October 28, 2008
Blackboard Announces Free Tool to Interconnect Its Software With Moodle, an Open-Source Competitor
Blackboard has taken another step toward making the next version of its course-management system work alongside open-source competitors. The company announced today that it is working with Iowa State University to create a software plug-in for the company’s course-management system so that it can integrate with Moodle, a popular open-source alternative. The move comes just three months after the company announced the creation of a similar connection tool for Sakai, another open-source course-management system.
The new software tool, called the Learning Environment Connector for Moodle, will let students access course Web sites created with Moodle from within the Blackboard software interface. The goal is to let students see all of their course information in one space, regardless of which software was used to produce the Web pages. “They’ll have a single place to sign on to get to our Blackboard presence and our Moodle presence,” said Randal Dalhoff, assistant director of academic technologies for Iowa State University’s Information Technology Services, in an interview.
The tools are designed to work with the next versions of the company’s software, which it is calling Blackboard NG, for next generation. College officials expect the first of those versions to come out early next year, although Blackboard officials have not announced a release date. Iowa State has been given an early copy of Blackboard’s forthcoming software so that its programmers could build the tool. Mr. Dalhoff said the university would give the Connector software free to any college that wants it.
He said Blackboard officials had asked the university earlier this year if it would be interested in taking on the project, and university officials decided to do so. “To me it’s the thrill of putting something together, and as programmers we thought this would be a fun project to do,” he said.
Some colleges have expressed skepticism at Blackboard’s move to link with open-source platforms, in part because of the aggressive tactics the company has taken against commercial competitors. The company successfully sued one of those competitors, Desire2Learn, for for violating Blackboard’s patent on a system of delivering course materials online, though some college officials feel the patent is overly broad. The patent office is reviewing whether the patent was issued properly, which depends in part on whether other colleges or companies were already using similar technology before Blackboard filed for its patent.
“I’m not a Blackboard advocate, but I’m not a Blackboard putter-downer either,” said Mr. Dalhoff. “We’re not tied to Blackboard. If some day something really came out that is better, or prices got out of range, who knows what we might do?”
A couple of departments at the university already use Moodle, he said, even though the central IT department does not officially support it. Most professors at the university use Blackboard.
No one course-management system is best for every department or for every professor, said Mr. Dalhoff. “Having a choice will be better for campuses than really settling on one.” —Jeffrey R. Young
Posted on Tuesday October 28, 2008 | Permalink |Comments
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and then they’ll sue them out of existance!!! YESSSS!
— Darrell Oct 28, 09:06 AM #
Lots of people are working on lots of things. But it’s news only when they actually produce the thing.
— Stephen Downes Oct 28, 09:28 AM #
Like with the Sakai connector, Blackboard’s view is that that their system should be the center of the academic universe (and then some). There is risk in putting all your eggs in the Bb basket. I think an open source campus portal is less risky and at least as flexible. Multiple course mgmt systems can push their data to the portal presenting a unified launch point for users.
— Jeff Bohrer Oct 28, 10:06 AM #
So, will they also allow programmers to develop an extension for Moodle that lets students see their Blackboard courses in that other LMS? I didn’t think so.
— Steve Foerster Oct 28, 05:18 PM #
Why bother? Lets just admit Moodle is better. Blackweb is dying a slow and painful death. Institutions stuck with this dog are bearing the cost. Now Blackweb wants to profit from online learning environments with no connection to their products? As demonstrated with the ridiculous patent claims, only Blackweb would have the nerve to try and pull this off. Giving them more money is certainly no way to make them go away. Leave Blackweb and never look back!
— Tyler Durden Oct 28, 05:20 PM #
Moodle is excellent. It may not have all of the bells and whistles that Blackboard has but they are slowly being developed or can be at low expense. And the best part is that the institution has full rights to use it without paying ANY licensure fees to a private company. This news is great for education because with Blackboard working with Sakai and Moodle, it would now be tough convincing a judge that patents are being violated. This is good news for open source. Blackboard is a bully, as everyone in academia knows (hey, BB ever do a focus group study?), and should be avoided like the plague. It is bad enough that the Federal government controls education through the student loan program without another controlling element in the mix. Open source is the future and Blackboard is the past.
— Richard Oct 29, 08:51 AM #
I certainly hope that no matter what Blackboard does, the new version Blackboard NG will be compatable with JAWS software. Students who are blind actually attend college.
— mk Oct 29, 09:33 AM #
Any one else find the name Blackboard NG interesting? Almost kind of retro like say…. Windows NT. I think that too show Bb as being part of the past.
— Rick Oct 29, 09:34 AM #
I’d like to know if BlackboardNG is going to be an update that applies to Vista, as well as the original BB.
My personal views are that I much prefer Moodle; however, the University that I work at has got Vista & I can’t see them changing any time soon. Those with influence are fairly wedded to it; those of us who are a bit more geeky as seen as geeky mavericks.
— -WebCT user Oct 30, 11:00 AM #