Blackboard (Bb) and the HETS Consortium celebrated last May 23rd a full day with educational and technology leaders in Puerto Rico and the Caribbean at the Blackboard Teaching & Learning Forum 2012 in Puerto Rico. The event was hosted by the Metropolitan University, Ana G. Méndez University System, San Juan, P.R. More than 25 higher education institutions, corporations and organizations from Puerto Rico, United States and the Caribbean, learned about new technologies, innovations and trends in education. Visit the page HETS event with Blackboard 2012 link to access the presentations and videos of this forum.
More than 90 participants took advantage of the relevant topics discussed. During the event, attendees had the opportunity to interact with colleagues, share learning experiences, and learn new trends in educational technology, innovation and quality in Education and interact with educational leaders’ specialists from Blackboard from Puerto Rico and the Caribbean. In addition, HETS workshop session during the event provided the opportunity to understand and maximize the use of platforms and its educational tools focus on rubrics and assessment, as well as the grade center features.
Prof. Eric Barrios, Master of Ceremonies and HETS Executive Director, Ms. Yubelkys Montalvo welcomed participants and invited Dr. Migdalia Torres, Chancellor of Ana G. Méndez University System (AGMUS), Virtual Campus to share some words to attendees on behalf of Dr. José F. Méndez, President of AGMUS, who was unable to join the event due to previous commitment.
Mr. Juan Lucca, President for Blackboard Latin-America, opened the informational sessions and informed all about Blackboard’s general vision. Mr. Rajeev Arora, VP Marketing of Bb Collaborate presented how expansion of education is supported by Bb Collaborate and its tools. After a brief break, Ms. Klaire Marino, Senior Marketing Manager for Bb Learn explained how this platform provides integral support to the learning cycle. To close the morning sessions, Mr. Alan Wong, Sales Executive for Bb Connect, described how Connect will provide effective communication among students, faculty and others within the institution.
As part of the afternoon concurrent events, participants had the opportunity to either attend a “hands on” workshop especially for Bb customers or learn
more about how other institutions in Puerto Rico and the Caribbean have attained successful stories using Bb products and tools. HETS experts Prof. Alfredo Calderón and Prof. Ana Milena Lucumi offered the workshop on the integration of rubrics in Bb’s learn grade center. Concurrent with this workshop, Mr. Juan Lucca conducted a round table discussion in which Mr. Kenneth Maldonado, CIO/CTO at AGMUS and Mr. René Sainz, Director of ITS Online Learning at University of Texas, Brownsville and President of the HETS Technology Task Force talked about how student have changed and how institutions are dealing with these changes. After the round table discussion, Juliet Abrahaim, Project Manager/Application Support Team Lead from College of Science, Technology & Arts of Trinidad & Tobago (COSTAATT) and Ms. Dolymari García, Dean of Academic Affairs at National University College shared their best practices and success stories as their institutions as Bb customers. The event concluded with an exhibition of Bb products and a reception for all participants, including a raffle of Bb premiums.