Comments on: The Case Against Blackboard http://cytochromec.net/blog/2010/07/the-case-against-blackboard/ The joys of ed tech by Colin Matheson Sun, 29 Jan 2012 14:01:10 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 By: Ben Dare http://cytochromec.net/blog/2010/07/the-case-against-blackboard/comment-page-/#comment-489 Ben Dare Tue, 13 Jul 2010 13:10:29 +0000 http://cytochromec.net/blog/?p=135#comment-489 Linda, you should read up on the GPL - the release of code under the GPL cannot be revoked by the person who wrote the code. Similarly - if the scenario you propose were true any contributor to Sakai could claim ownership of the code they wrote for the Sakai Foundation. Martin has a good write up of this issue in layperson's terms here (including what happens if he gets eaten by a kangaroo :-): http://docs.moodle.org/en/Future In short, Moodle code belongs to the community exactly as much as Sakai code belongs to the community. Linda, you should read up on the GPL – the release of code under the GPL cannot be revoked by the person who wrote the code.

Similarly – if the scenario you propose were true any contributor to Sakai could claim ownership of the code they wrote for the Sakai Foundation.

Martin has a good write up of this issue in layperson’s terms here (including what happens if he gets eaten by a kangaroo :-) :
http://docs.moodle.org/en/Future

In short, Moodle code belongs to the community exactly as much as Sakai code belongs to the community.

]]> By: Colin http://cytochromec.net/blog/2010/07/the-case-against-blackboard/comment-page-/#comment-488 Colin Tue, 13 Jul 2010 02:33:21 +0000 http://cytochromec.net/blog/?p=135#comment-488 John, Thanks again for your comments. I want to say that it has opened up my eyes to hear from a Blackboard developer (mixed metaphor there) who obviously is a committed professional. I agree that Blackboard NG looks like a great product and I think Blackboard Collaborate will be a great product too. My concern is still that they will be the ONLY products. I don't want to be in a position where I have to trust a single company with filling the diverse needs of online/blended learning (both asynchronous and in real time) in Kindergarten through College education. MS Vista was a bad OS. There wasn't much anyone could do except wait for MS to fix it when they came out with Windows 7. Windows 7 is fine, but I would love to have a lighter version to run on old computers. I could set these old boxes up on Linux, but the OS's aren't very compatible (run different software). The OS monopoly has hurt me and my students. I don't want the LMS monopoly to hurt education. If Bb doesn't hold true on its commitments, are there going to be viable options for schools to take their business to? What if Bb NG/Collab ends up being a great fit for large universities but a poor fit for small middle schools? Who will help to fill the niches? Can you honestly say that Bb will make a product and a pricing plan to fit all institutions? Thanks again for your comments and your work in ed tech. I can tell we are on the same team, even if I feel opposed to some of the decisions of your corporate bosses. John,
Thanks again for your comments. I want to say that it has opened up my eyes to hear from a Blackboard developer (mixed metaphor there) who obviously is a committed professional. I agree that Blackboard NG looks like a great product and I think Blackboard Collaborate will be a great product too. My concern is still that they will be the ONLY products. I don’t want to be in a position where I have to trust a single company with filling the diverse needs of online/blended learning (both asynchronous and in real time) in Kindergarten through College education.
MS Vista was a bad OS. There wasn’t much anyone could do except wait for MS to fix it when they came out with Windows 7. Windows 7 is fine, but I would love to have a lighter version to run on old computers. I could set these old boxes up on Linux, but the OS’s aren’t very compatible (run different software). The OS monopoly has hurt me and my students. I don’t want the LMS monopoly to hurt education. If Bb doesn’t hold true on its commitments, are there going to be viable options for schools to take their business to? What if Bb NG/Collab ends up being a great fit for large universities but a poor fit for small middle schools? Who will help to fill the niches? Can you honestly say that Bb will make a product and a pricing plan to fit all institutions?
Thanks again for your comments and your work in ed tech. I can tell we are on the same team, even if I feel opposed to some of the decisions of your corporate bosses.

]]> By: Colin http://cytochromec.net/blog/2010/07/the-case-against-blackboard/comment-page-/#comment-487 Colin Tue, 13 Jul 2010 00:12:59 +0000 http://cytochromec.net/blog/?p=135#comment-487 Hi Linda, I have to disagree with your interpretation of the state of Moodle ownership. Martin can't destroy the code or hide the code. Martin could decide he was going to start closed source development, however all code up to the point he decided to go closed source would still be public. Just like the foundation that owns Sakai could decide to go closed source at any point, but the code created under GPL is available under GPL. Here is a quote from Moodle.org: "Martin Dougiamas is on record that Moodle will always be free and under the GPL. Even if it weren't, the community could take the latest GPL code and continue development from there. One of the reasons why Moodle's so good is that it's open source code, and so the world wide educational community can contribute to making it better still. In other cases where such things have happened, the community quickly "forked" the tool and continued it, with ongoing improvements, as an open-source project. What is out there up to this point will stay out there - legally - even if something in the future did not. Nobody can "buy" Moodle, and any co-opting without the consent of the global community wouldn't get very far." Hi Linda,
I have to disagree with your interpretation of the state of Moodle ownership. Martin can’t destroy the code or hide the code. Martin could decide he was going to start closed source development, however all code up to the point he decided to go closed source would still be public. Just like the foundation that owns Sakai could decide to go closed source at any point, but the code created under GPL is available under GPL. Here is a quote from Moodle.org:

“Martin Dougiamas is on record that Moodle will always be free and under the GPL. Even if it weren’t, the community could take the latest GPL code and continue development from there. One of the reasons why Moodle’s so good is that it’s open source code, and so the world wide educational community can contribute to making it better still.

In other cases where such things have happened, the community quickly “forked” the tool and continued it, with ongoing improvements, as an open-source project. What is out there up to this point will stay out there – legally – even if something in the future did not. Nobody can “buy” Moodle, and any co-opting without the consent of the global community wouldn’t get very far.”

]]> By: Linda http://cytochromec.net/blog/2010/07/the-case-against-blackboard/comment-page-/#comment-486 Linda Mon, 12 Jul 2010 21:13:17 +0000 http://cytochromec.net/blog/?p=135#comment-486 To Ben, One correction - although no one owns Sakai code a single person DOES own Moodle code. Martin Dougiamas is the creator of Moodle and owns the code solely. As of right now he is committed to the open source movement but so was Murray Goldberg, creator of WebCT. A foundation presides over Sakai however no one actually owns the code - the code belongs to the community. This should be kept in mind when looking at open source solutions. To Ben,
One correction – although no one owns Sakai code a single person DOES own Moodle code. Martin Dougiamas is the creator of Moodle and owns the code solely. As of right now he is committed to the open source movement but so was Murray Goldberg, creator of WebCT. A foundation presides over Sakai however no one actually owns the code – the code belongs to the community. This should be kept in mind when looking at open source solutions.

]]> By: John Fontaine http://cytochromec.net/blog/2010/07/the-case-against-blackboard/comment-page-/#comment-479 John Fontaine Sun, 11 Jul 2010 11:39:11 +0000 http://cytochromec.net/blog/?p=135#comment-479 A few folks at Elluminate have given their perspective on how the new venture, Blackboard Collaborate will further the development of synchronous collaboration tools that integrate with a number of learning platforms. http://bit.ly/d2KOCe Steve Hargadon who runs http://www.learncentral.org at eLuminate http://bit.ly/980DtI eLuminate president and soon to be head of Blackboard Collaborate, Maurice Heiblum I think you've articulated a number of concerns and I encourage you to continue to watch and hold us accountable if we don't deliver on our commitments. I also beleive that the Blackboard Learn 9.1 is a great product born from the collaboration of Blackboard, WebCT and ANGEL Learning developers. I will conclude by saying that Ray Henderson has brought a lot of change to how Blackboard participates in the community and the marketplace. I think if you look at actions in the last year you will see that we've heard the concerns regarding how we must align our mission and values to those of our customers. I hope this becomes your experience as things move forward. A few folks at Elluminate have given their perspective on how the new venture, Blackboard Collaborate will further the development of synchronous collaboration tools that integrate with a number of learning platforms.

http://bit.ly/d2KOCe Steve Hargadon who runs http://www.learncentral.org at eLuminate

http://bit.ly/980DtI eLuminate president and soon to be head of Blackboard Collaborate, Maurice Heiblum

I think you’ve articulated a number of concerns and I encourage you to continue to watch and hold us accountable if we don’t deliver on our commitments. I also beleive that the Blackboard Learn 9.1 is a great product born from the collaboration of Blackboard, WebCT and ANGEL Learning developers.

I will conclude by saying that Ray Henderson has brought a lot of change to how Blackboard participates in the community and the marketplace. I think if you look at actions in the last year you will see that we’ve heard the concerns regarding how we must align our mission and values to those of our customers. I hope this becomes your experience as things move forward.

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