New classrooms can be tough enough at the beginning of a semester, but this fall, students will also encounter new classroom technology.

Earlier this summer, Blackboard Inc. purchased ANGEL Learning, the creator of Penn State's ANGEL course management system, with plans to integrate it into its product line.

However, for ANGEL users like students and faculty at Penn State, life should continue as normal.

"We'll continue to take new measures of the new vendors," said Kevin Morooney, vice provost of Information Technology Systems at Penn State. "We're really going to focus for what the institution needs are for the faculty and students."

Matt Maurer, director of public relations at Blackboard, said the experience for users should remain the same under the new arrangement.

"For the most part, clients should expect to continue as they normally had in working with ANGEL and the ANGEL team," he said.

However, more changes will eventually be made in the product, he said.

"Longer term, we'll figure out as a company how to combine some of the best of the ANGEL platform with Blackboard's long-term vision," Maurer said.

Ray Henderson, the former chief products officer at ANGEL, is currently president of the Blackboard Learn division of Blackboard Inc., overseeing e-learning products like ANGEL.

In a letter to ANGEL clients earlier this summer, he wrote he is confident that the quality of the online service will not be compromised.

"I think we've ended up with the right approach that's mindful of lessons learned and honors the commitments we made to you at the outset of this process," he wrote in the letter.

Henderson noted that adjustments for the ANGEL staff under the new management are minimal. Both Henderson and Maurer acknowledge the timeline for modification is a long-term plan, but the process has been positive so far.

"I'm pleased to confirm that while we've been at this integration work, product support service levels have remained consistent, and we've undertaken the significantly increased investment in product maintenance we

promised for fall," Henderson said.

Morooney said while he has not encountered any problems with the product yet, he will remain vigilant in monitoring.

"The proof is in the pudding," Morooney said. "You never know until you get there."