I've noted this elsewhere, but found it striking enough to repeat here: BlackBoard and WebCT, the world's predominant course management systems (CMS) providers, are merging. That is, BB is devouring WebCT.
What does this mean? A few first thoughts:
One business now has the lion's share of the CMS market. BB is the new Microsoft for this field.
BB's Incentive to innovate just dropped still further.
The conflict between proprietary and open source CMSes just deepened. I expect a BB FUD campaign or two. Watch for them to paint Sakai as, oh, elitist and overambitious. And Moodle et al, perhaps too amateurish, or beneath competition.
What will happen to WebCT courses archived, being run now, planned for spring '06? Will they persist as WebCT safe havens within the BBverse, or get morphed into the new order?
as a friend of mine said; it should be called BlackWeb - more technology, less learning
Posted by: Harold Jarche | October 13, 2005 at 07:54
Yeah, I'm not excited by this. On the plus side, the administration isn't either and are thinking about a possible change.
Posted by: Laura | October 14, 2005 at 13:30
Laura, what are you guys looking at/to - Moodle, Sakai?
Harold, that sounds like the name of a band, or a blog - yes, a block to watch this new thing.
Posted by: Bryan | October 14, 2005 at 15:19
I haven't had time to blog on this yet--finishing up staff annual evaluations and two searches, oh my--but I can testify from a recent Bb sales encounter that their FUD campaign was in full force the instant I said the two words "open source." Their response was ignorant and borderline insulting. That is to say, it was telling.
We are looking very hard at Sakai here. We are also thinking hard about next-gen. CMSs--i.e., maybe it's the learning that needs stimulating instead of the course that needs managing.
Posted by: Gardner | October 14, 2005 at 15:58