Another Switch from Blackboard to Desire2Learn

As many of you know, I am always interested in the comings and goings of the LMS wars. Who's leaving Blackboard and what are they going to? I rarely have to ask the opposite question - who's migrating to Blackboard from a non-Blackboard platform - because it almost NEVER happens.

The latest one to catch my eye was the University of Surrey in the UK. Here's their press release about choosing D2L. Nowhere in the release do they mention what platform they've been on - but it doesn't take much effort to find this on their current website:







So, yes, this is another school switching from Blackbeard to Desire2Learn.

I find portions of their press release to be revealing about their previous experience with BlackCT Vista.

"A new hi-tech system is being introduced at the University of Surrey to enable students to learn on computers and mobile devices via a more personalised platform."

"The new Virtual Learning Environment (VLE), replacing and vastly improving the current system with the latest technology, will mean thousands of students can learn through a flexible and innovative computer system that provides them with more choice."

"It’s called the ‘Desire2Learn® Learning Environment’ and is a result of a six year partnership between the University and the information technology firm Desire2Learn UK Ltd., a member of the Desire2Learn family of companies. It will be set up from this month (October 2011) and is due to go-live in August 2012 for the 2012/2013 academic year."

Comments

Sneezy said…
For end users, other than bug fixes and minor enhancements, Vista 8 in 2011 is the 90% the same as Vista 1 when I saw the beta in 2003. That is what you get when WebCT was bought out in 2006 and Blackboard only kept the product around to convince the clients to migrate to its flagship product.

Some of us would not migrate to Learn until it acquired features that made Vista our preferred product. So Blackboard gave us a 3 year eviction notice. So it became a game of chicken.

Probably for the best for students to get something being actively improved.
October 20, 2011 2:32 PM
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