by Jan Day
Has anyone else noticed the magical properties of the word ‘iPod’? Just say iPod in a conversation and suddenly the angry child is appeased, the spouse smiles and the co-worker is calmed. If you don’t believe me, try it!
Strangely the word ‘podcast’ contains a different kind of magic. The terms podcast and podcasting evoke a variety of responses. At one end of the spectrum some see this as a way to use technology to help students with different learning styles or disabilities learn like the folks at the University of Aberystwyth. At the other end, there are those who think podcasts will destroy the very bedrock of the student-teacher interaction experience and the Socratic Method. Others take a more pragmatic view that at best podcasts help busy students who may commute long distances by letting them time-shift the lecture or at worst it gives students another reason to skip class.
Technology doesn’t always make things better, rather it makes things more efficient. Thus a boring lecture will not be transformed through podcast technology to a great lecture.
by admin
One of the greatest benefits of working with Blackboard’s Marketing Team is the opportunity to play a major part in the development and execution of the upcoming BbWorld. I am very proud to say we have made some awesome progress on the list of requests many good clients have willingly shared with me over the past couple of years. Things like having a dedicated hotel for Commerce Suite clients, with meeting space, nice lounge and ample room to gather and catch up on industry gossip, training opportunities, great peer sessions, listening sessions with Bb Executives and a half day discussion on Universal Edition should give everyone a good measure of education.
by Jan Day
Lance Button is a long time member of the Blackboard Commerce Suite Team. We don’t cross paths too often mainly because I travel about 30% of the time and he is based in Florida but when we do he is a font of all sorts of information. I thought you might like to get to know Lance. This is the photo he wears on his Blackboard ID badge.
Jan Poston Day: What do you do at Blackboard?
Lance Button: I am the Sales Manager for existing Transaction Systems customers in the East. I support the Regional Account Executives (RAEs) and assist with complex expansion projects. I work with customers that are having difficulties with some aspect of their implementation. I work on anything that the RAEs may need to better serve the customer such as specific reports, communication campaigns and conference support.
by admin
We put out a poll for Bb clients on the topic they were most interested in discussing during our Bb World ’06 Birds of a Feather sessions. The most popular session, hands down, was “Blogs, Podcasting, RSS and Wiki” according to the votes. It prompted me to ask: What’s the big deal with blogs, etc…? How are they important to e-learning?
by Greg Ritter
Marc
Canter writes about Ruckus
Networks‘
plan to offer an online
music service at no charge to students in higher ed. (Link via Stephen Downes’ OLDaily; it’s a few days old, but I had some catching up to do
after being out sick).Ruckus is a
online
music
& video service targeted
specifically at higher ed institutions.
(Full
disclosure: Ruckus is a member of the
Blackboard Developer Network and a
sponsor of the upcoming
Bb World ’06 conference.
) Up until recently, students at
campuses that had a deal with Ruckus could pay
a
relatively low monthly fee for an
"all-you-can-listen" access to the music offered
by Ruckus. But
, according to Canter, whose
company partners with Ruckus, it looks like
they’ll start offering that service for
free.
