Speaking of both standards compliance and Blackboard, IMS CEO Rob Abel has posted an interesting comment on the Wired Campus’ blurb regarding a Blackboard/SAP integration deal: It is important for the readers to understand that there are currently administrative system providers such as Oracle working within the nonprofit IMS Global Learning Consortium to create open […]
LMS & Learning Platforms
Everything you want to know about Learning Management Systems and whatever comes after them.
Oracle, Sakai, and the LMOS–Part 1
It’s been a while since I’ve written a post about the notion of a Learning Management Operating System (LMOS). There’s some news out of the Sakai world that’s as good an excuse as any for doing returning to it. Apparently Oracle, with the help of Unicon, is going to do quite a bit of work […]
Blackboard Conference Call, Part II
As I said in my previous post, I was allowed to ask quite a few questions of Matthew Small in Blackboard’s patent Q&A webinar tonight. I chose not to ask any regarding the scope or validity of the patent, since I saw no benefit in crossing swords on those issues. Instead, I focused my questions […]
Blackboard Conference Call, Part I
Tonight I listened in on the last in Blackboard’s series of Q&A webinars on their patent. To their credit, they let me ask all of my questions. Matthew Small even extended a personal invitation to me to call him with any follow-up questions. I was very happy with all of that. I was far less […]
What You Can Do About the Blackboard Patent, Part I
A number of people have commented to me that they wish that they could make a difference in the Blackboard patent fight. In the process, they usually imply that I have some power that they don’t. The thing is, I’m not a decision-maker at my university, I don’t run an Open Source project or professional […]
An Analysis of the Latest Blackboard Patent FAQ
This week, Blackboard issued another FAQ which “is the result of numerous discussions with those interested in better understanding the Blackboard patent.” Do their answers make the topic clearer? Let’s do a question-by-question analysis and see.
eCollege Has Patented the Gradebook
That’s right. In 2004, eCollege was granted a patent that, as far as I can tell, is for A gradebook An online syllabus A private student journal Now, before you panic, ask yourself why eCollege has not sued anyone in the two years since they acquired the patent. The truth is that there are all […]