In my last post, I announced that I will be taking a new job at Oracle and explained that the move will not affect my blogging. Now I’d like to take a moment to talk about why I’m so excited about this new opportunity to make a difference in the world of online learning.
edunomics
FAS's Kay Howell on the Digital Opportunity Investment Trust Act
Federation of American Scientists’ Kay Howell, who authored the research roadmap for the Digital Opportunity Investment Trust Act, has a column in eLearn explaining why passage of the act is so critical: Today’s students are not only comfortable with technology-they know how to use it effectively to solve problems, find resources, and build networks of […]
The Economic Impact of the Blackboard Patent Suit
One of the topics that I’ve been meaning to get to since EDUCAUSE is the likely impact of the patent suit on the financial health of Blackboard, Desire2Learn, and the other LMS players. I got to talk to a number of university decision-makers and observe the activity at the booths of various LMS vendors. My […]
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 […]
Once Again, IBM Sets a Good Example for Blackboard on Patents
The New York Times has a piece out today on IBM’s latest responsibility in patenting initiative. It seems that Big Blue will advertise its pending patents. Some details: The policy, being announced today, includes standards like clearly identifying the corporate ownership of patents, to avoid filings that cloak authorship under the name of an individual […]
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 […]
Even Microsoft Disagrees with Blackboard
I recently noted that, contrary to Blackboard General Counsel Matthew Small’s assertion that no patent holder can say for certain what they will or will not do with a patent, IBM has done exactly that by providing royalty-free licenses to linux on hundreds of their patents. But hey, that’s IBM. They’re into all that crazy […]