Lincoln Team Wins Blackboard Catalyst Award
The Digital Education and Student Life team at the University of Lincoln has received a European-wide award in recognition of its innovative approach to online learning.
The pilot project, led by Dean of Digital Education Andy Beggan, was named the winner of the Blackboard Catalyst Award for Teaching and Learning, which honours those who provide flexible, distance and online delivery for their staff and students, including using mobile technologies to positively impact the educational experience.
The team received the accolade for its 2019 pilot of a brand new AI ChatBot to support academic staff with digital technologies. The ChatBot was embedded within Blackboard to provide personalised rapid support, building upon the existing help, support and guidance delivered by the team. Staff were able to ask questions relating to the use of digital technologies and receive an immediate response. Uniquely, where a question was too general, all of the possible options were presented so the staff member could choose the one that best fit. This had the added advantage of delivering new or alternative digital learning approaches, going beyond the current query and extending practice.
Andy Beggan said: “We are delighted to be recognised for this project. Launching the Digital Education ChatBot was a valuable path finder activity for us, and lessons learned are feeding into the University ChatBot project – sharing how staff search for support, as well as their ability to save and download their chat history to keep for future reference. The Blackboard ChatBot will be fully migrated to the University’s ChatBot in the next phase in order to provide improved support for staff and students across a number of services, including Blackboard.”
Founded in 2005, the annual Catalyst Awards recognise and honour innovation and excellence in the Blackboard global community of practice, where millions of educators and learners work every day to redefine what is possible when leveraging technology. Winners are selected by a cross-functional team of Blackboard experts.
“We’re pleased to honour this year’s Blackboard Catalyst Award winners for their commitment to improving the educational experience for all learners through EdTech and sharing these insights with the broader community,” said Lee Blakemore, Chief Client Officer and President, Global Markets at Blackboard. “We’re proud to partner with institutions who are innovating to advance student success.”
The University of Lincoln’s team will also be announced alongside other Blackboard Catalyst Award winners during BbWorld 2020, Blackboard’s annual user conference to be held virtually July 21 and July 22.