Terry Patterson - Blackboard Learn Administration

Terry Patterson has over ten years of experience administrating Blackboard LMS environments at various institutions. During that time, he has held numerous leadership roles in Blackboard feedback panels and customer-led user groups. In 2009, he received a Blackboard Catalyst Award for his work in the Blackboard Community. He has given presentations at state, national, and international conferences about emerging and advanced integrations with the Blackboard application. He holds certifications as a Blackboard Trainer and a Blackboard Server Administrator. When not busy in his position as LMS Application Administrator at the University of Missouri, he works to help answer questions from other system administrators and posts the issues he faces on his Blackboard Guru blog at http://www.blackboardguru.com/.

I would like to thank my friends and family who have been positive and encouraging throughout this process. Thanks to my colleagues at the University of Missouri, including Tanys, Guy, Michael, Ethan, and countless others who have offered their expertise and support.

I also want to thank the many Blackboard employees who always welcomed my questions no matter how long winded they were. Thanks to the Packt Publishing team for their help, as I have learned the book-writing process. Finally, thanks to you, the Blackboard administrators reading this book I hope you find this book to be a helpful resource in your duties.

David Hopkins is a respected and experienced Learning Technologist at the University of Leicester, U.K. Working closely with administrators, managers, and academic teams, David investigates and advises on the appropriate use of technology for both classroom and distance-learning students.

David writes on aspects of learning technology and the pedagogic use of technology in (and out of) the classroom on the Technology Enhanced Learning blog at www.dontwasteyourtime.co.uk, and has a growing professional network centered around his blog and Twitter handle, @hopkinsdavid.

Dr Malcolm Murray has used Blackboard since Version 5.5. He has over a decade's experience in using Blackboard Learn as a system administrator, as a developer, and also to support his teaching. Currently based at Durham University in the U.K., he leads the University's Learning Technologies Team and is an Honorary Fellow of the School of Education. He holds a Ph.D. in Geography and a Postgraduate Certificate in Learning, Teaching, and Research in Higher Education. He is a member of the U.K. Heads of e-Learning Forum, a fellow of the (UK) Higher Education Academy, a certified member of the Association for Learning Technology, and the Director of OSCELOT (the Open Source Community for Educational Learning Objects and Tools). He regularly attends Blackboard conferences in the U.S. and Europe, participates in Blackboard's BugSquad and Beta initiatives, and is a past winner of the Blackboard Greenhouse Award (2005), Blackboard Innovators Award (2008), and Blackboard Catalyst Award (2010).

Simon Roberts has 30 years of experience in the IT industry, as a programmer and instructor. He teaches a variety of topics, including programming and system administration for various platforms. He enjoys the travel opportunities that come his way thanks to his work, and also acts as an FAA-certified flight instructor in his spare time. Simon lives in the Denver metro area in Colorado.

Wayne Twitchell is a leader in online teaching-and-learning for over 15 years, despite being denied admission to the prestigious Mensa club. As Blackboard administrator at Grinnell College and in his current position at the University of Northern Iowa, he has managed and supported a range of Blackboard products including Learning Management, Community, and Content management in a vertically-integrated way while integrating individual products (such as Learn) into an existing campus infrastructure. Dr. Twitchell's approach engages the visionary potential of technology both in and out of the classroom without forgetting the nuts and bolts of teaching. He currently lives in Cedar Falls Iowa with his partner (who was admitted to Mensa) and their amazing bearded dragon, Gogo, as well as their puppet sheepdog, Winston.

Mike Zimmerman has been a Blackboard system administrator at the University of Nebraska in Omaha since 2001. He is an active contributor in the Blackboard user community and ListServ, and has been a part of the Blackboard Dr. C user support forums since 2006.

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