I have been involved in Blackboard implementation since 2000, first at City of Sunderland College and now at Guildford College. I am passionate about the power of e-Learning to transform the education landscape and its potential to extend the horizons for the personal development of our students. I have written articles on Blackboard implementation and spoken at a number of e-Learning conferences. I am a member of the JISC JCALT committee which works to support embedding ICT in the curriculum and of the recently formed ALT FE Advisory Group.

I am responsible for overseeing the development of BbMatters as its editor. I also manage the Success Matters section which will be featuring articles on the strategic perspectives of e-Learning.

Ellen Lessner, ILT Development Coordinator, Abingdon and Witney College, Oxfordshire

My interest in accessibility issues comes from a ‘typical’ FE career; I began by teaching cooking to students with special needs and basic skills to adults. After attending the Language and Literacy Unit’s programme on supporting adult dyslexic students, I became involved with study support, dyslexia support and study skills.

Studying for an Open University MA(Ed) gave me the time to consider the development of appropriate software for inclusive learning and I now combine an ongoing role of dyslexia support and study skills tutor. I was a TechDis associate and am currently on the Ferl Advisory Board. I am an enthusiastic, self-taught user of technology and my field of expertise is the use of assistive software for inclusive learning.

Director
Centre for Educational Development
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

As Director of the Centre for Educational Development at the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) I led a team to develop and implement an e-learning campus eco-system and in May 2000 NTU adopted Blackboard as its content management and delivery system for edveNTUre – NTU’s e-learning eco-system. This environment, comprising a holistic approach towards system design, learning platform, server architecture, coupled with edUtorium - the staff development program and pedagogical design has resulted in a high immersive and adoption rate, by both staff and students.

Through this innovative e-learning initiative, the University has won recognition by being a winner of the Intelligent20 Award 2003 and Honouree of CIO Asia100 Award 2004. In August 2003 NTU became a Blackboard Certified Education Centre (CEC). Among the diverse course offerings available from NTU, CEC training events address instructional design and pedagogy and also advanced techniques specific to the use of Blackboard e-Learning technologies.

My conference presentations include the Bb Regional User’s Groups at BGSU in Ohio, MiBUG at Kettering University in Michigan, and the Regional BbSEUG at Rollins College in Florida, and the BbUC 2004 in Phoenix, Arizona.

I am also serving as the Chair of the Presenter's Committee for Programming, and the Sponsorship Committee for the Michigan Blackboard User's Group (MiBUG) 2004 Conference, at Kettering University, in Flint, Michigan.

My service won Northern Ireland Regional and National Training Awards in 2002 for its staff development programme to support the implementation of Blackboard in the Belfast Institute.

I have spoken at conferences and seminars in the UK and Europe on the Belfast Institute’s experience of implementing Blackboard and how staff development is integral to any successful implementation.

Dr Barbara Newland, Senior Lecturer in Educational Development (Learning Technologies) at Bournemouth University

I have over 11 years experience of encouraging, supporting and developing the effective use of e-learning. Prior to joining Bournemouth University in 2003, I was the Learning Technology Team Leader at the University of Durham, where I was responsible for the implementation of Blackboard in 2000. I have presented papers at international conferences and written articles about the implementation and evaluation of Blackboard.

I manage the HEFCE funded project for Accessibility in Learning Environments and Related Technologies (ALERT). This project aims to identify methods of supporting disabled students to enable them to achieve the pedagogical objectives of their modules using a VLE.

I have worked with the LTSN Generic Centre in the development of the e-learning series and the LEAP (Learning Environments and Pedagogy) group case studies. I am Chair of the ALT Membership Committee and a member of the ALT/SURF study trips to Australia and the Netherlands.

George Wraith, Product Development Manager, New College Durham

My department has been responsible for implementing, managing and developing a level 3 fully integrated implementation of Blackboard (5.5) as the College VLE for nearly two years now. I have dealt with both the technical aspects of the Blackboard Learning System and the staff development aspects that are still ongoing.

I will be managing the Technical Matters section of BbMatters. I would like to emphasise the “managing” part of my responsibilities by encouraging fellow FE College Blackboard users to contribute to, and give feedback on, any technical issues that you feel our FE Community could benefit from hearing about … and I do mean ‘warts and all’. Let’s face it, sometimes we make mistakes, but it's learning from them that benefits us all.