1. © Blackboard, Inc. All rights reserved. Blackboard Learning System™ Vista Enterprise License The PowerLinks™ Kit Scott Stanley Washington DC 2006

2. » We may make statements regarding our product development and service offering initiatives, including the content of future product upgrades, updates or functionality in development. While such statements represent our current intentions, they may be modified, delayed or abandoned without prior notice and there is no assurance that such offering, upgrades, updates or functionality will become available unless and until they have been made generally available to our customers. About Forward-Looking Statements

3. PowerLinks Kit for software development

4. PowerLinks Kit » PowerLinks Kit is now free for all customers with a Blackboard Learning System™ CE Enterprise License or CE Enterprise Ltd License » Includes access to the WebCT Vista Developers Network (DevNet) » Increases innovation through expanded community of practice

5. PowerLinks Kit for software development Extend – customize – collaborate! Extend the Learning Environment Collaborate through the Developers Network Preserve your Investment Over Time

6. Extend the Learning Environment Open the learning system to deliver end-user access to: » Custom in-house applications » Open source extensions » Other third-party applications

7. PowerLinks Kit Components

8. System Integration Framework » Focuses on enterprise data integration via live event feed or batch transactions » Uploading & importing bulk content » Courses, Sections, Groups » Users and Enrolments » Exporting grades to an SIS

9. System Integration Framework » Broken into 3 layers » Transport Layer » Translation Layer » Core Layer » Each layer processes requests, then hands them to the next layer

10. System Integration Framework » Transport Layer: » 3 built-in Adaptors » WebAPI » Command Line Interface » Luminis Data Integration Suite (SunGard HigherEd) » Option to write your own

11. System Integration Framework » Translation Layer: » 3 built-in Adaptors » IMS » LDIS (SunGard HigherEd) » Standard » Option to write your own

12. System Integration Framework » Core Layer » Processes final request and hands actions off to individual Vista services

13. Single Sign-On Framework » User can be authenticated across multiple applications into Vista without separate logins » Deployable Component (DC) framework for ‘plug- able’ authentication modules » DC framework includes Java base classes that can be extended

14. Single Sign-On Framework » How it works: » Create SSO PowerLink » Load it onto the system » PowerLink intercepts a select group of HTTP requests for validation » PowerLink validates the request » Passes it on to Vista for regular processing

15. Web Services » The Web Services SDK focuses on provided access to common user-oriented functions » editing a quiz, viewing grades, uploading content to My Files, etc… » Any WSDL-compliant client can be used to access Web Services

16. Web Services » Currently Supported Web Services: » Context » Gradebook » Calendar » Mail » Assessment » File Manager » Announcement

17. Application Bridging » Application Bridging is outbound Single-Sign-On from Vista » A user clicks on a Proxy Tool (a icon representing a custom PowerLink loaded via the DCF), and they are transferred out of Vista

18. Sample Application Physics Assessment Tool

19. Sample Application Physics Assessment Tool

20. Sample Application Physics Assessment Tool

21. Vista Developers Network » Collaborate » Solicit Advice » Provide Tips » Share Code

22. Vista Developers Network » Over 800 members » Over 1,700 Discussion posts » 15,000 visits » 6,000 page views per month » 35+ open-source PowerLink contributions

23. DevNet Contributions » Open Source Contributions include: » Standards Based Authentication » i.e. CAS and Shibboleth » PhpWiki Integration » RSS Feed Integration » Wordpress Blog Integration » Mobile Vista Mail Integration » …. And more!

24. Preserve your Investment » The Enterprise Architecture Advantage » 100% J2EE-compliant Java » IMS enterprise specifications » Modular and “plug-able” » Standard protocols: WSDL, SOAP, & HTTP

25. Preserve your Investment » Benefits of the PowerLinks approach » Rapid development » Integrate your extensions without impacting stability » Build once, upgrade with minimal effort

26. UWO PowerLinks Kit in Practice » Occupational Health and Safety Program: » Needs to automate certification process » The PowerLink allows Western Ontario to: » Selectively release certification tool to students scoring 80% or higher in a WebCT quiz » When student clicks on the tool it automatically: » Creates a PDF of the certificate » Includes user’s name & date » Emails certificate to the user

27. PowerLinks Kit in Practice: UWO Certificate of Achievement Tool

28. PowerLinks Kit in Practice: UWO Certificate of Achievement Tool

29. PowerLinks Kit in Practice: UWO Certificate of Achievement Tool

30. Take the Certification Quiz Take the Certification Quiz in Vista

31. Certificate Tool Selectively Released The Certification Tool is selectively released if user passes the exam

32. Certificate is Generated Certificate is Automatically created and stamped with user’s name Eldrick Woods July 26, 2006

33. PowerLinks Kit for software development Extend – customize – collaborate! Extend the Learning Environment Collaborate through the Developers Network Preserve your Investment Over Time