Today, Blackboard Learn President Ray Henderson announced in his blog that Blackboard will be “ramping up its commitment” to standards support, starting with a pledge to support import and export of the IMS Common Cartridge standard. If Ray actually makes this happen, and happen in a timely manner, this would be a pretty big deal. It would mean that textbook publishers and faculty members alike would have an easier time sharing content across multiple systems and migrating from one system to another. To be clear, ANGEL had a consistent reputation for leading in the implementation of standards, while Blackboard frankly has been known to make promises that they haven’t kept in this area. So if Ray is able to deliver on this (and we can’t know until the code ships), it will be a very positive step hopefully a portent of more good things to come.
Let’s put this in perspective. On the one hand, of the three tests I suggested for the “new” Blackboard, this was the one that I was most confident that Ray would pull off. He has been personally committed to Common Cartridge and has helped drive it forward. LIS will be a tougher test, and the patent suit will be a much tougher test.
On the other hand, Ray has only been a Blackboard employee for a handful of weeks. I think this an excellent beginning.