Advancing Adult Learning in the Digital Age: Introducing Blackboard Professional Development

Online and hybrid learning has become the go-to default for today’s busy learners. Learning technologies are now so sophisticated and user-friendly that we’re able to start learning on one device, pause, and pick up where we left off later, in a different location, and on a different device—all without missing a beat. In addition, the ability to pursue learning in a number of formats opens up opportunities that may have been burdensome or even impossible before. There are times we want full “traditional” courses that take us on a journey to new credentials and capabilities. In other cases, perhaps we only have time for short bursts of skill-specific learning. Busy professionals can gain ground easily when modalities, tools, delivery, and content are catered to their needs.

Providing such quality learning in a professional development context for adult learners has never been more critical, yet it remains a complex undertaking—especially in the higher education landscape, where faculty backgrounds vary widely, and there are significant time and resource constraints. Building a comprehensive and competitive curriculum for educators, administrators, and training staff requires careful planning, quality materials, and authentic interactions with engaging and accessible content.

According to the 2024 “Voices from the Field”* report, the Sloan Consortium states, “Employers shared that it was sometimes difficult to stay on top of emerging trends and apply them to their organizational work, particularly with smaller staffs, tight budgets, and increasing workloads from additional expectations and responsibilities.” This situation highlights the need for our current students and workforce to have access to both internal expertise and external options to engage with a full cycle of learning.

A Team of Experts with a Shared Vision

At Anthology, our Education Services team is dedicated to empowering Blackboard users through facilitated training engagements, product-focused courses that drive solution adoption, and rich educational content, including platform-agnostic resources. Our goal is to equip educators with the knowledge and confidence to effectively use digital teaching and learning technologies, while also building adjacent skills and strategies that support long-term student success. With this in mind, our team, comprised of former educators, instructional designers, government professionals, and other global EdTech experts with backgrounds in accessibility, teaching, special education, educational technology, educational research and publishing, and more, has revamped the professional development experience within our ecosystem.

Building on the legacy of the former Blackboard Academy, we’re proud to introduce Blackboard Professional Development— Anthology’s training platform, designed for Blackboard users to provide certified, world-class, and pedagogically focused professional development for adult learners. The evolution of Blackboard Academy includes a refreshed brand, an improved curriculum, and a more intuitive user experience. Expanding on the popular Digital Teaching and Learning Series, this enhanced offering features five distinct programs and over 20 courses, all awarding micro-credentials, from short micro-lessons and course completions to stacked journeys and capstone projects. These learning experiences are delivered through our own Blackboard LMS, leveraging all its multiple features, including the Course Catalog capability.

Our vision for Blackboard Professional Development is to create a catalog of offerings that speak to a very busy workforce. Whether you are an educator, government leader, course builder, HR professional, or in any other role that leads development in the online and hybrid learning world, you will find a number of options designed to increase and solidify your professional learning and training efforts with Blackboard as your core hub for e-learning. The revamped platform will also include multiple delivery modalities to ensure participants have access to education that accommodates busy adult learners. It will feature courses around pedagogy, artificial intelligence, course design, accessibility, digital teaching, workforce training, digital credentialing, and learning support.

The new curriculum goes live on July 14, 2025! If you’re attending Anthology Together 2025 in Las Vegas, be sure to visit our Blackboard Professional Development booth. Our team of expert consultants will be on hand to walk you through the latest platform enhancements and show you how Blackboard Professional Development can help empower, educate, and inspire your faculty, administrators, and training teams.

If you’d like to learn more about Blackboard Professional Development, drop an email to bbprofessionaldevelopment@anthology.com.

*Weber, N., Campbell, K., Bauer, H., & McCarthy, C. (2024). Voices from the field: Current trends and challenges in instructional design and learning technology. The Online Learning Consortium.

Chris O’Neal
Manager of Educational and Accessibility Consulting Services
Anthology