ConnectTxt

This one day event is designed to give you the opportunity to see how organisations are using sms technology to dramatically improve the way they are communicating with their Communities. Learn from your peers ways to enhance your mobile and communication strategies within Education, Local Government and Healthcare. All organisations are welcome.

Speakers now confirmed.

You can expect 1 keynote, 4+ break out sessions to choose from and 3 further presentations sharing tried and tested best practice examples of great communication for engagement, participation and retention within your Community.

This event is free to attend. As spaces are limited it will be first come first served. To register your place click here http://connect.blackboard.com/LTATMay2013.

If you are interested in contributing to the event by presenting your ideas / case study examples of using text messaging within your organisation please email michelle.craig@blackboard.com.

If so please request a recording by emailing askus@blackboard.com with your name, institution and job title.

This is what you missed:

Webinar: Thursday 21st March 2013, 3pm – 3.30pm (GMT)
Connect with your learners via sms with Connect for Moodle and the New Connect for Moodle+ plugin!

Moodletxt (soon to be Connect for Moodle) allows teachers and administrators to send text messages to their students directly from within the Moodle system. The module supports both inbound and outbound messaging, text message status updates, user-personalised messages, message templates and signatures, personal addressbooks, and has full compatibility with user timezones. As of version 3, it also supports event-based messaging via the moodletxt+ message processor.

97 percent of students prefer text over other forms of communication, so it is vital to build SMS into your plan for teaching and learning. When lecturers can text, they can improve course communication and student engagement – key factors in the National Student Survey. The new building block is available for all Moodle institutions that have a ConnectTxt license.

Join us at Blackboard Teaching and Learning Conference, Europe 2013, 8-10 April, Birmingham, UK.

Agenda includes Connect speakers, registration now open! http://www.blackboard.com/Teaching-and-Learning-Conference/Home.aspx

Have you already registered for the next ‘Lets talk about txt!’ event on Wednesday 12th December, at the University of Westminster, London?

Join us for this one day event which will give you an insight into how organisations can use SMS technology to improve the way that they communicate with their students, staff, customers, clients and community.

Our guest speakers will share how they use SMS in a wide variety of contexts with presentations including:

• Brian Hipkin, Dean of Students, Regent’s College
  160+1 – Step Beyond The Txt
• Dr Sarah Williamson, Head of Education, Cardiff University
  Scaling SMS from 3 to 16 Academic Schools (and beyond…)
  Including using SMS to give students a little of what they ask for
• Debbie Holley, Reader in the Department of Education & Mark Miller, Learning Technologist, Anglia Ruskin University
  Encouraging Academic Engagement at a Distance
• Takki Sulaiman, Head of Communications, Tower Hamlets Council
  An Olympian Challenge: Communicating with Stakeholders and Keeping them Hooked for the Future
• Mick Mullane, E-Learning Technologist and Consultant
  The Future is Already Here — It’s Just Not Very Evenly Distributed. attrib. William Gibson

Still not enough content? Then join us for:

• Exploratory debates to discuss the themes that have been brought to the table
• Networking opportunities with leaders in innovation and discussion with experts in this field
• Free trial accounts and free messages available on the day
• ConnectTxt geniuses on hand all day to give expert tips and advice
• See what future developments are taking place in the coming months
• Live demonstrations of Blackboard ConnectTxt and Blackboard Connect available all day!

Registration

Places are limited. We kindly ask that you let us know if you will be able to attend ASAP.

To register and for more information http://connect.blackboard.com/LTAT

Participation is complimentary. Refreshments and a buffet lunch will be served throughout the day. Travel and accommodation are not included.

Kind regards,
The Blackboard Connect Team

Title: Recruiting Students – Using SMS as an Integral Component of a Marketing Communications Strategy
Presenter: Dave Cooper, Director of Marketing, Solihull College
Moderator: Travis Sowders, Director of Product Marketing – Blackboard Connect
Date: Wednesday October 3rd, 2012
Time: 2:00pm – 2:30pm (BST) / 3:00pm – 3:30pm (CET)
Technical Info: Audio will be over VOIP

Overview
Attracting and recruiting students is a big challenge. Ensuring courses are filled is now just a part of the task. It’s also about ensuring you connect with your institution’s core audience, and attract as many of the best of them as possible.

Solihull College recognised that it was in a competitive situation and required a marketing strategy to attract students to its 5 key study areas. Research conducted by the College revealed that students increasingly go online to select a college, and an integrated marketing strategy which included SMS was critical to promote the college and their courses.

Join Dave Cooper, Marketing Director at Solihull College to find out how the college is delivering innovative multi-channel campaigns which use SMS as key drivers to drive enquiries and enrolments. By turning to communication channels such as SMS to target students, not only were responses rates higher – up to 50% – it also saved costs of up to £2000 in just one single enrolment period.

To register, click here »

MAKE A CONNECTION AND GET 2000 FREE TEXT MESSAGES
As you know, SMS is great at making direct connections. Could you connect us with someone who might appreciate the Blackboard ConnectTxt service as much as you do?

As a thank you for making the connection, we’ll give you 250 free text messages following a meeting with them. If your connection later joins us as a Blackboard ConnectTxt™ or Blackboard Connect™ client, we’ll credit your account with 2000 free messages.

All you need to do is click here and give us a few details about yourself and the colleague you think could use the connection.

If you have any questions, please click here or contact us at AskUs@blackboard.com.

Our 10th event will be held on Thursday 5th July, 10am – 4pm at Solihull College.

This one day event will give you an insight into how organisations are using SMS technology to dramatically improve the way they communicate with their students, staff, customers and clients. To register, click here!

• Experience practical case examples delivered by users
• Understand how SMS can improve your service to customers
• Engage in roundtable discussion about SMS best practice
• Free trial accounts and free messages available on the day
• txt geniuses on hand all day to give expert tips and free training
• See what future developments are taking place in the coming months
• Live demonstrations of Blackboard ConnectTxt and Blackboard Connect available all day!

Guest speakers include:

• Using SMS as an Integral Component of a Marketing Communications Strategy

Dave Cooper, Director of Marketing, Solihull College

• Text Messaging for Emergency Usage and Notification

Antony Ward, University of Hull

• Adopting SMS to Enhance Teaching and Learning

Matt Smith, Coleg Gwent

• SMS Practices within the Student Lifecycle – Our Experience

Anita Patel, University of Wolverhampton

This event is free to attend; lunch and refreshments will be provided. The venue is ideally situated in the heart of the West Midlands, easily accessible by road, rail or air and is a short walk away from Solihull train station, and with direct trains from London Marylebone.

To register, click here!

We hope that you will be able to join us.

Our 9th event will be held on Tuesday 8th November at The University of Edinburgh.

This one day event is designed to give you an insight into how organisations are utilising sms technology to dramatically improve the way they communicate with their staff, customers, patients and clients.

You will have the opportunity to see presentations from Local Councils, Police, Local government and the Education
Community.

For more information see our website home page or register here:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dHpGLVk5ckMxdUUtRU1oUTFMUncyY1E6MQ

The txttools tech team are proud to announce the launch of txttools mobile for iPhone/iPad. The app allows txttools customers to send messages to groups in their txttools account. There is also an emergency feature which speeds up sending messages to multiple groups.

This great new tool enables you to send messages to your whole organisation from your phone when you can’t access a computer, for example if you realised your workplace was inaccessible due to bad weather, floods, fire etc…

The application is free to all txttools account holders and follows the release of the txttools mobile for Android which became available in Spring 2011, which has been well received.

Check out our youtube video demo!

To arrange a live demonstration of the txttools application (including mobile apps) call 0113 234 2111, email info@txttools.co.uk or visit www.txttools.co.uk.

moodletxt 2.4 has now been released! This is a major upgrade, with many bugfixes, compatibility upgrades and a new authentication system.