.NET: Blackboard Collaborations with Microsoft Presented By Jan Poston Day Director, Standards and Interoperability Ramsey Chambers Manager, Business Development April 12, 2005

Now a word from our lawyers… Any statements in this presentation about future expectations, plans and prospects for Blackboard and other statements containing the words "believes," "anticipates," "plans," "expects," "will," and similar expressions, constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors, including the factors discussed in the "Risk Factors" section of our most recent 10-K filed with the SEC. In addition, the forward-looking statements included in this press release represent the Company's views as of April 11, The Company anticipates that subsequent events and developments will cause the Company's views to change. However, while the Company may elect to update these forward-looking statements at some point in the future, the Company specifically disclaims any obligation to do so. These forward- looking statements should not be relied upon as representing the Company's views as of any date subsequent to April 11, Blackboard, in its sole discretion, may delay or cancel the release of any product or functionality described in this presentation.

3 Agenda History of the Microsoft – Blackboard Relationship Collaboration Initiatives Introduction to.NET Blackboard Building Blocks™ SDK for the Microsoft.NET Framework Looking ahead

Relationship Timeline 2001: Alliance established –Strategic partner and equity owner 2002: Reseller of SQL Server : Launched.NET initiatives at Blackboard 2004: February the Blackboard Building Blocks.NET APIs are released 2004: Blackboard Learning System™.NET released in September Today more than 50% of Blackboard® clients run on Microsoft Working towards Gold Certified Partner in 2005

Collaboration Initiatives Certified on SQL 2000 Clustering Developing high performance, scalable load-balanced solution Early release testing on Microsoft updates Blackboard Learning System.NET initiative Blackboard Building Blocks SDK for the Microsoft.NET Framework

.NET and Blackboard Leverage Windows technologies Leverage Blackboard’s strong relationship with Microsoft Leverage market development expertise and potential

What is.NET? ­A set of software technologies for connecting information, people, systems, and devices. ­Enterprise technology designed to allow for rapid development of web applications. ­Based on Web services—small building-block applications that can connect to each other as well as to other, larger applications over the Internet. ­Supports 30+ development languages.

.NET and Blackboard Blackboard Learning System.NET Blackboard Building Blocks APIs for the Microsoft.NET Framework

Blackboard Learning System for the Microsoft.NET Framework ­Stability, performance & security improvements ­Leverages all Windows 2003, IIS 6 enhancements & best practices ­Single code base ­Simplified integration & administration for.NET infrastructures ­Greater/easier extensibility & customization through.NET ­Built-in integration with key Microsoft technologies ­SQL Server 2000 Reporting Services for enhanced reporting ­BizTalk for data integration

Blackboard Learning System for the Microsoft.NET Framework Functional –Create a stable, scalable learning system platform Leverage the Blackboard Learning System’s ease of use Enrich the user-experience through integration with Microsoft applications Technical –Enhanced stability and simplified administration

Blackboard Learning System for the Microsoft.NET Framework COMPLETE rewrite of current Blackboard Learning System Released October 2004 MS Windows 2003 and MS SQL Server 2000 w/SP3a Fully internationalized database and user interface Available to new Blackboard clients

Integration with Active Directory SIS integration via BizTalk server Scalable –Built to be load balanced (true server farm deployment) –Built for SQL Server 2000 (only) and Windows 2003 Server (only) Blackboard Learning System for the Microsoft.NET Framework

Blackboard Learning System for.NET: Custom Integration Capabilities Delivered: SQL Server Reporting Tools BizTalk Integration Integration Ready: Microsoft Exchange Server 2002 or greater Microsoft Windows Media Player Microsoft Sharepoint Portal Server / Microsoft Content Server –Microsoft Class Server Microsoft Windows Sharepoint Services Microsoft Active Directory Microsoft Live Communication Server

Building Blocks APIs for the Microsoft.NET Framework Extend/customize Blackboard through.NET Easier integration with Microsoft applications More flexibility for clients & 3 rd party vendors

Blackboard Building Blocks Blackboard Building Blocks is Blackboard’s open architecture –Designed to give developers access to Blackboard’s core in a documented and supportable way –Leverages of a robust baseline application, standards-based framework of functionality and programming interfaces –Enables the use of Open Source components to drive application development and customizations

What is an API? Publicly Documented Interface

APIs in the Context of Blackboard and Microsoft.NET Blackboard Academic Suite™ Manifest File Written in XML Building Blocks developed using.NET Building Blocks APIs Publicly Documented Interface External Applications, tools or services (e.g., SIS, Library, Collaboration Tools, Assessments, Content Repositories, streaming media, etc.) Microsoft Office Suite Microsoft BizTalk Microsoft SharePoint Microsoft Active Directory

Blackboard Building Blocks Technology Launched in February 2004 Freely available Microsoft.NET Framework Software Development Kits (SDKs) SDK contains: –API documentation –Getting Started Guide –Application Framework documentation –Blackboard Building Blocks architecture information –Sample Building Block code

What the APIs allow… Programmatically interact with Blackboard applications using.NET to create or extend: –Content Types, –Communication & Collaboration Tools, –Portal Modules and Channels, and –Bridges to External Systems

What the APIs allow… NET APIs for Blackboard allow developers to easily extend the platform with: –.NET Content APIs –.NET Gradebook APIs –.NET Portal APIs –.NET System APIs –.NET System Extensions –.NET Web Controls –.NET Admin APIs –Web Service implementation –Full ability for.NET Office integration

What You’ll Need Software Developer’s Kit –XML Doc –Developer’s Guide Blackboard Developer Edition Software Development Tools –Visual Studio.NET or Microsoft.NET SDK Imagination…

Example Blackboard Building Block for.NET – Excel/Gradebook integration

Blackboard Portal Module via.NET APIs and MS Exchange Integration

Summary Microsoft and Blackboard – a relationship evolving from strength to strength Blackboard Building Blocks – a new way to leverage both Blackboard and Windows technologies at the same time

Questions? Ramsey Chambers Jan Poston Day