Atlanta Public Schools has selected Blackboard Learn™ as its first district-wide learning management system (LMS) after a nine-month evaluation of leading commercial and open-source platforms. The district of 51,000 students will use Blackboard Learn to expand online classes offered to students and to align all class content with Common Core standards.
District officials found Blackboard Learn to be the best option for expanding the offerings of its Virtual Academy which provides fully online classes to students year round in math, science, language arts, social studies and physical education. Students from high schools throughout district can earn credit online by taking classes through the Virtual Academy in addition to their regular schedule.
Atlanta officials also found that Blackboard Learn helped teachers to align virtual and face-to-face class activities and content to Common Core standards and report on student progress. Teachers can find and add digital content to their classes from educational publishers and through xpLor™, Blackboard's cloud-based learning content repository that lets teachers create, find and share class resources, assessments and other learning materials across schools and districts.
"Blackboard Learn allows us to better meet the unique needs of our students," said Stephen J. Alford, executive director of communications for Atlanta Public Schools. "As we enhance our virtual course offerings and continue to align all instructional lessons with the new common core standards, the solution allows us to develop and manage engaging lessons in a seamless, virtual environment."
District officials also found Blackboard to be a partner in helping drive a district-wide mobile strategy. With Blackboard MobileLearn™ students can access course content, view grades and assignments, create discussion posts and comment on blogs and journals, and upload content in native apps for all major mobile platforms.
