Blackboard plans for the solution to provide a complete view of teaching and learning, monitoring usage patterns and data in the learning management system (LMS) along with information from the student information system. The real-time and longitudinal data generated by the system would be used to help better engage students, measure and improve learning outcomes, and assess the adoption and use of online learning tools.

A number of four-year colleges and universities and two-year community colleges are participating in the field trial. All of the institutions currently use Blackboard Learn 9.1 for learning management and will provide feedback on the solution as well as how they use the information it generates to help shape final development of the product.

The solution is built on the Blackboard Analytics™ platform, which provides immediate, highly customizable access to data analytics from across the institution through dashboards, predefined reports, and guided data exploration. Blackboard Analytics was launched in 2011 and is now used to guide data-driven decision-making at over 150 higher-education institutions.

Blackboard plans for Blackboard Analytics for Blackboard Learn to present both course-specific and institution-wide data over time. The information would also help individual instructors better identify and help at-risk students at the course level, while enabling administrators to better understand the impact of online learning and justify expenditures and investments at the institutional level.