Product Code Database
Blackboard (previously Blackboard Learn, Blackboard Learn Ultra and the Blackboard Learning Management System) is a web-based virtual learning environment and learning management system developed by Anthology Inc. The software features course management, customizable open architecture, and scalable design that allows integration with student information systems and authentication protocols. It may be installed on local servers, hosted by Blackboard ASP Solutions, or provided as Software as a Service hosted on Amazon Web Services. Its main purposes are stated to include the addition of online elements to courses traditionally delivered face-to-face and development of completely online courses with few or no face-to-face meetings.
In October 2005, Blackboard Inc. and WebCT, the two leading providers back in the day of course management software for e-learning services to the education market, announced plans to merge their companies, which ultimately led to a combined LMS.
In May 2009 Blackboard purchased the privately held competing learning management systems company ANGEL Learning.
In 2015, the company announced a user experience update, called Ultra.
In October 2017, Blackboard partnered with OpenEd to integrate OER with Learning Management Systems.
As of October 2021, Blackboard had merged with Anthology.
On September 30, 2025, it was reported that Anthology would be acquired by private equity firms Nexus Group and Oaktree Capital Management under a Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization, in which the company filed for bankruptcy that same day.
Blackboard has begun offering additional products such as Blackboard Collaborate Ultra (a video-classroom service), Blackboard Ally (an accessibility assistant), and a chat-bot support service. These are designed to integrate with Ultra to deliver contextually-relevant interactions.
The interface added features which allow teachers to create assessments and course content within the application, such as assignments, grade books and learning modules. It also added features like the ability to post announcements and discussion threads, the introduction of mail and chatrooms, and messages between students and teachers.
In spring 2020, during the coronavirus pandemic, Fairfax County Public Schools, one of the largest school systems in the United States with 189,000 students, abandoned Blackboard Learn 24/7 after weeks of unsuccessful attempts to use it. The issues included poor security allowing live sessions to be hacked and disrupted, and inability for the system to cope with the volume of students and teachers even on the days when only Primary school were using the system.
One of Blackboard's biggest contracts, City University of New York, comprising 25 schools and over 275,000 students, announced that the university is ending its contract and will be transitioning to Brightspace. Students there have criticized Blackboard for its cluttered appearance, glitches and inconvenient maintenance times. This transition is set to begin in Spring 2024 and finish by the end of 2025.
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