Kaltura and Blackboard Partner, Bring Video to Schools

Kaltura's video management system is now available from within the Blackboard Learn platform, letting users integrate rich media with their lessons and assignments. The integration debuted as a beta offering in July, 2010, but is now available to everyone.

The Kaltura Video Blackboard Building Block lets users work with rich media within the Blackboard environment. The Building Block works with Blackboard 8, 9.0, and 9.1. Instructors can use to add video to their courses, and students can use it to submit video assignments. It can also be used to stream lecture videos, show a playlist of campus events, serve a video library, and build personal media libraries within a course.

The Kaltura platform goes beyond video, though, and lets users manage audio and still images, as well. Administrators can use the Kaltura Management Console to set access levels.

The announcement took place at BbWorld, the annual Blackboard user conference held in Vegas this week.

"We are honored to enter this partnership with such a leader in education technology," says Ron Yekutiel, Kaltura's chairman and CEO. "We look forward to expanding our reach further through this partnership with Blackboard, while allowing educational institutions to enhance their learning results by using integrated video inside the LMS."

Troy Dreier's article first appeared on OnlineVideo.net