New Blackboard Tool Connects With Google’s Free Services

2 November 2009

A new Blackboard tool lets campuses connect the company’s course-management system to Google’s free e-mail and document-sharing services.

The connecting tool, which was developed by Northwestern University, is now available to other campuses as a “Building Block” plug-in for Blackboard. It allows students to access Google Apps within the Blackboard platform, meaning they don’t have to sign into the two platforms separately.

Hundreds of colleges have signed up for Google’s free services and made the company’s Gmail service the official student e-mail program on their campuses. Google’s services include a series of online programs as well, including a word processor and a spreadsheet application, and some students are using them for their classwork.

For more information about the Google Apps Building Block, please visit
http://projects.oscelot.org/gf/project/bboogle/, and the new Blackboard
Extensions(TM) Web site at http://blackboard.com/Support/Extensions.aspx.

[Sources: Chronicle of Higher Education | Reuters]

Leave a Comment » | Cloud Computing, Emerging Technologies, Learning Management Systems | Tagged: , | Permalink
Posted by Oscar Retterer

After Latest Loss in Patent Case, Blackboard Looks to the Supreme Court

20 October 2009

Blackboard Inc. plans to ask the Supreme Court to review its patent battle with its rival Desire2Learn after a federal appeals court last week denied the company's request to have a larger panel of the court reconsider the case.

The company will soon file its request for consideration by the nation's highest court, said Matthew Small, Blackboard's general counsel, in an interview Monday, though he acknowledged that “it is very unlikely that any case is ever heard by the Supreme Court.”

[Source: Chronicle of Higher Education - The Wired Campus]

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Posted by Oscar Retterer

Appellate Court Overturns Blackboard Patent; Blackboard To Press On

29 July 2009

Blackboards patent on learning management system technologies has been overturned by the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. The court ruled Monday in favor of Desire2Learn and invalidated some claims in patent No. 6,988,138, also known as the “Alcorn patent” or the “138 patent.” But the saga will continue.

[Source: Campus Technology]

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Posted by Oscar Retterer

Kindle Support Comes to Blackboard Learn Platform

16 July 2009

Blackboard today announced support for Amazon.com’s Kindle electronic book reader through a new Blackboard Building Block. It’s being released as open source software.

The new Blackboard Building Block for e-Readers let’s users take content from Blackboard Learn and, through the Kindle Personal Document Service, send it to the Kindle to access it from any location. According to Blackboard, the service supports “texts, documents and other material from the Blackboard Learn platform.”

[Source: Campus Technology]

Leave a Comment » | eBooks, Emerging Technologies, Learning Management Systems, Media Distribution, mLearning | Tagged: , | Permalink
Posted by Oscar Retterer

New Blackboard Executive Starts Blog, Promising New Culture of Openness

12 June 2009

The new head of Blackboard Inc.‘s course-management-software division, Ray Henderson, started a blog this week, and he’s already facing tough questions from critics.

[Source: Chronicle of Higher Education]

Leave a Comment » | Education, Learning Management Systems | Tagged: , | Permalink
Posted by Oscar Retterer

Blackboard buys Angel Learning

7 May 2009

The title says it all! More information on the “merger” …

Leave a Comment » | Emerging Trends, Learning Management Systems | Tagged: , | Permalink
Posted by Oscar Retterer

In Preliminary Ruling, Patent Office Rejects Blackboards Claims – Chronicle.com

20 April 2009

Last week the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued a preliminary ruling rejecting all 57 claims in a software patent that Blackboard Inc. used to successfully sue rival Desire2Learn for infringement. But the long-running patent battle between the two providers of course-management software is far from over, and the re-examination process could drag on for years because of the many chances that Blackboard has to appeal.

[Source: The Chronicle of Higher Education]

Leave a Comment » | Learning Management Systems | Tagged: | Permalink
Posted by Oscar Retterer

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