Several folks on the Sloan-C listserv have raised a strong second line of argument in the Blackboard prior art fight. In addition to identifying specific LMS precursors that had most or all of the functionality outlined in the claims, we should be building the case that LMS’s were directly and consciously copied from and evolved […]
Lotus-Notes
IBM Follows SUNY's Lead on Notes/Domino Migration
Ya know, you can’t make this stuff up. As regular readers know, the SUNY Learning Network is currently on a home-grown LMS built on top of Lotus Notes/Domino. About eight months back, we proposed [PDF] the notion of migrating to a standards-based Java portal backed by a service-oriented architecture (SOA). Well, this week, IBM announced […]
Progress Toward an Offline e-Learning Client?
One of the most beloved aspects of the SUNY Learning Network’s current Lotus Notes-based homegrown LMS is its offline capabilities. Faculty members can download the current course data–including student discussion posts, tests, etc. They can respond to posts, grade papers and tests, add announcements, and so on, all while offline, and automatically synchronize the next […]
Lean Clients, Plump Clients, and Chubby Clients for Learning Management Systems
As I mentioned in a previous post the SUNY Learning Network currently uses a home-grown learning management system built on top of Lotus Notes. And while there is a web interface to the system, many of the current users are quite attached to their fat client. This may sound quaintly outdated at the moment. However, […]