Blackboard and Sharp: Teaming up to enhance student workflows

Sharp and Blackboard have partnered up to enhance the paper-to-digital workflows in the higher education and primary and secondary school environments.

Sharp's integration with Blackboard's flagship learning management system, Blackboard Learn, will enable students to print and scan assignments from any connected Sharp multifunctional printer (MFP) directly to the students' Blackboard Learn courses, according to Sharp.

This streamlined process will ultimately help increase the timeliness of student assignment submissions and boost productivity, Sharp says.

"Technology needs to keep pace with the ever-enhancing demand in education for smarter and better ways of working," says Mike Marusic, Sharp Imaging and Information senior vice president marketing, service and supply chain.

"By entering into this partnership with an industry leader such as Blackboard, we are continuing our journey to improve the learning experience, both inside and outside of the classroom," he says.

Additionally, Sharp says it plans to support online course development, giving educators the ability to add original electronic and scanned materials directly into Blackboard Learn courses via Sharp Cloud Portal Office, a content management and sharing service.

In support of the partnership, Blackboard has joined Sharp's Strategic Technology Alliance Resource (STAR) programme, a directory of third-party products and services that complement Sharp's professional display products.

Blackboard Learn and Blackboard Collaborate, Blackboard's Web conferencing solution built for education, can be used with the Sharp AQUOS BOARD interactive display system, helping bring collaboration and creativity into the classroom, Blackboard says.

"We welcome Sharp into Blackboard's vibrant community of partners, which enables institutions to customise their learning environments and gives them great flexibility in how they improve and shape the education experience," says Kathleen Vieira, Blackboard vice president of business development.

"Sharp's integration with Blackboard Learn will create a seamless workflow between our two systems, allowing students to focus on learning rather than the process of submitting assignments," she says.

Sharp's integration with Blackboard Learn is targeted to launch towarrds the middle of 2016.