Comments on: Blackboard's iPad App and its implications

By: Blackboard’s iPad App

Blackboard’s iPad App — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 18:29:37 +0000

[...] Michael Feldstein’s Article [...]

By: Sharon Porter

Sharon Porter — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 18:59:22 +0000

I am on the road a lot supervising student teachers. I often have an hour or two between sessions and I like to use that time to work on my online courses. One of the things I am stuck on it how to attach audio files to Blackboard from the iPad. I am only allowed to attach via Photos but since this is audio I cannot navigate to audio files that I have recorded on the iPad. Anyone have ideas for that?

By: Flexknowlogy – Jared Stein » iPad vs the Open Web

Flexknowlogy – Jared Stein » iPad vs the Open Web — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 22:15:47 +0000

[...] Michael Feldstein suggests that this sort of “innovation” will promote the iPad itself, saying, “if I were a student or faculty member heavily using Blackboard and thinking about buying an iPad, I might find this app to be an additional motivator to buy one”. I bet Bb is hoping the reverse of this will be true: that by providing all their students with an iPad colleges like Seton Hill and George Fox will create a scenario that fits just right with their particular e-learning solution, which is “the industry leader” with full support for “mobile devices”. [...]

By: Mark Smithers

Mark Smithers — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 23:45:56 +0000

I had a quick look at this yesterday on the BB site. I find a move to developing native apps for any internet based application including LMSs a little disturbing. Apple seems to have convinced the world that web should move back to native apps rather than develop standards based apps that will run on multiple devices. I can see why they want that but I am not sure why the world is so readily drinking the Apple Kool-Aid.

I do like the idea that an application API may be used by multiple services. The implication though is that such systems are open and freely accessible. Neither of these concepts apply to proprietary LMSs or, indeed, the way that any LMS is typcially implemented currently.

Incidentally, I find the traditional chalk and blackboard UI metaphor that is being used disconcerting. It does nothing to enhance the idea that we are changing (hopefully) the way that students learn although some would argue that LMSs are not about changing pedagogy but are about perpetuating the status quo while paying lip service to new technologies.

By: Jared Stein

Jared Stein — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 00:54:24 +0000

Thankfully the Bb iPad app is free, but pushers do that, too, sometimes.

By: Brian Moynihan

Brian Moynihan — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 14:45:02 +0000

Wow, one of your comments was pretty mind-blowing:

“you could imagine LMSs becoming more like Twitter in the sense that everybody uses their own preferred client (whether native or web-based) and mostly ignores the original UI that is delivered by the application maker. It could be possible for students to use an LMS every day but never log into it or look at its interface.”

I love the idea that a Learning Management system could be accessed in different ways by different users! That could be a real revolution in the field.

The iPad app does indeed look slick, but I still have my doubts about the value of creating applications for specific devices when the same info could run very well in HTML and display on anything (perhaps with different CSS depending on the kind of device).

Thanks for the post!