Free Technology Tutorials

Now that Blackboard has effectively bought out Moodle, they are wasting no time making their presence noticed. Just look at the #Moodle hashtag on Twitter today and it’s right in your face. Moodle sells out and Blackboard takes over…of course, I still don’t see Blackboard in the Official Moodle Partner list over at Moodle.com

MoodleBoard

I love it when people tell it like it is…especially when that person is the leader of a very successful endeavor and doesn’t care that the truth may offend the “elites” in the industry. Kudos to the Canvas leadership for putting it out there.

But what about open source? Yes Ray Henderson talks a lot about open source, but clearly it’s eyewash. Blackboard hasn’t changed, but hope springs eternal.

So, what’s going to happen now? Expect more confusion. I don’t think it requires much imagination to suppose that the Moodle and Sakai community will become even more jumbled and Blackboard will shove innovation even further back on the burner.  Read more... (351 words, 1 image, estimated 1:24 mins reading time)

Blackboard was bought out by Providence Equity Partners venture (vulture?) capitalists, who specialise in leveraged buyouts, last year. Presumably they borrowed the $1.64 billion they paid and need to see a significant return on that ASAP. Leveraged buyouts are usually about a fast turnaround and how to extract the biggest possible return in the shortest possible time regardless of the long-term outcomes. If they destroy Moodle and/or Blackboard in the process, that’s just business.

Source: http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=199248#p868732

Blackboard announces the purchase of moodlerooms, the largest Moodle partner. For those of you who don’t know, Moodle partners pay a stipend (normally around 10%) to Moodle HQ. Wonder how much Moodle HQ got and will continue to get in this deal?

Not sure why this should surprise anyone…Moodle was never an open source project…it was always about pretending to be one, getting free labor and development from thousands of people, and making a handy profit off a closed business model. However, this announcement takes the business side of Moodle to a complete new level.  Read more... (343 words, 3 images, estimated 1:22 mins reading time)

I thought for sure we were headed for a showdown of Blackboard vs. Moodle. However as time progressed, even months before the RFP went out I could tell that there was a big buzz about Canvas. So much that Moodle fell right off the radar of pretty much everyone.

Source: http://blog.usu.edu/kevin/2011/11/04/getting-ready-with-canvas/

Moodle: 1990′s technology in 2011

This is  becoming an everyday thing now. I’m not sure I’ll be able to keep up with all the colleges, universities, and K12 systems that have decided to dump Moodle and move into the 21st century with their LMS, but whether I post about it or not, the move is happening.  Read more... (318 words, estimated 1:16 mins reading time)

I’m reminded of a line in that commercial…Lost another to Ditech, aka, Moodle lost another to _____________ you fill in the blank

A learning management systems task team composed of 20 faculty, four from each of the colleges, chose Instructure Canvas over Blackboard Learn 9.1 and 10 other systems during the summer.

“We took 12 proposals from various learning management system vendors and narrowed it down to two,” Usha Venkat, director of information and communication technologies, said Sept. 19.

Source: http://www.theranger.org/canvas-program-to-replace-blackboard-vista-1.2639275#.TooNN7K3N2J

Moodle = 1990′s technology in 2011!

The switch to Canvas represents “a really necessary upgrade to kind of move into the 21st century,” he added.

After analyzing over 1,000 faculty and student survey responses and listening to feedback from focus groups, CIS opted for the Canvas platform. When the committee tested different systems in front of groups of students in the Sharpe Refectory last spring, the response to Canvas was overwhelmingly positive, Kagan said.

In many ways, the new system will be like “a blank canvas,” facilitating the addition of new tools as they emerge as well as having multimedia capabilities, Bergeron said.  Read more... (148 words, estimated 36 secs reading time)

Hawaii Department of Education Selects Blackboard Learn 9.1 to Replace Open Source LMS.

The Hawaii Department of Education’s Extended Learning Opportunities and Student Support section has chosen Blackboard Learn™ 9.1 to replace an open source learning management system (LMS) Blackboard Inc. (Nasdaq: BBBB) announced today. The platform provides online courses for over 1,200 students through the Hawaii Virtual Learning Network-ESchool (HVLN-ESchool) and over 500 teachers annually through the HVLN-Project Inspire program.  Read more... (178 words, estimated 43 secs reading time)

The news that someone has offered to buy Blackboard is causing quite a bit of chatter in LMS circles today…not to mention a big boost to some who may own stock. My advice…sell now before the hype wears off Of course, I never was good at reading the stock market–I guess if the phantom buyer turns out to be a big player–think Google, Microsoft, or even a huge textbook publisher, then holding onto that stock may prove to be a very good idea. I love it that the CNBC article mentioned Instructure as one of the most interesting competitors and completely ignores Moodle…maybe they’ve been talking to those who have upgraded to Moodle 2.0 However, just so Moodle Disciples out there don’t feel completely left out, I think the announcement by Instructure last week that it has raised $8 million in capital and is in this for the long haul, did contain several references to Moodle, without mentioning it by name.  Read more... (415 words, estimated 1:40 mins reading time)

The only license the Moodle Lead Dev knows, is what will make him the most $$. “All contributors give permission?” Are you kidding? You really think they even keep track of the contributors? This is a “community” open source project in name only–it operates like a privately held, commercial project and anyone who contributes to it should understand that fact.

Hi,

Last Moodle version is under GNU GPLv3. How can they upgrade from GPLv2 version? All contribuitors give permission for license upgrade?

Thanks in advance, Marc.

Source: http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=173669

Moodle partners still trolling the forums un-checked–this has become a common, almost everyday occurrence in the Moodle “community” over the past few years. What a “caring” reply from the community, business partner–and you thought the forums were  for free help when you found yourself in deep trouble, didn’t you?

http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=172883

http://iandavidwild.blogspot.com/2011/02/is-moodle-partner-programme.html

Have you been hiding under a rock for the past 5 years Ian?

I know you have been around Moodle for a while, so why the interest all the sudden? Get rejected as one of the chosen few and now don’t like “the program”?

Here is a little history lesson on the subject for you. Moodle.com doesn’t only try to control who uses their logo (which is understandable) they try to corner the market to a point of attempting to prevent anyone from even using the plain text word Moodle to advertise that they offer moodle services.  Read more... (193 words, 2 images, estimated 46 secs reading time)

No elaboration needed here…this from one of the most loyal Moodle disciples in moodle-land and an official Moodle business partner.

I would like to be able to placate you in some way but, unfortunately, although I might not put it so strongly you make some compelling points. The documentation for Moodle 2.0 is currently lacking, plain wrong or non-existent. The new file manager is proving to be a source of confusion for many and I strongly suspect bitter experience will result in some rework in future versions.

I will tell you what I’m honestly telling most people… unless you have a compelling reason to move from 1.9 – don’t  Read more... (112 words, estimated 27 secs reading time)

As I posted about on this blog a few months ago, WordPress did a great thing when the lead dev transferred the WordPress trademark to an independent foundation:

Automattic has transferred the WordPress trademark to the WordPress Foundation, the non-profit dedicated to promoting and ensuring access to WordPress and related open source projects in perpetuity. This means that the most central piece of WordPress’s identity, its name, is now fully independent from any company.

http://ma.tt/2010/09/wordpress-trademark/  Read more... (519 words, estimated 2:05 mins reading time)

It’s no secret that Moodle, the open-source learning management system, has suffered from some very serious security problems recently. And those security problems aren’t limited to individuals who simply buy a cheap, $5 hosting account, install Moodle using Fantastico, and try to set up an online class when they really don’t know what they’re doing.

In fact, some of the biggest Moodle security problems have impacted customers of some of the largest professional Moodle hosting providers–Moodle Partners–commercial companies endorsed and certified by Moodle to provide professional, enterprise-level services.  Read more... (352 words, estimated 1:24 mins reading time)

Saw a very interesting post in the moodle.org forums today titled: “Ridiculous $400/hr. for Moodle support with no guarantee”.

http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=140152

Let me see if I understand this:  Read more... (122 words, estimated 29 secs reading time)

1. They build a product that for the past 9 years has been giving away virtually all personal information on every Moodle install in existence.
2. Once they are forced to address the problem and release what seems to be a broken upgrade that causes the OP in the thread above more major problems, then he’s quoted $400/hr to talk with a Moodle Partner with no guarantee of results.