Comments on: Protesting Blackboard 8.0

By: Will Millhiser

Will Millhiser — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 19:41:54 +0000

For what it’s worth, I enjoyed this NY Times article by Blackboard founder Michael Chasen. He and I were both introduced to personal computing on the TRS80 computer. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/15/jobs/15boss.html

By: Gilfus Education Group

Gilfus Education Group — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 00:21:59 +0000

Team as you explore various other options. There are some learning concepts that are pretty interesting when it come to leveraging social technologies. Blogs, wiki’s et. al. Some say there should be a new wave of applications on the horizon. Sort of the imagine if scenario.

Our group just released a white paper you might enjoy, thinking about true “Social LEarning”. Enjoy.

Social Learning Buzz Masks Deeper Dimensions, An Industry Whitepaper from the Gilfus Education Group : http://www.gilfuseducationgroup.com/social-learning-buzz-masks-deeper-dimensions

By: Mikhail Gershovich

Mikhail Gershovich — Mon, 18 May 2009 15:00:36 +0000

I don’t know, Glenn. I’ve always thought of you as proto-Edupunk.

By: glenn petersen

glenn petersen — Tue, 12 May 2009 17:16:33 +0000

What a hoot! Out in parts of West Texas it’s so flat folks there say if you stare hard enough you can see the back of your own head. Sounds like in ignoring blackboard, power point, and related technologies, I’m now so far behind that I’m nearly on the leading edge of the curve. Maybe I should go home and rip out the knees on all my jeans?

By: Mikhail

Mikhail — Thu, 07 May 2009 19:35:38 +0000

For those not familiar with the term “edupunk,” Jim is referring to a way of teaching that, according to recent write-up in the NYT, “avoids mainstream tools like PowerPoint and Blackboard, and instead aims to bring the rebellious attitude and D.I.Y. ethos of ’70s bands like The Clash to the classroom.”

See the wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edupunk

By: JIm

JIm — Thu, 07 May 2009 19:07:40 +0000

This is so EDUPUNK!

By: Elisabeth Gareis

Elisabeth Gareis — Wed, 06 May 2009 22:22:37 +0000

Thanks, Tomasello.

By: Tomasello

Tomasello — Wed, 06 May 2009 21:41:55 +0000

In the late 90s, during the pre-Blackboard days when Baruch hosted its own syllabus pages, the site would go down and be denuded of all course content (forever and always) about four days before the start of each semester. I used to get pretty upset, reflected in at least one infamous e-mail. My advice now?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwAaeAeyYw4

By: Luke Waltzer

Luke Waltzer — Wed, 06 May 2009 18:47:20 +0000

Nice post, Will; it strikes a balance between the outrage that a lot of faculty and students are feeling towards BlackBoard with the generous recognition that effective web services are a challenge that a college needs to face collectively and in a variety of ways.

I especially like that you suggest methods for users to take more ownership over their work on the web and for responsible backup practices. No web service enjoys 100% uptime (even Gmail has experienced problems recently) so backing up your data and making sure you have access to it when and where you need it is really the only guarantee. We get lulled into the belief that technology should just be there when we need it, that it should “just work” all the time, but I believe we do so at our peril.

Doesn’t mean we shouldn’t use it, only that we should do so aware of the risks.

And with that ringing endorsement of technology: Kyra, we’d love to help you use a wiki, a blog, or a bliki! Drop a line whenever you’re ready!

By: Stephen Francoeur

Stephen Francoeur — Wed, 06 May 2009 18:40:02 +0000

If you're interested in seeing what you can do with a wiki and a blog as Blackboard alternatives, you may want to take a look at what Gardner Campbell from Baylor University did for his students in "Intro to New Media Studies" course this spring: (using wiki software) and course blog.