I started the company with friends and used combinations of angel investments, bootstrapping, and venture capital to fund the services, products, and staff that we have today. I wanted to weigh in with a few points that have been mostly covered but that are critical to us at Moodlerooms.įirst, we've spent many years working to become a trusted company in the Moodle Partner network. Thanks for the balanced reaction on this extraordinarily surprising news. I trust all goes well in the mental re-organisation required. Personally my thoughts are with the folk in MR and NS who are not the bosses, especially the few I have met. In a little pinprick of self centredness, it explains why my questions in LinkedIn, Moode docs, the blog and the MR contacts page re the fate of MR Flexpage For 2+ have gotten no response: bigger fish to fry. Netspot and Moodlerooms probably have had an offer they couldn't refuse. How much in the way of staff transplants and blood transfusions can shift a culture? I'll probably choose an optimistic and hopeful view. "And we invite everyone to reconsider the caricature of Blackboard they may have written to firmware from prior years"īb has a little bit of credibility to win back for me personally, having sullied my reputation with the WebCT>Bb migration I did training for, where it was a case of "Shoot the messenger" and "reduce trust with the shift to Moodle" My firmware has quite a lot to be changed. "And so it happened that the University of California selected Blackboard to build and support their online courses to be delivered on Sakai and Moodle" I’m pleased to share that Chuck has joined us to lead our effort to develop a supportive relationship with the Sakai community, define how we can contribute to its future platform development, and assist us in building a services practice that’s well suited to the unique needs of this emerging community" Chuck was among the founders of the Sakai project and enjoys a well- earned reputation in ed-tech circles for both his technological insight and skills as a community organizer. "As we considered who might best guide us in our strategy and acceptance within the Sakai community we immediately thought of Chuck Severance. I hope those who received millions of dollars realize that much of the value of their enterprise was created by thousands of teachers enthusiastically sharing with another teacher how to make a forum or a quiz in this lovely LMS. Presumably, the Moodle Trust did not and as a co-owner of Moodle (among millions of co-owners) we did not directly benefit. I am curious who benefited from the financial windfall of the acquisition. This acquisition shows they were truly serious or truly saw the end of a commercially-viable proprietory system. Can Blackboard change?īy the way, Blackboard has long expressed interest in becoming a Moodle Partner directly, but their offers were rather self-centered or perhaps out of desperation. Moodle is more driven by a spirit of collaboration. I am also skeptical in the long run, as Matt implies, because Blackboard has a long reputation of being financially motivated and driven by legal shinanigans. If they do not, I will be puzzled and skeptical. It will be good for the community in the short run if Netspot and Moodlerooms increase their contributions to the Moodle Trust. As a co-owner of Moodle, I welcome this move because it affirms the value of a collaborative community of open source developers, teachers and learners is more powerful than a proprietory, closed source financial entity for promoting good education across the world.
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