Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google


Elluminate, Wimba Collaborative Tools Get Third-Party LMS Support

  • By Dian Schaffhauser
  • 10/12/10

Following up on a commitment made at the time it acquired the two companies, Blackboard has announced that Collaborate, its new collaborative learning suite that taps into technology from Elluminate and Wimba, will work with competing learning management systems. This will allow Collaborate to pull user, course, and enrollment data from the various LMSes.

The new integrations are built on open application programming interfaces and are expected to work with Blackboard's Learn, Angel, and WebCT, as well as open source offerings Sakai and Moodle and proprietary products Desire2Learn Learning Environment, Pearson LearningStudio, and others.

Wimba Pronto Universal Integration connects Wimba Classroom, a virtual classroom environment, and Wimba Voice, a live audio tool, with Desire2Learn. According to the company, the integration code meets the IMS Global Learning Consortium's standard for Basic Learning Tools Interoperability.

The company also released a new version of the Elluminate Bridge for Moodle. Elluminate Live is a set of tools that includes note taking features, two-way interactive video, archiving and automatic indexing of e-learning sessions, organizational tools for teachers, whiteboarding, and other collaboration utilities.

"Our goal is to support teaching and learning wherever it happens, regardless of what learning management system is being used," said Maurice Heiblum, president of Blackboard Collaborate. "To that end, we continue to invest in open, standards-based integrations that increase availability and choice for institutions and ensure that our existing customers and prospects are well positioned for the future."

At the time the acquisitions of Wimba and Elluminate were announced, Ray Henderson, Blackboard Learn's president who was initially designated to lead the team to integrate Learn, Wimba, and Elluminate, expressly stated Blackboard's intention to continue supporting the two companies' support of products from open source and commercial LMS vendors. "I'm confident in our ability to maintain positive experiences for clients and learners in all contexts, regardless of which learning management system is used," he said in July 2010.

About the Author

Dian Schaffhauser is a former senior contributing editor for 1105 Media's education publications THE Journal, Campus Technology and Spaces4Learning.

Featured

  • digital brain integrating legal regulation and security interface

    Survey: Agentic AI Moves from Pilot Phase to Production, Bringing Governance to the Forefront

    A new report from Caylent, an AI-focused Amazon Web Services Premier Tier Services Partner, found that enterprises are already moving agentic AI beyond pilots and into production environments. At the same time, organizations are putting strict conditions around autonomy, making governance and control the next major challenge for enterprise AI adoption.

  • Digital document and folder warning alert with error

    When Cyber Attacks Disrupt Learning, Recovery Matters More than Ever

    As schools become more dependent on digital platforms for instruction, grading, student services, and family communication, resilience depends not only on preventing attacks, but on how quickly leaders can restore trusted data, recover essential services, and keep disruptions from cascading across the school community.

  • Blurred silhouettes of business people in a modern office with a glowing blue network overlay

    Open Secure AI Alliance Moving Under Linux Foundation

    Governance of the Open Secure AI Alliance has moved to the Linux Foundation, giving the initiative what the organizations describe as a neutral home for developing open source tools, shared standards and defensive practices. The Alliance was launched by NVIDIA in July to develop open security technologies for AI systems and agents.

  • Abstract digital hacker man with a laptop

    Cyber Criminals Choosing Shared Prompts, Fraud Kits Over Custom Malicious AI Models

    Increasingly, cyber criminals are sharing AI prompts, jailbreak techniques, and access to existing models that can be incorporated into fraud and phishing operations, according the latest AI Threat Report from Flashpoint.