Hello everyone

The way I understand the context of the communication of the Chair, President and CEO of WebCT to the existing customers of the company is that there will be continuity of existing 'products' and that there will be advantages in future to look forward to.  Prominent VLE's tend to improve over time in relation to all aspects of their use, and combination of products may even be better. 

My view is that the name of a VLE is not that important as long as the VLE is technologically innovative and meets the needs of a lecturer in higher education.  One may add to this!

In the final analysis, one could accept the intentions of the 'merged' company or ask them for more information. And then decide on a future course of action.

Regards

Phil

____________________________________

Phil Alberts D.Ed
Head of e-Learning
Brunel University

Learning & Teaching Development Unit
LC016 - Lecture Centre, Brunel University
Uxbridge, UB8 3PH, United Kingdom  

___________________________________

   

-----Original Message-----
From: Virtual Learning Environments [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf
Of Roger Emery
Sent: 19 October 2005 09:38
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [VLES] WebCT, Blackboard - the official line


You Said: <<If this happens, then all legacy materials will seamlessly
migrate to
the new platform;>>

What a beautiful dream!! The reality I fear would be much more of a
nightmare if our experiences are anything to go by.
Our commercial vendor spent 6 weeks of last summer trying to migrate us
from their old paltform to their new "enterprise" level platform. I don't
think the company had thought through the process enough or considered the
impact of data they were not planning to migrate (assessed group forum
postings for instance).
Migration from any one system to any other system even within the same
product group is never smooth or easy and requires a lot of planning and
preparation and most importantly a fall back plan.






Tim Hunt <[log in to unmask]>@JISCMAIL.AC.UK> on 19/10/2005
00:45:01

Please respond to Virtual Learning Environments <[log in to unmask]>

Sent by:    Virtual Learning Environments <[log in to unmask]>


To:    [log in to unmask]
cc:
Subject:    Re: WebCT, Blackboard - the official line


One might hope that the 'product road map' for these two companies'
offerings is leading to a convergence. In perhaps four or six years we
might see a single product that provides the best of each current
platform yet is only a small upgrade step from the previous version of
either Blackboard or WebCT. That product would be 'Blackboard X.n' and
would see the final demise of the WebCT name.

If this happens, then all legacy materials will seamlessly migrate to
the new platform; all existing integrations with student information
systems (e.g. Banner) will continue, etc. . . .  Remember that the USA
is the principal market for these companies, and that there they have
installations at places such as University System of Georgia which
support upwards of 126 000 students. See
http://www.usg.edu/sra/students/enroll/fy2006/sum05.pdf ,
http://www.usg.edu/oiit/summit/2005/proceedings/banner.pdf .

As for their English, remember that there is not a word in the language
that can no be verbed.

Cheers,
Tim.


David Wallace wrote:
> Maybe I am being naïve but it sounds to me as though they are
> eventually heading towards a seamless integration, but then again
> perhaps a joining must be seamless to be an integration. I am out of
> my depth on this too by the sounds of things. David
>
> -----Original Message-----
> Ye Gods! Do we really buy educational software from people who write
> English like this? What are "multiple years"? What on earth does "The
> combined company will continue to invest in each company's products
> consistent with product development directions respectively
> communicated to each client base.." mean?
>
> I know I am out of my depth with all of this VLE stuff, but I didn't
> realise quite how deep the water was.
>
>
> Julian -- Julian Swindell, Principal lecturer in GIS and digital
> education Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester, GL7 6JS, UK

--
  Tim Hunt
  Senior Portal Developer, Flexible Learning and Teaching Program,
  Information Technology Services, Monash University,
  700 Blackburn Road, Clayton, Victoria 3168, AUSTRALIA
  http://monash.edu/ http://my.monash.edu/ http://muso.monash.edu/

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