet do not
experience the same technology integration in their academic experience.
Increasingly, school leaders recognize that the application of technology can
cultivate meaningful and rich learning experiences to drive academic
performance and 21st century success. And, we're working with leaders as they
engage students to deliver meaningful learning outcomes to help bridge the gap
between the way students live and the way they learn."

To view the report Learning in the 21st Century: Parents' Perspectives,
Parents' Priorities please visit http://www.blackboard.com/k12/education21c.
To learn more about Blackboard K-12 solutions, visit
http://www.blackboard.com/k12.

About Blackboard Inc.
Blackboard Inc. (Nasdaq: BBBB) is a global leader in enterprise technology and
innovative solutions that improve the experience of millions of students and
learners around the world every day. Blackboard's solutions allow thousands of
higher education, K-12, professional, corporate, and government organizations
to extend teaching and learning online, facilitate campus commerce and
security, and communicate more effectively with their communities. Founded in
1997, Blackboard is headquartered in Washington, D.C., with offices in North
America, Europe, Asia and Australia.

About Project Tomorrow®
Speak Up is a national initiative of Project Tomorrow® (formerly known as
NetDay), the nation's leading education nonprofit organization dedicated to
ensuring that today's students are well prepared to be tomorrow's innovators,
leaders and engaged citizens. Since fall 2003, the annual Speak Up project
has collected and reported on the views of over 1.5 million K-12 students,
teachers, administrators and parents representing over 18,000 schools in all
50 states. The Speak Up data represents the largest collection of authentic,
unfiltered stakeholder input on education, technology, 21st century skills,
schools of the future and science instruction. Education, business and policy
leaders report using the data regularly to inform federal, state and local
education programs. For additional information, visit www.tomorrow.org.

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, 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 factors discussed in the "Risk Factors" section of our
Form 10-Q filed on August 6, 2009 with the SEC. In addition, the
forward-looking statements included in this press release represent the
Company's views as of October 29, 2009. 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
29, 2009.

SOURCE Blackboard Inc.

Matthew Maurer of Blackboard Inc., +1-202-463-4860 ext. 2637,
matthew.maurer@blackboard.com