EDUCAUSE | Contributed by Organizations or Campuses; Articles, Papers, and Reports; and CMS

Drupal in Libraries

ckeller — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 11:41:47 -0500

"Drupal in Libraries" features helpful case history examples of Drupal use in libraries. Most of the report, however, is dedicated to a useful and user-friendly how-to guide for libraries interested in utilizing Drupal — and its dedicated developer community — to build dynamic and easy-to-use library Web sites.

Patent Office Rejects Blackboard's E-Learning Patent in Preliminary Ruling

ckeller — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 12:33:16 -0500

"The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has issued a preliminary decision that rejects all 44 claims Blackboard Inc. made regarding the controversial patent it was granted for an online-learning system. If upheld, the decision could have sweeping ramifications for Blackboard's competitors and universities that use course-management software. "

Jury Sides With Blackboard in Patent Case

ckeller — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 11:26:30 -0600

A federal jury in Texas recently awarded the learning services giant Blackboard $3.1 million in its patent infringement lawsuit against a much smaller competitor, adding a new layer of complexity and uncertainty to a complex, uncertain market for higher education learning management systems.

Traversing the LMS terrain

ckeller — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 14:37:29 -0600

With the emergence of strong open source contenders in the Learning Management System (LMS) arena, many schools are evaluating whether to stay with one of the commercial LMS products such as Blackboard/WebCT or moving to one of the open source solutions which are free to use, but offer no corporate support. There are many factors contributing to such a decision beyond price including migration from a current LMS, technical and faculty support and buy in. In the end, it is a decision that an institution needs to be well informed to make.

Online-learning patent dispute heats up

ckeller — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 17:05:12 -0500

The patent dispute heats up between enterprise software makers Blackboard Inc. and Desire2Learn Inc. over patent rights that Blackboard was granted in January 2006 for its course-management software and other eLearning products.

Using technology in teaching and learning: Resources to help you navigate a digital world

ckeller — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 11:38:30 -0500

The author provides a long and comprehensive list of resources concerning teaching and learning with technology.

Minimum Indicators to Assure Quality of LMS-supported Blended Learning

ckeller — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 11:15:31 -0500

This study describes a set of institutional indicators that suggest minimum standards for the quality
assurance of learning supported by learning management systems in blended contexts. The indicators are evaluated by comparing seven universities that use a common learning management system to support student learning experiences. The responses to a qualitative questionnaire provide evidence of how the participating universities approach leadership, policy making, development, and evaluation as they relate to the quality assurance of learning management systems. A comparison among the universities reveals that they tend to have a better understanding of technical rather than educational issues related to quality assurance. A case is made for the need for universities to address key areas in order to reliably assure the quality of learning supported by learning management systems.

Using Students’ Experiences to Derive Quality in an e-Learning System: An Institution’s Perspective

ckeller — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 10:19:14 -0500

Higher education institutions undertake a range of approaches to evaluating and making judgments about
the quality of their e-learning provision. This paper begins by exploring benchmarking as one current
strategy in common use in universities to identify and implement quality practices: from the use of
checklists (for example, of best practices and standards) to a more contemporary dynamic systems approach involving continuous cycles of feedback and improvement centred around the learners' experiences of elearning.

These practices are influenced by the teachers' design of e-learning and emerging technologies as
well as by the institutional and societal contexts in which both learners and teachers operate. We give an
account of two major evaluation studies at the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS), utilising a systems
approach to investigate the consequences of e-learning, and we inquire into the value of this particular
institutional approach for deriving e-learning quality. We use selections from the large dataset to describe
and analyse students' and teaching staff's experiences of an e-learning system (LMS) over a two-year
period. Our findings reveal that learners' experiences warrant consideration in shaping future e-learning
developments at UTS, and that students value e-learning in facilitating their access to education for making choices about their learning and for enabling engagement in collaborative and interactive learning activities, while they also recognise the current constraints on e-learning imposed by the developers of LMS technologies.

Blackboard Makes a Pledge

drupal — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 11:47:54 -0600

"After months of criticism that its patent policies had the potential to squelch important education projects, Blackboard on Thursday announced a "patent pledge" under which it vowed not to assert its patent rights to sue open source projects or home-grown software used by colleges and universities."

Education Software Firm OKs Open-source Patent Use

drupal — Tue, 06 Feb 2007 16:09:03 -0600

"Blackboard, whose software can be used to manage university courses, has taken a significant step to mollify open-source rivals who perceive a patent threat from the company."