Was thinking about @Niebels’s project and also last week’s conversation about “what to do next” and freedom in learning online, and came across Audrey Watters’ recent article on the LMS.
I can think of no other company in education — not even Pearson — that elicits as much hatred as Blackboard. Almost across the board: from students, from teachers, from administrators. But rather than looking for or building towards a better Blackboard, or more generally towards a better VLE, I want us to ask why we use these technologies in the first place.
The learning management system has shaped a generation’s view of education technology, and I’d contend, shaped it for the worst. It has shaped what many people think ed-tech looks like, how it works, whose needs it suits, what it can do, and why it would do so. The learning management system reflects the technological desires of administrators — it’s right there in the phrase. “Management.” It does not reflect the needs of teachers and learners.
Interested if this sounds about right to you–is Blackboard the way you want to learn? Or is it just what has been available?
http://www.hackeducation.com/2014/09/05/beyond-the-lms-newcastle-university/