So first Bb essentially tries to patent online learning and all the technologies and strategies behind it and when that doesn’t work they start buying up (again) companies involved. They can’t buy moodle and sakai since they’re open source projects, but they can buy up the paid services that allow these projects to operate with a bit more success.

I still remember when Bb bought WebCT. When I first started out in online education in ’98/99 we used WebCT so I’ve always had a soft spot for them. Then Bb bought them and “integrated” the best of WebCT into the Bb product. Having used this Bb product I have to say I don’t see a whole lot of WebCT there. I guess the ANGEL people were just louder after that product was acquired because the press release says that they’re going to continue supporting it indefinitely.

In a previous position we used Desire2Learn and had the opportunity to speak with the some of the “higher ups” there who said that, yes, Bb had tried to buy them and that, no, they would never let that happen.

Now don’t get me wrong. I have nothing against Blackboard, Bb Learn or any other product they have. They work just fine and they are easy to use. In fact, I wonder if that’s part of the problem.

Blackboard is like the McDonald’s of Learning Management Systems. It doesn’t really taste like anything, but it’s everywhere and most people don’t really know the difference. Bb is a perfectly acceptable LMS, but it’s kind of generic. It’s plain. It’s vanilla. It does the basic things, but it doesn’t encourage anyone using it to really stretch or try anything new. (Now I’m strictly talking about the user experience here, I’m not going to go into any backend- or administration-type stuff). It’s oldstyle online education. It’s very linear in it’s layout and thinking. Which works wonderfully for some courses and, indeed, some institutions.But sometimes you just want to get a little non-linear, right? That’s when you, essentially, have to hack Blackboard. You have to go against the way the LMS is set up and practically reverse engineer the damn thing.

Back to Bb acquiring moodlerooms, they seem to be back on their quest to corner the education market. Does anything good ever come of this strategy? Remember “Ma Bell”? Microsoft? Are we going to be splitting up Blackboard next?

Enter the announcement. Enter my disappointment. WTF? (Yes, I mean “Why The Face?”).

The good: Textbook prices are going to be more reasonable… sometimes, for some people. Umm… I think that’s it.

The bad: Anybody can grab iAuthor and create his or her own iText. Did I miss the piece here about fact verification, proofreading, etc? I think most textbooks are way too expensive for the most part, but publishers to have a vital role. The publisher:

• recruits an author who is an expert in the subject to write the text
• has multiple people proofread the text
• has a team to design the text and make it visually appealing
• fact checks what the author has written
• many, many more things

So let’s say I’m Bob and I get the urge to write a book on how all major historical figures were actually aliens. What’s to stop me? Let’s say I don’t write very well and my book has misspellings throughout as well as just plain mistakes and bad grammar, etc.

If that’s the case, people will dismiss it, right? But what if only of the above is true? Let’s stick with Bob. He’s a nutjob, but he’s a great writer. So his book on historical figures being aliens is very well written, very interesting and it actually seems to make sense. What’s to stop kids from picking up this book and, since it’s a “textbook” thinking it’s the truth?

Let’s look at the other side. You have Dan. Dan is an expert in his field – say boating. But he couldn’t write a coherent sentence to save his life. He puts up a book that has great content but doesn’t really make a lot of sense. People don’t pick it up and this excellent content is totally missed.

If Bob would have gone to a publisher, he would have been laughed out of the place (or offered a great book deal to write fiction). If Dan had gone to a publisher, they could have hooked him up with proofreaders, editors, etc who could have helped him put out a quality product.

So I’m looking at this whole announcement and the only thing I can come up with it “WTF?” This isn’t revolutionary. This isn’t even a good idea.

What I’m going for here is a blog that will allow me to flex my instructional design/tech  and graphic design muscles and keep them in shape. I’ll also keep with the funny, ’cause I’m just that kind of guy. I’ll be posting about things that intrigue me in the various worlds in which I occasionally dip my toes. Hopefully you can find something of interest to you.

In the coming days/weeks/months I’ll be fixing up the pages so you can find out more about me if, get in touch with me and take a look at my portfolio.

Thanks for stopping by. I’m working on a post about the new, underwhelming Apple announcement that should be ready later this week. Stop back by and check it out.