National Distance Learning Week

Since last week, November 9 - 13, was National Distance Learning week, I thought it appropriate to write a post dedicated to distance learning. The United States Distance Learning Association sponsored this week "to promote and celebrate the tremendous growth and accomplishments occurring today in Distance Learning programs offered by schools, businesses, and governmental departments."

Here are some interesting things about distance learning:

• Distance Learning is better for the environment. In her article, Going Green: Why Distance Education is Better for the Environment, Jennifer Williamson gives reasons why online education is greener than traditional classroom education.
• No commute; no car exhaust - Since you aren't driving anywhere you aren't contributing to global warming.
• A smaller footprint - With a smaller physical presence, there is also a smaller environmental footprint.
• No classrooms means less energy output - Think about all of the energy that is used for lighting, heating or air conditioning a classroom.
• Online education is a paper saver - Traditional classrooms rely heavily on paper for education materials.
  
• Facts and figures about distance learning from the United States Distance Learning Association:
• "The USDLA defines distance learning as the acquisition of knowledge and skills through mediated information and instruction. Distance learning encompasses all technologies and supports the pursuit of life long learning for all."
• Research studies have found that distance learning is just as effective as traditional instruction methods. Additional studies show that student attitudes about distance learning are generally positive.
• Many organizations across the world are using distance learning to save millions of dollars each year for training their employees more effectively and efficiently than traditional classroom methods.

Now that I have shared some interesting information about distance learning, I thought it would be good to learn how the Distance Learning program got started at Blackbaud. Summer Brunson, the Distance Learning Practice Manager, had this to say:

"Back when Distance Learning classes started, about 7 or 8 years ago, there were a couple of people conducting the training and only a few classes were available. Now there are 12 team members including a Practice Manager, 6 Educational Consultants, a Multi-Media Developer, a Multi-Media Producer, and 3 Distance Learning Designers. We are expected to train over 100,000 attendees this year and several hundreds of thousands of attendees have been trained via distance learning since we began. Distance Learning is the future of training and our team is well poised to meet the learning needs of all Blackbaud's customers."

To learn more about Blackbaud's Distance Learning program, please view this video and then take an instructor-led class or subscribe to one of our eLearning libraries. You will not be disappointed!

Until next time!

Welcome Marianna Ridley to the Distance Learning Team

The Distance Learning team is so excited to have a new member, so please join me in welcoming Marianna Ridley. Marianna's role is Distance Learning Designer and her primary responsibilities are to design and develop instructor-led and self-paced learning materials.

In this post, we get to know Marianna!

Question: What can you tell us about this picture?

Answer: In late August, I started graduate school at Boise State University.  I am not a big fan of college football, but my husband is, and he got me a jersey. I don't pay too much attention to games, but I do love the blue field.

Question: Where do you live (state/country)? 

Answer: I live in beautiful Charleston, SC, where the winters are superb. (I am originally from Brooklyn, NY, where the winters are the opposite of superb: cold, cold, long, and cold.)

Question: What is your favorite thing to do when you aren't working? 

Answer: I love (a) eating-especially Mexican food, (b) bargain shopping-consignment stores and Goodwill are my close friends, and (c) reading, which is a good thing, because I edit my husband's books. He writes young adult science fiction: http://rwridley.wordpress.com/. 

Question: If you could visit one place in the world, where would you go and why? 

Answer: Italy.  It's my heritage...my maiden name is Della Rocca. (Yep ... Marianna Della Rocca ... way too many syllables. People would fall asleep while I introduced myself!). I took a brief trip there in 1984. I'd love to go back. 

Question: What are your hobbies?  

Answer: See #3 above .  Also, I make beaded jewelry, and my husband and I watch a lot of movies.  (Yes, I'll admit it, I actually enjoyed Zombieland.)

Question: How long have you been at Blackbaud? 

Answer: It's been a decade!  

Question: What inspired you to work at Blackbaud? 

Answer: I really wanted to work for a company that asked "Why do the hands on a clock move clockwise?" on its employment test.

Question: What do you love most about your position at Blackbaud? 

Answer: The chance to keep learning new things. I took the StrengthsFinder test, and Learner is in my top five. For any Meyers-Briggs aficionados out there, I'm an ESFJ. 

Question: What is your professional background?

Answer: At Blackbaud, I have been a customer support analyst, technical writer, information specialist, and courseware developer. Before Blackbaud, I wore a number of hats. For example, I was a proofreader, band manager (does anyone remember the local band Cejema?), sales rep, and, once upon a time, I stuffed envelopes at a bank.

Question: Is there anything else you would like to share? 

Answer: I am thrilled to be a member of the Distance Learning team!  My graduate program is in instructional and performance technology, with a focus on elearning, so it's a great fit.  Two other things: (1) Every single interaction I have had with people on the team has been truly fabulous. I know I will love working with you. (2) Everyone on the team is thrilled to be on the team. The synergy must be amazing!   

Marianna, I speak for myself as well as members of the Distance Learning team when I say we are thrilled to have you with us. Thank you for sharing some of yourself with us and we look forward to getting to know you better.

Until next time!  

Creating an eLearning Library – Part II

In Creating an eLearning Library - Part I, I introduced you to ADDIE and described the Analyze phase. In this post, I will talk about how we design eLearning lessons. The Design phase of ADDIE, according to Chuck Castagnolo, in his article The ADDIE Model: Why Use It, is "the systematic process of research, planning, identifying and specifying the complete design of the course objectives, lesson planning, ... learner exercises, courseware content, and assessment criteria."

Here at Blackbaud, an Instructional Designer creates the design guide for eLearning lessons. The design guide identifies the learning objectives and includes the topics that will be used to achieve those objectives. The information included in the design guide directs the lesson developer to the content that should be available in the lesson. For example if the lesson is Adding an Individual Constituent, the design guide will include a tour of the constituent screen and the process for adding the constituent. The design guide may also include practice scenario steps, review questions, and summary information.

Once the design guide is created, it is sent to a Subject Matter Expert (SME) for review. The SME review is completed to ensure the content is correct and any tips, tricks, or best practices are included.

Well, that's the design phase of ADDIE. How many of the approximately 320 hours that it is estimated to create eLearning lessons do you think have been used so far? Don't forget to add them to the hours you guessed for the analyze phase and and let us know your guess. Look for the Creating an eLearning Library - Part III post in the near future.

Until next time!

Training is Everything - Blackbaud Learn

Wow, I can't believe it has been a month since my last post. It is really busy in Distance Learning and one reason is because of a new training offering called Blackbaud Learn. Blackbaud Learn is an annual subscription that includes online instructor-led and self-paced training offerings, role-based curriculum for specific skill sets, thought leadership sessions for nonprofit strategy and best practices, and a monthly training newsletter with notification of new classes and tips and tricks.

Customers who sign up for Blackbaud Learn will benefit because there is no travel - 95% of coursework is delivered online via instructor-led classes. You can learn in small online classrooms that use the latest interactive technologies, and the content covered in these classes is reinforced with monthly "Q&A" sessions. In addition, there are hundreds of self-paced and on-demand lessons available 24/7.

Blackbaud Learn is renewable annually and is designed to offer affordable price points.You can choose the package that works best for your needs and budget.

• Learn:
  Offers all the basic training you need to enable success, including introductory classes and coursework devoted to building critical skills.
• Learn More:
  The critical skills you need, plus access to all advanced courseware.
• Learn Everything:
  All-access pass to everything, including critical skills lessons, advanced coursework, and all regional classes

With Blackbaud Learn, you have a wide range of options for classes that you can take as many times as you need without ever even having to leave your office. Plus you will have access to educational consultants who can help you choose the classes and lessons that are right for you. They will also help you with designated curriculum pathways based on your role within your organization.

Take an opportunity to test drive a class. For a short time, you can enroll in the complimentary online class, Query Essentials for The Raiser's Edge, to experience first-hand all the benefits of online classroom training, without the cost, hassles, or travel time - sign up today! Be sure to sure to enter the promo code: "FreeQuery" on the registration form. If you want more information, please download the brochure.

Until next time!

Exciting Things are Happening in Distance Learning

The instructor-led Distance Learning team is working hard these days on creating new instructor led lessons and Michele Seigle, states:

"The Distance Learning Team would like to announce a new Raiser's Edge class, Report and Dashboard Essentials.  This three hour Distance Learning class will be available beginning in September.  The addition of this class completes the "essentials" puzzle, if you will, by joining Mail, Query, and Export on the schedule.  Participants will get the foundation needed in two vital areas of reporting, the Report section and the Dashboard section of Raiser's Edge.  The Report and Dashboard Essentials class will also become a prerequisite for the other Raiser's Edge report classes currently on the Distance Learning schedule.  It is packed with great information, practices, and resources.  Hope to see you in class soon."

You can search for and sign up to participate in the Report and Dashboard Essentials class on the Distance Learning page of the Blackbaud website. Remember the class will not be available until September.

The eLearning library team has been hard at work designing a new interface for the eLearning library lessons. In an effort to plan for the future, we would like to introduce you to our new Blackbaud Bytes. These bytes are small chunks, 2 minutes or less, of information that tour a specific screen in a product. In this Blackbaud Byte, you get a tour of the Output/Filters tab from Query in Blackbaud Enterprise CRM.  As I said we are looking to the future, so we have designed these bytes to be repurposed for viewing on mobile devices.

We want to hear from you, so tell us if you like or dislike our new Blackbaud Bytes by completing the poll below. If you have a comment, mark Other and then type your comment in the field provided.

Until next time!

Meet Kelly Morin

In this post Kelly Morin, a Distance Learning Designer, will share some personal and professional information with us. A Distance Learning Designer is someone who designs and develops the content and materials used in our Distance Learning training offerings. Before we get started with Kelly's interview, I want to tell you that the Distance Learning team has released a very cool, and groovy video. This video is an overview of the Distance Learning offerings and highlights some of the awesome ways you can learn from instructor-led classes and self-paced eLearning courses. Be sure to check it out!  

Question: What can you tell us about this picture?

Answer: One of my favorite pastimes is traveling.  This picture was taken last October when I visited Australia for two weeks.  On our way to see the little penguins on Phillips Island, we stopped at a farm where we could look at kangaroos.  This one liked me and let me pet him!

Question: Where do you live (state/country)?

Answer: I live on Guam, which is a U.S. territory.  Guam is a small island slightly east of the Philippines (and about 24 hours of travel time to the East Coast of the United States).

Question: What is your favorite thing to do when you aren't working?

Answer: It's a toss-up.  When I have the time and money, I love to travel.  However, on island, my favorite thing to do is SCUBA dive.  I guess my very favorite thing to do is to go on a SCUBA vacation to the neighboring islands in Micronesia.

Question: If you could visit one place in the world, where would you go and why?

Answer: That's a really hard question.  I love to travel and there isn't anywhere that I do not want to go.  However, right now I'm looking forward to visiting Egypt and South Africa after I move back to the United States. 

Question: What are your hobbies?

Answer: Pretty much anything I can do outside.  I like to run, hike, SCUBA dive, ride bikes, swim, kayak, and snorkel.  I'm sure there are others, but those are some of my favorites.

Question: How long have you been at Blackbaud?

Answer: I've worked for Blackbaud for about three and a half years.

Question: What inspired you to work at Blackbaud?

Answer: Before I worked for Blackbaud, I was involved in training.  When I left my previous job, I wanted to continue working with and training people.  Blackbaud was the perfect fit because I could still be involved with training and work with customers who are making the world better!

Question: What do you love most about your position at Blackbaud?

Answer: I like how creative I get to be when designing and developing courses.  It's interesting to find the best way to present a topic, and then work to bring it to life.  It is also challenging to try to develop a course that matches what I see in my mind.  

Question: What is your professional background?

Answer: I'm actually a chemist by training.  However, after college I taught Chemistry and Physics at the Navy's Nuclear Power School.  After that, I decided to continue teaching when I transitioned into the corporate world.  After being an instructor at Blackbaud for a year and a half, I began writing courseware. Now, I design and develop Distance Learning classes and am working on my M.S. in Instructional and Performance Technology.

Thank you Kelly for taking time to give us some insight into your life. You have visited some really interesting places and we would love to hear which ones are your favorites. Good luck on you M.S. in Instructional and Performance Technology!

Until next time!

Introducing the Purchase Orders Essentials Instructor-Led Distance Learning Class

Some members of the instructor-led team have been busy creating a new class offering for our Financial Edge product. In this post guest blogger Nancy Joyce will introduce you to the new Purchase Orders Essentials instructor-led Distance Learning class.

Do you need to track how many new printers have been ordered and how many have arrived so far?  Do you need a report for the auditors showing what has been encumbranced each fiscal period?  Would you like to create templates of commonly ordered items?

Purchase Orders is a component of Blackbaud's The Financial Edge.  Purchase Orders seamlessly integrates into Accounts Payable^TM and gives your organization a variety of options for recording purchases, tracking encumbrances, and generating invoices from receipts.

The Purchase Orders instructor-led Distance Learning class is a 4 hour class that will guide you through the complete order process, from creating commonly ordered products, to entering and printing purchase orders, to recording merchandise when it arrives and generating Accounts Payable invoices.  Tracking supply and shipment needs as well as costs are also covered in the class along with reporting and posting to the general ledger.

Learn more about these and other features included in the Purchase Orders Essentials instructor-led Distance Learning class by checking our training calendar for times and information.

Thank you Nancy for giving us the scoop on the new Purchase Orders Essentials class. Look for this class to be added to the training calendar sometime in August or September.

Until next time!

Creating an eLearning Library – Part I

eLearning experts say it takes approximately 320 hours to develop one hour of eLearning. I'm sure you are thinking "that's a lot of hours," but once you learn about all of the tasks involved in creating an eLearning library, you will understand why it takes so long.

At Blackbaud we use the ADDIE method for creating training materials. There are five phases to ADDIE, Analyze, Design, Develop, Implement, and Evaluate. In this Creating an eLearning Library blog series, I will give a brief definition of each phase of ADDIE and then detail the tasks we complete during that phase toward the creation of an eLearning library.

ANALYZE

According to Chuck Castagnolo, in his article The ADDIE Model: Why Use It, the analysis phase "identifies areas requiring or needing training taking into account views of subject matter experts, the target audience, and the ultimate objectives and goals of the training." In simpler terms, it determines the gap between what the learner currently knows and what they should know. This establishes a need for training. When we create an eLearning library, it's because we have determined that this training medium is the best way to bridge the gap between what our customers know about the products they use and what they should know to effectively and efficiently do what they do best.

Once the need has been identified, we perform an analysis to determine which lessons to include and the order of lesson development. This analysis can be completed in several ways including conducting a survey of internal employees (subject matter experts) and external customers (target audience), and bringing together stakeholders (employees and customers) in a focus group. After the analysis is completed, the lesson list is created and the order of lesson development is established. A project plan is also created to allow all members of the project team to know which tasks they are responsible for and the dates their tasks are due. This helps ensure the project comes in on time and keeps all stakeholders informed of the progress that is being made.

Well, that's the analysis phase of ADDIE in a nutshell. How many of those approximately 320 hours do you think have been used so far? Add a comment and let us know your guess. Look for the Creating an eLearning Library - Part II post in the near future.

Until next time!

Meet Shawntà Bradley

Shawntà Bradley is a Distance Learning instructor and in this blog post she will give us a peak into her personal and professional life. 

Question: What can you tell us about this picture?

Answer: This is a picture of the mountains when I went to Alaska for two weeks back in 2007 and makes me think of "quiet strength."

Answer: South Carolina

Question: What is your favorite thing to do when you aren't working?

Answer: Listen to music (all types).

Answer: Singing, Dancing and good reading

Question: How long have you been at Blackbaud?

Answer: 3 years

Question: What inspired you to work at Blackbaud?

Answer: While in school for my master's one of my instructors mentioned my knack for presenting technical material in a down-to-earth way. I've never been a computer geek, but I knew I liked learning new things and I get bored easily. Blackbaud is always changing, and my instructor mentioned there were many careers in technology for trainers or presenters. I started looked and ended up at Blackbaud.

Answer: I like figuring out solutions to problems I may not have encountered before. This is why I like software because it is ever changing. Never a dull moment. Also the great team I get to work with and don't forget the headphones.

Question: What is your professional background?

Answer: Before Blackbaud I was a lead admission officer for a small community college.  During my spare time, I taught GED courses and helped with the county's summer school program for K-8.

Answer:  I get married on June 27, 2009 and then going to Jamaica for a week.

Thank you Shawntà for sharing a little bit about yourself. Congratulations on your upcoming wedding, we wish you much happiness. Have a wonderful time in Jamaica!!!

Blackbaud Enterprise CRM eLearning Library

The first phase of the Blackbaud Enterprise CRM eLearning Library will be released before June 15^th and I can't tell you how excited everyone is about this new library. We had a lot of help from other members of our Educational Services team and I would like to thank LeAnn Worley, Marc Van Baar, Raymond Ivory, Scott Booher, Tanyika Jordan, and Monique Williams. We couldn't have done it without you!

The lessons available in the first phase are:

Navigation
Log In and Navigate
The Home Page
Search
Favorites
RSS Feeds

Constituents
Purpose of Constituent Records
Search for Constituent Records
Individual Constituent Records
Options Available on the Explorer Bar
Existing Individual Constituent Records
Organization Constituent Records
Matching Gift Conditions
Corporate Structure
Relationships
Group Records
Household Recognition Options
Constituencies

Revenue
Purpose of Revenue
Concepts in Revenue
Revenue Transactions
Payment Records
Tabs on a Payment Record
Tabs on a Revenue Record
Pledge Records
Recurring Gift Records

Some comments about this new library include "the lessons look great"; "wow"; and "I really like this." Marc Van Baar, Manager - Enterprise Education, had this to say:

"We have enjoyed creating eLearning Library lessons for Blackbaud Enterprise CRM: You'd be amazed at how much creativity and hard work goes into the production of these lessons. In a way, it feels like the making of a Hollywood movie. We do storyboarding, we seek voice talent, we have editors to review the script and flow, and of course we have a producer. Our goal is to create eLearning library lessons on key topics that are highly informative and easy-to-follow."

Development of the lessons for the second phase has begun and should be ready for release September 1^st. In phase two we will focus on lessons for Batch, Query, Export, and Prospect Records. Do you have suggestions about what you would like to see in these lessons? If so, please email your ideas to elearninglibrary@blackbaud.com. We welcome your comments!!

Until next time!

Meet LeAnn Worley

LeAnn Worley is a Distance Learning Instructor and in this blog post she will give us a peak into her personal and professional life. 

Question: Where do you live (state/country)?

Answer: I live in Texas.  I am a native Texan and yes "the stars at night are big and bright, deep in the heart of Texas."

Question: What is your favorite thing to do when you aren't working?

Answer: I am very active with my friends and family, we are always doing something new.  I am also very involved with a scouting group at my church; I work with 3^rd and 4^th graders, and love the energy and enthusiasm children have for every activity!

Question: If you could visit one place in the world, where would you go and why?

Answer: I would love to visit London or Paris.  I haven't done much travel internationally and those are my first picks of
cities to see!

Question: What are your hobbies?

Answer: I'm not sure there is space here to list them all - so I'll limit them to my current hobbies!  I love to bake and make cards.  I also love to read, as many of my clients know I am very fond of bookstores and use them as analogies in my classes!

Question: How long have you been at Blackbaud?

Answer: I've worked at Blackbaud for 4 years.

Question: What inspired you to work at Blackbaud?

Answer: Prior to working at Blackbaud I was a client, and every time I interacted with Blackbaud folks (trainers, support techs, account representatives, etc) I was always very impressed by the willingness to get me an answer and not leave me hanging!  I knew it was rare for a software company to have this attitude and wanted to be a part of that!

Question: Were you on any other team at Blackbaud before you joined the Distance Learning team? If so, please list all of them.

Answer: Prior to Distance Learning I did my time with the traveling Educational Consultants and got to see a lot of the United States.  It was always interesting each week to meet new faces and see our software at work!

Question: What do you love most about your position at Blackbaud?

Answer: I really love teaching.  Our software is designed to make our customers lives easier, and I love the moments when people see a quicker or more efficient way to do their job.  It helps them to focus less on the program and more on the organization's mission.

Question: What is your professional background?

Answer: I started my career working in University Advancement at my alma mater.  Then worked at a foundation, but at each organization I worked with Blackbaud products.  I've done it all from the data entry, to the implementation of Blackbaud software. 

Question: Is there anything else you would like to share?

Answer: I would like to encourage everyone to give Distance Learning a shot!  We have classes for Raiser's Edge, Financial Edge, and now Education Edge! It is such a neat way to learn and can be done from the comfort of your own office.  I think you will find the classes are top notch and you walk away with valuable information on the products. 

Thank you LeAnn for taking the time to give us some insight into your life. If you ever get to London or Paris, please share some of your favorite things with us. Like you, and I'm sure there are others, I have never been to either of those places. If I can't go there myself, I would be happy to experience either or both of them from your pictures and stories.

Until next time!

New Distance Learning Instructor Led Education Edge Classes

For this post, I would like to welcome guest writer Michele Seigle. Michele, as well as several other Distance Learning Instructors, a Distance Learning Designer, and some Courseware Developers have been working very hard to design and develop new Distance Learning Instructor Led Education Edge classes. Here's what Michele has to say about the new offering:

The Distance Learning Team is proud to announce the addition of a full suite of instructor led classes for Education Edge.  These brand new offerings will join the existing, revamped Scheduling and Grades classes to provide our customers with a broad range of training opportunities for both Admissions Office (AO) and Registrar's Office (RO).  The available classes include:

Admissions Office

Record Essentials in Admissions Office
Query in Admissions Office
Mail for Labels and Envelopes in Admissions Office
Export in Admissions Office
Reports and Dashboards in Admissions Office
Managing Checklist Items with Tracks in Admissions Office

Registrar's Office

Record Essentials in Registrar's Office
Query in Registrar's Office
Mail for Labels and Envelopes in Registrar's Office
Export in Registrar's Office
Reports and Dashboards in Registrar's Office
Attendance in Registrar's Office
Grades, Report Cards, and Transcripts
Scheduling for Education Edge

Summer Brunson, Practice Manager, Distance Learning says "These classes, on their own merit, would more than meet the needs of the participants, but in this trying economic time, they provide an affordable alternative to the cost of travel.  This is an exciting venture for our Distance Learning team and customers alike."   

Thank you Michele for taking the time to update us on this sensational new offering. It certainly sounds like our Education Edge customers have a great new way to master that product.

Till next time!  

Meet Nancy Joyce

Nancy Joyce is a Distance Learning Instructor and in this blog post she will give us a peak into her personal and professional life.

Question: What can you tell us about this picture?

Answer: Medo (my dog) is helping me respond to emails and hopes one day to teach a Distance Learning class of his own.  Now if we could just find a headset that would fit those ears.

Question: Where do you live (state/country)?

Answer: Raleigh, NC

Question: What is your favorite thing to do when you aren't working?

Answer: Spend time with my dog and play tourist in North Carolina. There is so much of the local area that I haven't had a chance to see yet. But I did make it to the Pickle Festival and highly recommend it.

Question: If you could visit one place in the world, where would you go and why?

Answer: Budapest. My parents are Hungarian and it is a wonderful city with great food.

Question: What are your hobbies?

Answer: I read just about anything and everything. 

Question: How long have you been at Blackbaud?

Answer: Almost 6 years.

Question: What inspired you to work at Blackbaud?

Answer: I was working at a non profit in Chicago and wanted to continue to work with non profits but in a location with better weather! I also wanted to focus more on training.

Question: What do you love most about your position at Blackbaud?

Answer: Getting to talk to people from different types of non profits. It's always interesting when we have people from hospitals, schools, museums and community foundations all in the same class. 

Question: What is your professional background?

Answer: I worked in HR at a community mental health clinic for about 10 years.  I did general Human Resources and conducted trainings for the staff such as conflict management and restraint training.

Question: Is there anything else you would like to share?

Answer: Distance Learning classes are a great way to refresh your skills or learn new skills and gain information about different products and modules. The Distance Learning classes are also a good opportunity to meet other Blackbaud customers and see how they use the database. We have Distance Learning classes for data entry, policies and procedures, and database administration.

We have more than just Raiser's Edge classes. We have a full offering of Financial Edge classes and now Education Edge classes as well.

Thank you Nancy for taking the time to give us some insight into your life. If you ever get to Budapest, it would be great if you could share any recipes you might get of some great food you taste.

Until next time!

Student Billing eLearning Library

The Distance Learning team has been really busy these last few months. One of the projects we have been working on is an eLearning library for Student Billing. The library will consist of approximately 45 lessons that will be accessible from the main menu of The Education Edge eLearning Library and The Financial Edge eLearning Library. The first 15 lessons will be available April 15, 2009 and include:

Records Overview
Annual Setup Overview
Billing Cycles
Advance Deposit Billing Items
Deposits and Payments Overview
Payments
Finance and Late Charges Overview
Credits
Refunds
Incidental Charges Overview
Advance Deposits Overview
Credits and Refunds Overview
Configuration Overview Part I
Configuration Overview Part II
Advance Deposit Records

These were the first lessons to be developed based on a needs analysis that was conducted in November, 2008. This analysis helped identify areas in the program that created the most calls to Support and it was important to us that we address those first. 

Mary Aquino, one of our Distance Learning instructors who teaches Student Billing, had this to say about the new eLearning library:

"I've been around Student Billing for years.  It's always been a dynamic software package, and can be daunting to learn because it's so powerful.  My job has always been helping people to understand its functionality and frequently, after a class, I worry that my students will feel overwhelmed, or need more information on the software in order to use it effectively.

Recently I've become involved in working to get our brand new eLearning Library for Student Billing available for widespread use.  It's been so exciting for me because now there is a tool for continued education, spot learning and system review.  Each lesson is focused on a specific area of the software, function by function and as a subscription learning service, could be the most effective way to keep the billing staff well trained!

If you're a part of a school's Business Office, consider this tool for your training needs.  It's available 24/7/365 for basic training, needs-specific training and review of functionality training.  Quite the bargain."

Distance Learning instructor, Nancy Joyce who also teaches Student Billing, said this:

"The Student Billing eLearning library is great when you want more information or a refresher on one particular topic quickly.  Need to remember what advanced deposits are?  Need a step by step walk through generating automatic transactions?  Want a refresher on statements?  The eLearning library is there for you 24/7.  You can walk through the same eLearning library lesson numerous times if need be and no one will know."

In a future post, you will discover what is involved in creating an eLearning Library.

Until next time!

Meet Melissa Rancour

Melissa Rancour is a Distance Learning Instructor, and in this blog she will give us a small peek into her personal and professional life.

Question: What can you tell us about this picture?

 Answer: This was me at a school outing. I kept walking around looking at everything, so my mom took a picture of me taking it all in. This is still how I am when I go places. I like to look around at everything and just take it all in.

Question: Where do you live (state/country)?

Answer: Oregon/USA

Question: What is your favorite thing to do when you aren't working?

Answer: Spend time with my family and go to the ocean.

Question: If you could visit one place in the world, where would you go and why?

Answer: Australia because I've always thought the pictures looked amazing. 

Question: What are your hobbies?

Answer: With a baby, I don't have much time for hobbies, but I do like to crochet. 

Question: How long have you been at Blackbaud?

Answer: For 1 ½ years.

Question: What inspired you to work at Blackbaud?

Answer: I used to work at a non-profit and used Raiser's Edge.  I really liked the software, wanted to help non-profits, and enjoy training, so it was a perfect match. 

Question: What do you love most about your postion at Blackbaud?

Answer: Working with wonderful people at non-profits around the country and helping them use the products more efficiently. 

Question: What is your professional background?

Answer: I worked in the for-profit and non-profit sectors as a manager and worked in the university and corporate environment as a trainer.   

Question: Is there anything else you would like to share?

Answer: When someone first told me about online training, I didn't think it would work and said that it was not for me.  I gave it a try and after my first class, I realized that I enjoyed it better than a face to face class and also was pleasantly surprised at how interactive it is.  I am a very social person and love all the time I get to spend with so many people.  After a class, I feel like I have met my students in person and look at them as people and not just names in a classroom. 

A final note that I want everyone to know about is our expanded class time offerings.  We now offer our Raiser's Edge classes from 8am EST to 8pm EST.  This will allow everyone on the West Coast to take classes during normal business hours and also give everyone else the chance to take classes in the evening.  Please remember everyone that the class times listed on the internet are Eastern Standard Time. 

I look forward to seeing you all in class soon! 

Thank you Melissa for taking the time to give us some insight into your life. If you ever get to Australia, it would be really cool if you could share some of your amazing pictures with us.

Until next time!