Release 8.0 for the Blackboard Learning System™ – Enterprise and Basic Licenses was developed in close collaboration with our clients and includes several improvements in the smart grading features and tools to develop critical thinking skills, as well as significant enhancements to the Blackboard Content System™.

For information on Release 8.0 for the Blackboard Learning System – CE & Vista Licenses, please click here.

According to Paul Vitagliano, a Blackboard Educational Director at Centenary College:

"Blackboard's new Grade Center is a revolution in grade management, where the possibilities for marking periods, averaging and reporting are seemingly endless, and there is everything a faculty member needs for managing course grades. The interface is remarkable—easy to manipulate and intuitive for the first-time user. Say goodbye to paper grade books and offline spreadsheets!"

Key Features of the Realease Include:

A Smarter Blackboard Grade Center™
Our newly redesigned Gradebook now enables teachers to focus on teaching, not data entry. New features include in-cell editing, grading periods, smart views and progress reports.

Facilitating Self and Peer Assessments
Self and peer assessment features help facilitate student group work for faculty. Created by a client, Self Evaluation enables students to review and grade their own assessments by following criteria set by their instructor. With Peer Evaluation, students can review work submitted by their peers using specific criteria, compare their responses and offer constructive criticism.

Preventing Plagiarism with SafeAssign™
SafeAssign™, Blackboard’s plagiarism prevention service, enables institutions to protect the originality of student work. For institutions licensing the Blackboard Learning System – Enterprise License, SafeAssign is integrated into Release 8.0 at no extra cost.

Social Learning Network Expands Further with Scholar™
Blackboard Scholar™ is now integrated into the Blackboard Learning System – Basic License. This innovative social bookmarking feature, available at no additional cost, enables users to access an academic resource-sharing service customized for education.

Managing Digital Content Easily with the Blackboard Content System
The Blackboard Content System meets the diverse needs of constituents across an institution in a secure fashion—whether the users are students, instructors, librarians or administrators. Enhancements in this release include: Improved Workflows, a new Collaboration Page, Enhanced Metadata, an insightful 360° view page and the ability to reuse content with Reusable Objects.