EduGeek Journal

I guess it was inevitable. As much negative press as Blackboard garnered over recent legal actions (in addition to the negative experiences some of their customers are always complaining about), they had to do something abut it.  I can see the board meeting now: “We’re taking a beating over this lawsuit. What can we do [...]

In general, I would say that I believe in equal standards.  Treat all people as equals.  That works best when you are talking people.  When it comes to corporations, there is a lot of room for differing standards. Of course, I am not talking about regulations – all companies should follow all that apply.  When [...]

For my day job last week, I was part of a meeting with a Blackboard rep.  He was a nice guy, but still a salesperson.  A good salesperson at that.  I know there are good sales people out there, but beyond the good ones that I have met, I find the rest of them tiring.  [...]

Oh, BlackBoard. I really do try to give you a fair break. You just make it so hard not to. Recently I linked to some videos that highlight the new changes coming in BlackBoard NG: http://www.blackboard.com/projectng/ Chapter 2: User Interface… Something about that looks familiar. What is it… [stares off blankly at my iGoogle page] [...]

If you don’t know what EduPunks are – well, you probably are one if you are reading this blog. Or, at least one at heart. We’re all probably EduPunks here at EGJ (even though I personally hate the label). We want to bring change to the online education world, and some of us are even [...]

As I’ve been pondering the status of the Learning Management System in education, I’ve noticed something interesting. I seem to use the system differently than many people. Some refer to LMS programs as prisons that trap learning. Content is dumped in to a repository, and then all interaction with that content and other students is [...]

As I’ve been reading more and more about the EduPunk movement and the related call for the “death” of the CMS/LMS/VLE/etc, I’ve noticed some interesting developments. Some people refer to the LMS as a “prison” that forces teachers to contain all learning in one small corner of the Internet. This is labeled as “inhumane” and [...]

If you haven’t seen this yet, here are some videos of what is brewing at Blackboard Project NG (Next Generation): http://www.blackboard.com/projectng/ One thing that I find funny: they are really hyping how you can have one account that lets you log in as a teacher or a student for different classes. They still think they [...]

Courtesy of Metamedia and Pete – the Adventures of Bollywood Blackboard-wala: Ep. 1 Paying The Annual Licensing Fee Ep. 2 Dealing with Customers Looking at the Open Source Alternative Ep. 3 Dealing with the Patent Invalidation Ruling Ep. 4 Confronting the Open Source Challenge Ep. 5 Live from Blackboardwala World 2008 Ep. 6 Dealing with [...]

In a field full of hot-topics, one has been catching my attention lately: getting rid of the Learning Management System (or Course Management System, or Virtual Learning Environment). I understand the sentiment driving this discussion: most people are tired of how long it takes for new advances in technology to actually be integrated in to [...]