The University of Phoenix has a history of using its scale to develop and rely on homegrown platforms, including the adaptive learning platform branded as “Classroom”. I wrote about this investment in 2013. The full significance of the University of Phoenix bet on adaptive learning platforms goes beyond pure dollars and became clear when the […]
LMS
New Visual From LISTedTECH Shows LMS Market By New Implementations
Justin Menard and his team at ListEdTech have produced a great new visual on the LMS market in North America. Using his wiki-based data with 4,000+ institutions, he shows the percentage of LMS implementations per year (scaled to 100% for each year). While we are used to seeing LMS market share in terms of number or […]
Interview with Josh Coates, CEO of Instructure, on today’s IPO
Instructure, maker of the Canvas (higher ed and K-12 markets) LMS and Bridge (corporate learning market) LMS, held their Initial Public Offering today. Prior to the IPO, Wall Street analysts focused on the company’s growth, its large losses, and the challenges of the education market. The company was priced on the lower end of its […]
What Schoology’s Venture Funding Means for the LMS Market
LMS vendor Schoology just raised $32 million in Series D venture capital funding, bringing the total that they’ve raised to just over $57 million. If you’ve never heard of them, that’s because they have mostly been focused on K12, where they are doing very well. But they have turned their attention to US higher ed […]
Why Is Blackboard Laying Off Staff Despite Improved Market Share Position?
Over the past two weeks Blackboard had another round of layoffs, likely due to the company missing financial targets. While one estimate places the number at roughly 200, from what I have heard the number is closer to 90 – 100 people let go. I asked the company for commentary on the layoffs and associated reorganization. By […]
State of the US Higher Education LMS Market: 2015 Edition
I shared the most recent graphic summarizing the LMS market in October 2014, and thanks to revised data sources it’s time for an update. As with all previous versions, the 2005 – 2009 data points are based on the Campus Computing Project, and therefore is based on US adoption from non-profit institutions. This set of longitudinal data […]
Instructure Files for IPO
This doesn’t exactly come as a shock, but Instructure has filed for an IPO, and is expecting a post-IPO valuation of somewhere between $500 million and $800 million. Whenever a private company does this, they have to file a form called an S-1 with the SEC, which contains all kinds of financial and strategic information. […]