« November 2005 | Main | March 2006 »
February 20, 2006
Sakai in the news
This morning I listened to the 1/13/06 podcast "Click and Double-Click: Episode Something" which was highlighted in 2/19's edition of Burks' selections. Among other topics, Click (Laura Blankenship) and Double-Click (Mike Zarro) talk about how several institutions are experimenting with Sakai.
And later this morning, in an article by Eric Chen in the the 2/20/06 edition of the Daily Pennsylvanian, I read that Penn is considering a switch from Blackboard to Sakai. Chen reports "Officials are preparing to upgrade software infrastructure and have taken interest in an endeavor called the Sakai Project, Penn Courseware Manager John Kiser said."
So are most universities turning to Sakai as the open source alternative to commercial learning management systems like Blackboard and WebCT?
Zack Rosen doesn't think so. He states that "All signs point strongly towards Moodle kicking Sakai's butt" in his blog posted on 1/29/06, citing statistics such as web site traffic, Business Readiness Rating, and install base.
ION switched from WebCT to Moodle in December of 2004. We looked at Sakai at that time, but the interface was clunky and it seemed difficult to install. We are very happy with Moodle, but it might be time to have another look at Sakai. Probably the best way to do so is to "test drive" Sakai 2.1 through Unicon.
For more on Sakai, see Educause's Sakai Resource Page and Stephen Downes' Innovate Feb/March 2006 article Places to Go: Sakai
Posted by ionadmin at 12:30 PM | Comments (0)
February 17, 2006
Tegrity and Blackboard Partner for Enhanced Podcasts
Tegrity and Blackboard Partner for Enhanced Podcasts
Tegrity, a provider in student achievement systems, and Blackboard Inc., a provider of technology to educational institutions, have announced a partnership so that college students can watch and listen to class lectures on their iPods at any time and from any location. Through Tegrity Campus enterprise software and the Blackboard Learning System, recorded instruction from class can now be automatically converted to enhanced podcasts for students to review later.
Posted by ionadmin at 01:17 PM | Comments (0)