Drs. Catherine Barber and Janet McCollum, University of St. Thomas Houston professors in the School of Education and Human Services, won the 2019 Blackboard Catalyst Award for Teaching and Learning awarded by Blackboard Inc.

Blackboard Inc. is a leading education technology company for teaching, learning and student engagement.

Teaching and Learning Award

The Teaching & Learning award recognizes those who have adopted flexible, distance and online delivery, including using mobile technologies to affect the educational experience in a positive way.

They accepted the award along with honorees from around the world at the BbWorld annual user conference luncheon held on July 23 – 25 in Austin.

“We sought the Catalyst award to highlight the development of an integrated approach to the M.Ed. courses in scholarly writing and action research,” Barber said. “As a result of our efforts to make online courses engaging, accessible, and interactive, our learners’ writing and research skills have improved, learner satisfaction is high, and research faculty report high levels of instructional effectiveness. We are honored that this work has been recognized by Blackboard as innovative and cutting-edge.”

History of the Catalyst Awards

Founded in 2005, the annual Catalyst Awards recognize and honor innovation and excellence in the Blackboard global community of practice, where millions of educators and learners work every day to redefine what is possible when leveraging technology. A cross-functional team of Blackboard experts selects winners.

In addition to the Teaching and Learning category, 2019 winning categories include Leading Change, Community Engagement, Inclusive Education, Optimizing Student Experience, Training & Professional Development and Student Success. For more information on the Blackboard Catalyst Awards and this year's winners, please visit https://community.blackboard.com/groups/catalystawards.

"We’re thrilled to honor this year's Blackboard Catalyst Award winners for their commitment to improving the educational experience for all learners through EdTech and sharing these insights with the broader community," said Lee Blakemore, Chief Client Officer and President, Global Client Operations & Success at Blackboard. "Clients like these inspire us to accelerate innovation driving student success and we’re proud to be a part of their story.”

Barber and McCollum Have Won Several Times

Dr. Barber and Dr. McCollum are past winners in Blackboard’s Exemplary Course Program. In 2017, Barber won for her course “Educational Research and Scholarly Writing.” In 2018, McCollum won for her course “Educational Research Design and Data Analysis.”

The exemplary awards program recognizes faculty and course designers from schools, colleges, and universities around the world who develop engaging and innovative courses that represent the very best in technology and learning.

“Dr. Barber and I are honored to have received individual Blackboard Exemplary Course awards and the Blackboard Catalyst Award for our collaborative work on teaching and learning,” McCollum said. “These awards have provided us with an opportunity to apply our research on creating effective online courses, which in turn has informed our book, A New Roadmap for Creating Online Courses: An Interactive Workbook, forthcoming in 2020 from Cambridge University Press.”