Transcript Blackboard at DU and Open Source - DU Portfolio

Blackboard, WebCT, or
Something Different?
TELECOOP Conference 2003
Kathy Keairns
Senior Instructional Designer
University of Denver
History of Blackboard at DU





Adopted Fall 2000
Web-enhanced courses, some online
courses
Prior to Blackboard, WebCT
DU Blackboard Support pages
Currently Level II hosted on own
servers
Online Course Options




Purchase course management
software license (Blackboard,
WebCT, e-College)
Course web sites
Create a home-grown course
management system
Open-source
Open-Source Movement
What is Open-Source software?
 Resides in public domain (not
proprietary)
 Underlying code can be downloaded
for free
 Flagship open-source product Linux operating system
Course Management
Open-Source




Jones Knowledge
Open Knowledge Initiative (OKI)
The Internet Course Reader
More
Open-Source Advantages





Availability of the source code and
right to modify
Less expensive or free
Right to use the software in any
way
Collaboration Advantage
No single company on which future
depends (in general)
Open-Source Disadvantages




No guarantee that development will
happen
Must have dedicated staff with technical
expertise
Initially minimal or no support and no
single point of control
Poorly-funded nature of open source
products may make with their uncertain
future
Trade-offs


“you get what you pay for”
More control with open-source or
home-grown system but may
require additional technical support
staff
Schools need to evaluate if tradeoffs
are worth it
Web Resources and URLs

Open Source Course Management System
<http://web.mit.edu/oki/index.html>


Blackboard Building Blocks Open Source
Distribution
DU’s Blackboard Support Site
<http://www.du.edu/blackboard>

Course Management Systems Web site
http://www.c2t2.ca/article.asp?item_id=3744&path
Software Bugs