In this Q&A, Blackboard Learn President Ray Henderson and Moodlerooms Chairman and CEO Lou Pugliese explain why Blackboard is getting into the open source business, what's different about delivering services to those customers versus Blackboard's traditional customers, and what might be next on the open source agenda for the No. 1 learning management system company in the world.
- By Dian Schaffhauser
- 03/27/12
Education customers that are still running the Angel learning management system and wondering what they should do when the product is officially retired have received a reprieve.
- By Dian Schaffhauser
- 03/27/12
Blackboard is buying out two major players in the open source services space: Moodlerooms and NetSpot. Blackboard has also brought onboard Sakai Project founding architect Charles Severance. With these additions, the company is also launching its own open source division: Blackboard Education Open Source Services.
- By David Nagel, Dian Schaffhauser
- 03/26/12
Blackboard has made available new integration options for its Blackboard Collaborate that allow for more interoperability and support across platforms for a variety of learning management systems, including the company's own Blackboard Learn 9.1.
- By Mike Hohenbrink
- 02/28/12
Desire2Learn, a provider of enterprise teaching and learning platforms for K-12 and higher education institutions, has signed a four-year Windows Azure global alliance agreement with Microsoft.
Moodlerooms will release a free plug-in designed to integrate open-source learning management system Moodle with Microsoft's Live@edu services.
E-learning provider LoudCloud Systems is taking its learning platform modular. According to the company, the LoudCloud Learning Management Ecosystems for K-12 and higher education will be available as individual components to be used on their own or in conjunction with third-party systems to augment their capabilities.
- By Kimberly Horg-Webb
- 02/08/12
Blackboard has gone into general release with a new service pack for Blackboard Learn version 9.1. Service pack 8, or "Ocho," as it's nicknamed by the company, delivers changes to the user interface of the learning management system, as well as updates to workflow functionality, intended to help instructors and administrators use the application more efficiently and effectively.
- By Dian Schaffhauser
- 02/08/12
Teachers and administrators both cited technical issues and a culture of mistrust as factors hindering more effective use of school data systems, including learning management systems and student information systems.
Palo Alto Unified School District has shifted four of its schools to a cloud-based, social networking-inspired e-learning system, with plans for an eventual system-wide rollout.
- By Jessica DiNapoli
- 01/24/12