The Pittsburgh Blackboard Users Group (Pgh-Bug) was formed in April 2003 by Nola Coulson, Carlow University, and Karen Hall, Point Park University, to promote collaborative opportunities and the exchange of ideas, experiences, resources, and documents relating to the instructional uses and support of Blackboard among Pittsburgh area Colleges and Universities.  Fourteen institutions joined with Nola and Karen to begin the group.

From its original fourteen members, Pgh-Bug has grown to twenty-six member institutions in 2005. We attempt to convene at least two meetings per semester in which the host institution provides lunch for the attending Pgh-Bug members and demonstrates a support strategy or a special topic presentation relating to effective application of Blackboard in teaching and learning.  These meetings and presentations further the collaborative and supportive mission of the group.

Since its beginning, the Pgh-Bug membership decided to sponsor an annual conference to draw together instructional support staff, systems support staff, and the faculty who use Blackboard to encourage the exchange of ideas, best practices, and support strategies.  The first two conferences in Fall 2003 and 2004 were hosted by Carlow University and successfully brought Pgh-Bug member institutions and their faculty together with vendors and representatives from Blackboard, Inc. to benefit from one another’s experiences with Blackboard.  Acknowledging the benefits of sharing information, experiences and resources, we have provided links to these past conferences that include photographs and presentation files.

The third annual conference will be held this November 21 and 22, 2005, at Duquesne University.  With this year’s conference, we are looking to extend our invitation to participants beyond our western Pennsylvania region.  With the increasingly important role online technologies play in the educational experience of today’s students, we remain committed to ongoing collaboration among all users of Blackboard.  Thus we look forward to the exchange of ideas and networking opportunities our conferences hold for Blackboard users who struggle with the limitations and challenges presented by an ever-changing system as well as the benefits and rewards of effective application of the technologies Blackboard offers.

The Pgh-Bug group acknowledges the value of sharing ideas and information and developing a collaborative venue for our members.  We are proud of the organization we have started and appreciative of the support Blackboard, Inc. has provided us in support of our conference. 

We welcome new members in the western Pennsylvania and West Virginia regions who use Blackboard products and are able to travel and attend our meetings. For information on how to join, please see our Membership link.