Kelt Dockins, a specialist in the Scholarly Technology and Resources (STaR) Office in Extended Programs, will be honored at Blackboard Inc.’s annual conference Thursday, July 12, in New Orleans for his innovations in UALR’s use of the online class platform.

Dockins, a UALR employee seeking a master’s degree in computer science, will receive a 2012 Blackboard Catalyst Award for Innovative Development at the Blackboard World conference.

Mark Burris said Dockins – a native of Dolph who graduated from Calico Rock High School – wrote a program that collected, formatted, and distributed evaluation information provided by students in an effort to evaluate online courses.

“His program distributed course evaluation data to department chairs within hours of the close of the evaluation period,” Burris said. “It is much easier for departments to customize course evaluations to reflect unique circumstances or industry accreditation requirements. A similar commercial product, which does not provide this level of flexibility, costs in excess of $20,000 annually.”

Ray Henderson, president of academic platforms and chief technology officer of Blackboard Inc., congratulated Dockins as well as UALR, “for its leadership and excellence in the support of online teaching and learning.”

“The efforts made by Kelt really do make a difference in enhancing the learning experience at your institutions and for many other institutions across the globe,” Henderson said.