Questionmark Announces Interoperability Agreement with Blackboard, Through Building Blocks

For Immediate Release

Questionmark Announces Interoperability Agreement with Blackboard, Through Building Blocks

STAMFORD, CT - December 19, 2001 -- Testing and assessment software provider Questionmark, and Blackboard Inc., the leading Internet infrastructure software company for e-Education, today announced the signing of a partnership agreement to make the companies' systems interoperable through Blackboard's Building Blocks Program.

As part of this cooperative effort, Questionmark has joined Blackboard's Building Blocks Initiative (B2), which provides an open set of Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) and developer services for creating extensions to Blackboard.

The agreement will result in a new software "bridge" to be distributed early next year. The bridge will link Blackboard's Enterprise Learning System to the Questionmark™ Perception™ assessment platform. The bridge will allow students and instructors registered within a Blackboard course to seamlessly link to Perception and back to Blackboard. This allows institutions to maintain student and instructor profiles within one system while taking advantage of the powerful assessment features of Perception.

Both companies are committed to working with industry leaders to create interoperability and common functionality. Now instructional designers and instructors who need comprehensive question types, such as drag-and-drop and hot-spot, with a pedagogical focus, can provide all styles of assessments within their course. Results are not only maintained within Perception for item analysis, but the high level results are also stored within Blackboard's grade book for easy access by students and instructors.

"The integration of Questionmark's Perception assessment platform with the Blackboard Learning System is of significant benefit to many of our leading edge clients," said Dan Cane, Senior Vice President at Blackboard. "We are very pleased to see Questionmark join the increasing number of technology companies participating in Building Blocks."

"To the unfamiliar eye it might seem that Blackboard and Questionmark are competitors; however, we both recognize how our systems are complementary," added Eric Shepherd, president of Questionmark. "Our business and product strategies are clearly synergistic. This agreement helps us demonstrate our commitment to interoperability while satisfying the needs of our customers."

About Blackboard Inc.
Blackboard Inc. was founded to transform the Internet into a powerful environment for teaching and learning. The company offers a complete suite of enterprise software products and services that power a total "e-Education Infrastructure" for schools, colleges, universities and other education providers. Blackboard solutions deliver the promise of the Internet for online teaching and learning, campus communities, auxiliary services and integration of Web-enabled student services and back office systems.

Blackboard's Learning, Community Portal and Transaction Systems, are consistently ranked by industry analysts as the market share and customer satisfaction leaders for thousands of academic institutions and a leading number of the Internet's most popular consumer education sites. The company is headquartered in Washington, D.C., with offices and staff across North America, Europe and Asia. Please visit www.blackboard.com for more information.

About Questionmark:
Questionmark has been producing testing and assessment software since 1988, enabling educators and trainers to write, administer, and report on tests and surveys securely using individual PCs, local networks, the Internet, and intranets. Businesses, governments, schools, colleges, and universities in more than 50 countries use Questionmark software. Typical applications include exams, quizzes, study aids, diagnostic tests, pre-course skills assessments, and course evaluations. Questionmark has offices in the United States, England, Australia, and Belgium, with distributors worldwide. Call 800-863-3950 or visit http://www.questionmark.com for more information.

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