Pass the SoLT

I recently came across an amusing video on distance learning in the context of the potential of WebCT. Although the spoof video is a little harsh on the product itself as this has to be seen in an historical context, I suspect most of the top five ways to survive a WebCT course are just as applicable today to learning with Moodle, Blackboard, Desire2Learn, etc. Here are the top five:

1. Not just one medium
2. You are being watched
3. Make friends
4. Download everything
5. Manage your time

In theory the dark days of WebCT are over but one could argue that the future still lives in the past. For example, the number one way to survive--not just one medium--was well ahead of its time as the social media revolution was only just getting underway when WebCT was in its prime. In a similar vein, with the recent emergence of the field of learning analytics there are good reasons to be cautious about who is watching you. Making friends and managing your time are enduring strategies but perhaps in the age of cloud computing we have moved on from the need to download everything, although I stand to be corrected. At least it is reassuring to see that the WebCT experience was unable to stifle the flair, creativity and humour displayed throughout the video and the serious message has not been entirely lost on the education community.

Enjoy the video

This is a very brief posting to point readers in the direction of the latest commentary in Inside Higher Ed on the 'buying Blackboard' news. For those who haven't heard about what's happening at Blackboard, on April 19th an announcement was made that they had hired a financial advisor to help senior executives review “unsolicited, non-binding proposals” to buy their educational technology and services. My money is on Pearson but I wouldn't rule out Microsoft. Interestingly the latest story includes the following observation:

"Data from the 2010 Campus Computing Survey document the continuing decline of Blackboard’s hegemony in the campus LMS market. This decline seemed implicitly acknowledged in a conference call with corporate analysts some weeks ago when John Kinzer, the company’s chief financial officer, stated that he expected revenues from the company’s LMS franchise to decline from
55-60 percent of current total corporate revenue to 20-30 percent in the next three-to-five years."

We live in changing times!

Although just for fun the following short animated videos contain a serious message about the use of technology in education. They were made by Darren Crone, Director of eLearning at UT-Dallas and I first came across them in NUTN's regular digest of articles and information for the week ending 1st April. I'm sure that many reads will be able to relate to the scenarios as they're not too far from the situation in many tertiary institutions.

The first video addresses the issue of lack of student engagement (or teacher interactivity) due to 'technology neglect' as an outcome of extensive use of videoed lectures. It takes a serious poke at the idea you can enhance your course and the student experience by simply reproducing videos of your subject matter.

The second video also explores the use of video recorded lectures but in the wider context of the importance of carefully planning course design and development. Again the video contains valuable lessons about online learning and how NOT to throw together a course using new digital technology.

The last video in this series takes a cheeky look at the industry and political economy around the use of learning management systems (LMS). I'll leave it for viewers to decide which LMS companies best fit the sales scenario and whether Mr Weavile really has great news in this one-day only deal. Go to the video...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMg05ZhJScg

PS A brief warning - make sure you don't use a word with the letter 's' whilst watching this video.

A recent survey conducted by the eLearning Guild on Learning Management System (LMS) preferences reports that:

"For the second consecutive year, the eLearning Guild survey, which measures use of over 100 professionally-developed LMS products and excludes in-house created sys tems, shows that Moodle™ is ranked as the #1 LMS product among eLearning Guild members with over 24% of respondents selecting it as their primary LMS."

In the same data source, Blackboard™ was reported to have a market share of 17.5%. In May 2008, Blackboard and Moodle were neck and neck for the dominant position among eLearning Guild members. Of course, the methodology used in this type of survey needs to be treated with caution but the findings confirm the general move to Moodle within higher education institutions in Australia and New Zealand.

That said, President of Blackboard Learn, Ray Henderson reports how Blackboard is attempting to embrace customer demands and openness in future product releases. An article entitled Blackboard Ambassador includes a podcast which describes how Blackboard is responding to the growing competition from Moodle and other open source solutions. Notably, he hints that the company may soon move away from annual version releases to more incremental upgrades.