MIT offers their MITx online courses and certificates for a price, Stanford offers some online courses free, and Utah State University professor Wiley provides successful students with letters confirming course completion. But offering online learning has failed many using these business models. Cambridge, Chicago, Cornell, Michigan, New York and Oxford, Stanford, Temple and Yale Universities, […]
edunomics
Why Ed Tech Innovation Is Speeding Up
I have a lot to write about, coming off of BbWorld and Desire2Learn FUSION. But before I get into all of that, I just have to publish this brief “Amen” post to Phil’s last one. It’s hard to overestimate the impact that lower cost of development is going to have on educational technology in the […]
Blackboard and MoodleRooms: An insight to private equity
There has been speculation about Blackboard’s acquisition of MoodleRooms and its announcements about support of open-source learning systems. This is also an opportunity to see decision-making by Blackboard owner Providence Equity. The motivation of a private equity firm is rapid increase in the value of its assets. Some of Blackboard initiatives may take several years to take final form; […]
There is a Stupid Question: Are You Asking it?
I hate to say this as a former classroom teacher – there is a stupid question in EdTech. I have to go on the attack because this question is likely one of the biggest roadblocks to innovation. Is Technology Effective? The education sector is hung up on this question. But there are two false assumptions […]
What Are Ed Tech Entrepreneurs Good For?
The recent ASU Education Innovation Summit, which brought together venture capitalists with aspiring ed tech entrepreneurs, created quite a stir in the edublogosphere and the edutwitterverse. A lot of the reaction came from people who were watching from a distance via video. Audrey Watters, for example, wrote an epic rant on her frustrations. There were […]
Blackboard Mergers and Acquisitions
This is just a quick post to note the fact of two pretty big announcements coming out of Blackboard. First, the acquisition of the company by Providence Equity has been completed. Second, Providence immediately turned around and executed a merger between Blackboard and Edline, makers of an LMS-like product aimed at the K12 market. I […]
The Datatel-SunGard Higher Education Merger
This is a guest post from Jim Farmer, Chairman of Sigma Systems, Inc. [Editor’s note: I have had this post from Jim for a while now and am only now getting a chance to publish it. Apologies to Jim and to you.] On August 4th Hellman-Friedman LLC filed with the Security and Exchange Commission a […]