Blackboard Patents the LMS…The End of Moodle and Elgg?
Dave Cormier just Skyped us with a link to this article that details the patents on learning management systems that were just awarded to Blackboard. By the looks of it, Blackboard now owns learning management systems. The day the patent was awarded, Blackboard sued Desire2Learn for infringement, and although the Moodle board doesn’t seem to indicate a great deal of panic, we’d be interested to know what people in this community make of this. Dave says it’s not good…here is his depressing Skypequote:
“DOPA takes all the open sites, and Blackweb all the closed ones…”
Oy.
About the author
Weblogg-ed Team — The Weblogg-ed Team is the collective byline behind our editorial coverage. We write about teaching, learning, and the institutions around them as technology and students keep moving faster than the systems built to serve them. Our work covers classroom practice, edtech and AI tools, online learning, homeschooling, digital literacy, and higher education, written for teachers, school leaders, parents, and lifelong learners who want clearer thinking than the press releases provide.
Related posts
AI in the classroom three years in: what’s working, and what isn’t
The first wave of stories about ChatGPT in schools was about cheating. The second wave was about bans. The third, finally, has been about…
Teach. Facebook. Now.
We keep blocking Facebook instead of teaching it, even though most of our students use it and few understand privacy, reputation, and public exposure in that space.
What’s Changed? (2009 Version)
We always get in this reflective mood at the end of the year, trying to put some form to what’s changed, both in our own practice and in the larger conversation about schools. Despite more traveling, more PLP work, and deeper on-the-ground conversations, it still feels as if traditional practice remains deeply ingrained and truly transformative change is rare.