Desire2Blog

Even though I'm happy with my decision to not attend the D2L User Conference this year, that doesn't mean that I wasn't interested in the goings on, nor did it mean that I didn't miss the many friends who were in attendance. I followed the Twitter stream from the conference in an effort to stay somewhat in the know. Here's a chronological listing of selected tweets. Desire2Learn_PR : Boat cruises, great food, connecting with colleagues… FUSION 2010 is off to a fabulous start! http://bit.ly/17POaR ( expand ) # D2L10 ajwms : At # d2l10 . Last time to see @140universityElluminate as sponsor, I guess http://twitpic.com/24h5u9 tabrown : Lots of fun catching up with folks at the #unD2L conference this evening # D2L10 ConnectYard : launching our new learning tool today for #d2l that integrates FB, TW & TM into courses. Stop by our booth at # d2l10 for more details! ajwms : Has anybody been able to get their iPad connected to hotel wireless at # D2L10 ...

I've been asked by quite a few people (seriously I have, approaching double digits) why I am NOT attending FUSION, the D2L User Conference that starts in a few days. I will very much miss hanging out with everyone at the Unconference Sunday night - in fact, I almost chose to attend this event without attending the rest of the conference, but decided against it. (CC photo by David Paul Ohmer ) A conference in July is never easy because there's just too much summer stuff, family-time, and all that jazz going on. But that's not the reason. We have severe budget cuts that are restricting our travel to these types of events. But that's not the reason.  Maybe I don't need to say this - but my disdain for Chicago is not carried over to any sort of disdain for the residents of Chicago. Without further ado, here is my Top Five List for reasons why I will not be attending the conference this year: Number 5: Location (actually this is a very distant fifth place) I hate at...

Blackboard went on another buying spree today . Just a few random thoughts. If Blackboard had purchased either Wimba or Elluminate, they could have spun it as a strategic business decision. By purchasing both of them, the only possible explanation is that it is another example of squelching innovation and limiting competition. In Ray Henderson's blog post , he refers to both companies as "former rivals." Although it's true that Blackborg has some sort of a lame virtual classroom, synchronous tool (I believe they call it the Bb POS), very few people who work in educational technology would have seen Wimba as a rival of Blackboard. Or Elluminate. Hell, we barely see D2L or Moodle as rivals of Blackboard. Maybe when you are the most hated company in the education sandbox, everyone seems like a rival to you. Ray also says "We hear consistently from our clients that their online infrastructure and offerings have grown from important to mission critical ." App...