e-Literate

Present is Prologue

Category: Ed Tech

The “Ed Tech” category includes posts about educational technology products themselves, including LMSs and other learning platforms, adaptive learning and other digital curricular materials products, learning analytics, and educational apps of all types. It also includes technical aspects of ed tech products, especially interoperability.

  • 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 association, and I’m not in a position to hire an army of lawyers. Basically, I’m just a guy with a blog. If I can make a difference then you can too.

    Here’s something really simple that you can do at your university, regardless of what your role is and regardless of what LMS you use (Even if it’s Blackboard!): (more…)

  • Jim Farmer on the Impact of the Patent Wars

    Seb Schmoller has posted an insightful, moving, and rather depressing reflection piece by Jim Farmer on the impact that the patent wars will have on education in general. Here’s a sample:

    Education patents and the new licensing environment may further commercialize teaching and learning. The Blackboard patent is not alone, but representative of many that have been issued – and many more that are pending – in the U.S. that could apply to any learning system. It is unlikely that all claims of all patents will be found invalid before someone wins an injunction or judgment, and cease and desist letters and license invoices follow. We should be prepared for a new environment of restrictions, licensing, and confrontation of our suppliers.

    Now any choice of software, any method of instruction, and any choice of content will have to be viewed from a new perspective of risk assessment. This moves the decision from teaching faculty to business officers and attorneys who are least prepared to judge the effect on education and research.

    Sad but true.

  • Hiding Falsehoods and FUD Behind Legalisms

    In a recent article in the Windsor Star, everyone’s favorite plain talker, Blackboard General Counsel Matthew Small, made the following statement:

    “No patent holder can definitely say, ‘I will not do X with my patent.’ However, I can say very confidently that we are focusing on the commercial sector.”

    The first half of this statement is absolutely false and Small should (and probably does) know better. Which perhaps tells us something about the second half of his statement as well. (more…)

  • Blackboard's Answers to the IMS Blogged

    Stuart Sim has live-blogged the IMS Q&A session with Blackboard regarding their patent. For those of you who don’t know him, Stuart is no wild-eyed long-haired academic commie pinko. He’s the Chief Architect at Sun Microsystems’ Global Education and Research Group. Although there doesn’t appear to be much news out of the conversation, I think you’ll find his analysis interesting.

  • e-Learning Usability Engineering Guide is Up

    Lisa Neal and I have an in-depth tutorial up on eLearn about how to do usability testing for self-paced e-learning courses (although the methods would work for collaborative courses as well). It was originally written as a stand-alone guide and I’m not sure how well it reads in article format. In any case, you may find some of the information useful.

  • Al Essa's Analysis of the Blackboard FAQ

    After promising to wait for Al’s analysis before publishing mine, I mistook his initial post for his final word and jumped the gun. Al’s own blow-by-blow analysis is up now. As you’ll see, we’re in pretty close agreement on it.

  • 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. (more…)