Ranting about anything for eLearning in Africa

I have been missing in action, rather my participation for the last few months in the blog has been low. Not that nothing eLearning has been happening with me, but just that too much was written about it and not posted here. Not also that whatever wasn’t posted here wasn’t important.
I have been thinking about what eLearning can be in Africa, if all the obstacles and barriers are removed it can prosper. But wait a minute, we are always reminded and reminding ourselves of our weaknesses, our inadequacies, our insufficiencies, and more often of our past failures that we become pessimistic of the future, we become procrastinators or non-starters, and people who will always see and hear the negative side of things. There is the usual rhetoric of seeing the opportunities, in every situation and context, where its said that a pessimist will see a glass as half-empty while an optimist will see it as half-full.
How often have we heard and read news of how Africa as a whole is not ready for the digital revolution and eLearning specifically? How often have we talked of the lack of access to digital resources in Africa, the bandwidth, the human capacity, the prohibitive and restrictive policies and regulations, the lack of ‘African’ content on the Internet, the poor electricity and related infrastructure; the lack of policy makers support; the limited or lack of financial resources; and of how our socio-cultural issues are very incompatible with what eLearning espouses? How often have we looked at closing debate on the questions of our weaknesses, inadequacies, insufficiencies, and past failures? Have we let these questions to blind us to the extent of seen an opportunity just because it is canvassed between illusional barriers? Have we attempted to turn this barriers (or identified Threats and Weakness in the SWOT analysis to Strengths and Opportunities)? I guess we are still seeing the glass as half full.
A story is told of how two shoes manufacturing companies in Europe sent there marketing gurus to an ancient country in the tropics to look for prospects of diversifying and extending their brands' market. On reaching this country, where as it were, the natives did not wear shoes, the two gurus returned to their companies with two different verdicts. Representative of one of the companies (say Company A) reported: People in that country is so primitive that they do not, as it were, nor do they need shoes. Investing our brands in that country would be the worst thing (since the sinking of the Titanic). The marketer from the rival company (Company B) reports: The country has an unexplored market that is just waiting for us to venture into it. A market that we will have no competitors, and the only thing we need to do is to show the natives of the country the benefits of wearing shoes, and off we have the market for our shoes!
Incidentally, some of those doing the marketing for Africa, are seeing a market (which some would say is digitally unexplored) that has no potential or opportunity for eLearning as the case was with Company A’s representative. They fail to see how the simple possibilities, benefits, advantages, opportunities, potential and the future that come along with the use of eLearning are. It is sad, to know that most of these crusaders of inadequacies are Africans themselves. This is not to say that we do not have our shortcomings, or there aren’t any barriers or hindrances to the use of eLearning in Africa. Rather, we should first look at what we pose to benefit from in the use of eLearning, and the work on the barriers. We should not try and paint a gloomy picture of our wonderful continent just because we are looking for a collaborator or donor or development partner (or any such entity) without putting ourselves first, and knowing what we are seeking to achieve at the end. Unfortunately, this can only be achieved for the good of all if we, as a continent are devoid of the mentality of weakness, inadequacy, our insufficiency, and of fear of past failures. To this end, I salute those of us who have soldiered in educating and advocating for the use of eLearning based on what we have, and what we can do – and we can reach heights only if we could use 10% of our current resources.
For one, we can achieve this by educating the masses and more importantly the policy makers of the benefits of eLearning: of the need of creating a workforce that is knowledge-economy ready that has special information- and knowledge-handling skills brought about by the use of ICTs; of the need create regional, continental and international networks that can deliver education and facilitate learning using ICTs; of the need to provide flexibility in content, delivery, pace, place and time of learning afforded to us by the use of eLearning; of the need to provide easy learning and learning process management using digital technologies like learning management systems; of the need to create repositories of intellectual and human capital that can be accessed and queried using ICTs anytime, anywhere; of the need to extend learning from the confines of a formal classroom; of the need to allow academic partnerships strengthened by the use of ICTs, and also of the need to encourage life-long learning.
Perhaps, when we do this (by showing first, then talking) all those who see a half-empty glass will start seeing the potential of the half content of the glass, or even something that could fill the glass. Maybe this is possible, if when you all have read this; you don’t start questioning your weaknesses, our inadequacies, our insufficiencies, and your past failures BUT YOU SHOW AND TELL. You walk the talk, or simply put your money where your mouth is.

eLearning Fundi on Wordle

Just seen the wonders of Wordle. All this came from the eLearning fundi site.

Wordle is a toy for generating “word clouds” from text that you provide. The clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text. You can tweak your clouds with different fonts, layouts, and color schemes. The images you create with Wordle are yours to use however you like. You can print them out, or save them to the Wordle gallery to share with your friends.

eLearning Adoption Framework: Link Between Adopters and eLearning

Due to the requests and responses I have received on the presentation I made during the ICEL 2008 conference in Cape Town, I have put it up here for everyone.

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The eLearning Adoption Survey

Are you an academic in higher education? Are you from or working in any of the following countries (Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe)? If so, you are invited to participate on an eLearning adoption survey. Click here to participate.

Over the last few decades, there has been a worldwide surge in the use of information and communication technologies (or digital technologies). There have been reported mixed results of the ‘digital revolution’ to the different angles and spheres of our daily life including education. However, there is a perceived lack in terms of both research and success stories in African higher education institutions with regard to the adoption of digital technologies in teaching and learning despite their promise and potential. There is therefore need to study and document the contributing factors, and at the same time develop frameworks and/or guidelines for successful use of digital technologies in teaching and learning, popularly known as eLearning.

You have been kindly requested to participate in a research on the adoption and use of eLearning/Learning technologies in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in selected countries in Africa. The questionnaire seeks to gather information about the perceptions, motivation, organisational and environmental factors affecting the use of eLearning with the aim of understanding the kind of interventions required for faster adoption and continued use of eLearning. The results of a statistical analysis of the data will be used to make specific recommendations on the areas of personal characteristics and attitudes, organisational realignments, technology policy, implementation, and operations for HEIs for successful adoption of eLearning

It will take you approximately 20 minutes to fill in this questionnaire. For internal validity of the questionnaire, some items may appear as if they are repeated. To fill in the questionnaire, copy and paste the following URL onto your browser: http://www.elearningfundi.net/survey/index.php?sid=37667 OR http://tinyurl.com/64lmob

ROI of eLearning II

In November 2006, I posted the first section on ROI of eLearning, and posted some questions on why getting financial quantifications on gains that can be attributed to the investment on eLearning especially in Higher Education.
Recently, a JISC funded initiative continued to define and enumerate “tangible benefits” of eLearning that could be used as an indicative measure of ROI. The benefits are in a report entitled: Exploring Tangible Benefits of e-Learning: Does Investment yield interest . Among the tangible benefits identified in the report are:

• Effect on learning (e.g. context, style, insight and reflective practice)
• Effect on exam results
• Effect on student personal development (e.g. skills, employability, confidence)
• Student satisfaction with e-learning (e.g. effect on motivation, attendance and enjoyment, as shown in national survey, institutional survey, module evaluation, focus groups, or other)
• Innovation in teaching, learning and assessment (e.g. stimulus to creative approaches)
• Influence on educational research
• Staff satisfaction with e-learning
• Effect on staff personal development (e.g. skills, employability, confidence)
• Influence on recruitment (students or staff; e.g. through greater accessibility; opening up new markets)
• Influence on retention (e.g. students or staff)
• Influence on policy (e.g. institutional, faculty/school, departmental, or other extra- institutional body)
• Effect on resources (e.g. effect on cost of delivery, time, applying full economic costing to teaching and learning)
• Modifications to learning spaces (e.g. libraries, wireless networks, informal learning spaces)
• Effect on management of learning assets (e.g. institutional IP, repositories)
• Effect on a social justice agenda (e.g. widening participation, provision of space for consideration of differing or challenging perspectives).

I am yet to read the whole report but as I do, more questions that I asked in 2006 still linger. How for instance do you tell the difference in effects on learning that are as a result of eLearning? And not, say, as a result of student’s personal initiative, extrinsic motivation (e.g. having to get a job promotion after completion of a course), what is the effects of learners’ innovativeness when it comes to using technology tools that can be attributed to effects on learning? Can we measure and ascertain that good grades in an exam can be attributed to the use of eLearning only? Hopefully, I will get insights or partial answers or convincing arguments on this and more questions as I read the the report.

Crossroads, dilemmas and paradoxes

I take this opportunity to welcome back all my ardent readers and visitors. I did not want to come back in the New Year wearing the eLearning cap for the last years, but oh, I got that wrong. I am still in the old cap; probably what has changed is its look and color. It has definitely faded and the environmental breach has taken toll on it. All said and done, am still here trying to see what way to go for the New Year (don’t really think it is still new).
There are too many technological and pedagogical decisions to be made, and at times, even being an adviser in the same you are at the crossroads. The crossroads often leads to dilemmas that as a technology advisor, I have to take a stand and follow it through (standing on it, although deep down I have this feeling it might fail and portray negatively on my image). That said, there are no silver bullets, and there are no quick fixes especially on educational technology. There are tough pedagogical implications of any technology choice. And then there is the paradox, I am expected to advice and strongly advocated for the use of technology in teaching and learning, while at the same time be wary of their pedagogical shortcomings (that at times need not be known by the clients).
In short, I don’t envy being a salesman.
So, back to the New Year story. The prediction of the year, is in as much as we would want change in teaching and learning using technology, the only thing that will change considerably is the technological jargon, with little offer on the pedagogy. Before you shoot me, please read my prediction at least three times.

My home is becoming bigger and better

I have decided to pull most of my postings and resources online to a single places. As you all know, a fundi likes to start working when all the tools and materials are on-site. This saves on time, and it is also convenient because the fundi does not need to get out of the site to look for extra tools and materials. In the new home, it is not only about blogging, there will be additional tools, gooddies and not-so-good-enough things - ALL related to eLearning. For a start, I have a content management system up and running, moodle is up and running, and a wiki is coming up soon.

In the near future, my favourite learning management system KEWL will be coming on this site.

Once again welcome.

Many Teachers Loosing Jobs? I Disagree!

The Kenyan Minister for Education Prof. G. Saitoti, while opening the eLearning Africa Conference, is quoted to have said that thousands of teacher could loose jobs if and when eLearning is fully implemented in Kenyan schools. I disagree. We might probably need more teachers, or retraining of most of the existing ones.

In addition, he is quoted to have said that eLearning is cheap and requires less man power. I disagree. eLearning is not as cheap as it is usually advertised, neither does it require less man power as hyped. To the contrary, eLearning is a very expensive initial investment. The costs of hardware, software, training, material development and the like are so high. Also, not ALL learning can be done through eLearning!

In addition, he believes that the use of eLearning is not age restrictive as with formal school. I also disagree. Age restriction in education if anything is a people issue not a technology issue. The idea of open learning, and open learning universities that have operated without using technology is a clear testimony. While the flexibility offered by eLearning is an advantage to the working class, admission criteria in formal learning institutions need to be revised to cater for the restrictions imposed on age and prior learning.

In eLearning, Whose Voice Should be Heard?

We have the main players in eLearning as the researchers in online learning best practices, the technology providers, the learning material experts (in my case the lecturers), and then the recipients(learners, students).
The researchers will come with all the best practices (some tried and tested others just too theoretical or imaginative). The technology providers will come with "the best tool in the market that would do just everything you would want to do in eLearning". The lecturers will be the source of knowledge to be transfered to the learners, and in most cases would not care how it reaches their learners as long as it is convenient for them(lecturers). There is the learner, who needs to acquire the knowledge using the most convenient means available.
While the researchers come with the 'dos and don'ts', hoping that the technology provider will incorporate them in the technology, the technology provider provides a product that in most cases does not reflect the dos and donts, which leaves the bulk of the work to the lecturer. The lecturer has to juggle with the technology, the research and the students' interest. The technology provider would market the technology as "cutting edge" and will not always have the lecturer's and students interests at heart. They all all in the game for different reasons. On the other hand, the target audience, the students, would want to have the best and like any other consumers, they would want to demand how, when, and in what state their materials is presented. This tends to insert more pressure on some of the players. Hence the question, whose voice should be heard?
For now, I would argue that the technology providers voice is the king, and we have technology as the main drivers of our eLearning initiatives. There is a gradual move towards the target audience voice but still it has a lot of influence on the technology providers and how they market their products.

eLearning....fun? Convenient? Motivating?

Most of the definitions I have come across on eLearning dwell on the use of technology to teach and learn. To many of us, the use of technology for teaching and learning would imply just our learning material and the technology, without really questioning how we can best use the technology or modify our learning materials or experiences to optimise the learning process. In our learning designs we should consider among other things our learners motivation (both to learn and use technology), their prior knowledge, and their learning preferences. In addition we need to do an evaluation of the current technologies to ensure that we are using the best and the easiest for our learners. Moreover, we need to adapt our learning materials and process to suit the our students and technology features that we have considered.

Although I have come across comments like “students are now finding eLearning convenient and fun” and lecturers are “more confidence in using technology for teaching and learning” I disagree, at least I have not seen that in the part of Africa I am in. For convenience yes, the fun bit might be coming but not here with us. Similarly, the confidence levels of the use of technology especially by the lecturers is in most cases wanting. For it to be convenient and fun for the learners, a thorough consideration should be taking on how it is employed. For the the lecturer, a complete mindset shift is required so that first, they can understand the importance, benefits and potential of eLearning, and then use it for teaching and learning. Until then, convenience, fun, and confidence will be alien terms in the use of technology for teaching and learning in Africa.

What is in a Language?

This week, while in Mozambique, I encountered a context that made me ask myself a question that was once asked when I was learning Principles of Programming Languages. In Maputo, the majority of the people speak Portuguese (as the only international language), and here I am, without any knowledge of Portuguese (and ignorant of the fact that there might be people in Africa who would not understand a word in English). Then the question, what is in a language? I know different disciplines would try to approach this questions differently. For an anthropologist, something like culture, community, society might come up, while for a computer science person, things like functional, and procedural approaches would probably be considered. Whatever the discipline, I believe there would be some form of agreement in that a language creates some sense of identity, pride, and to a lesser (though important fact) economic power (a language sells).

I have worked in eLearning projects where we preach of contextualization, localisation, or adaptation of learning content, processes and scenarios but my experiences here made me appreciate better their meaning and importance. The ideas being preached should enhance the identity of the learning to the specific target, which in turn can create a sense of pride among the audience. Once this is achieved, some economic transformation might occur.

Labourers and Slaves of the 21st Century

Some of the myriads of problems that are facing the generations, especially in Africa and the rest of the developing world is unemployment. For example, the International Labour Organization reports that despite reported increase in economic, human development, and productivity there is no matching reduction in unemployment and poverty in Africa. While the estimated unemployment rate in the world is 6.3%, in Africa is at a high of 10.3% not to mention that some of the 'employed' in Africa are working poor (according to ILO persons working but still living on less than US$2 per person in the household, per day. This is what I would call modern day slavery).

Although the working poor and the unemployed would be more likely to be associated with the uneducated, the case in Africa seems to be different. The access to higher education, for example, is limited to less than 5% in Africa as compared to the global average of 16% . Paradoxically, Africa with its low enrollment rates suffers a very high unemployment rate of its graduates that seems to incline that the number of graduates are more than the markets demand. In as much as we might want to attribute this to the slumps or slow growths in our economies, I think there is still the issue of niche training, retraining, education and reeducation that is required in the 21st Century labour market.

The dynamics of the workplace (globalisation, speed of service, changing demographics etc) needs some tailored and quality training, both of new entrants and the incumbents. In this way, we are sure to ensure, sustainable economic developments and a increased demand for high quality labour.

Fortunately, the time is right for just-in-time and highly customised training using technology. eLearning provides a means for the training and education required for the 21st century workforce. Even if we still have issues with the access to the right technology, I believe with the little that we can access still we can make a difference. The sooner organizations and individuals started taking advantage of technology and innovations in the advancement of their knowledge, the better for the our continent, and for the world. My tip for organizations in Africa is to invest into their most important Capital, the human capital, by putting in place mechanisms of training and educating it (using technology) and also to liaise with other educational providers so that they can shape the educational content that is relevant to the urgent and immediate needs of the African continent. This way, I believe we would solve the problem of unemployment and slavery of working and still living on less than a dollar a day.

For this May day, I pay my tribute to:

• all those who have and are still working to ensure education for all in Africa, and especially Higher Education.
• all those who are fighting to training and educating the African continent in readiness for, and on how to overcome the challenges of the 21st century.
• all those who are using eLearning in Africa!

eLearning in Zambia Universities

A while ago, I wrote about eLearning in Kenya Universities. Today, I move down south from Kenya to Zambia. Higher Education in Zambia, like indeed the rest of the developing world, is also under pressure to integrate new technologies while its still operating in an environment where telecommunication is poor, infrastructure is inadequate and there limited or no funds to invest in expensive new technology. This is a fact that an initiative under the banner "eLearning in Zambia" has well identified:

As Zambia is increasingly becoming cash-strapped to support establishment and maintenance of physical educational institutions, VIRTUAL LEARNING may be the answer.

Whether this will be the answer, there still needs a lot of action, (and maybe money and time). This is more so because a search for eLearning and related terms in the website of the University of Zambia give no results. A google search for "Online Learning" at the Copperbelt Unversity shows there is online learning offered under the Center for Lifelong Education. For the more than a dozen times I tried to access the site, it timed out, evidence of the limitations we are working with in this part of Africa.

A Call to Action: From Promise to Practice

There seem to be a unanimous agreement that the technology for teaching and learning, popularly known as eLearning, has great promises and potential. Unlike the promises that are made by an individual to a recipient, the promise needs action from the recipient. Therefore, for us to achieve and realise these hyped promises and potential, we need to act.

In action, the first step, or a dream is very crucial. I came across a quote by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative and creation, there is one elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves too....
...Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Begin it now.

For use to realise the eLearning promise, especially in Africa, we need to begin earnestly and boldly believing that after the first step, after the first initiative, better opportunities will come our way and we will live the eLearning dream.

When iLife did not come to life

A while ago, I talked of a presentation that I was tempted to go. I did go, and I have been fighting the temptation not to write about it. The reason I did not want to write about it is because it confirmed my worries about any presentation by Marketers and while doing their business.First, they use research to inform their marketing. For example, in the presentation I attended by Apple, research has shown that by the year 2009, more than 50% of training will be hybrid and that 80% of students will be using mobile technology. Secondly, use of 'big' and 'unclear' words to confuse their 'prey'. For example in the presentation there was the use of hybrid (denoting the various modes of delivery of learning materials), click and brick (denoting online for clicks and classroom based for bricks teaching and learning). Thirdly, and related to the one above, using catch words - hyped. One specific quote is "Teaching the google-eyed YouTube generation". Another part of the presentation I did not like is getting ideas from other people without attributing the source (O'Reilly's Web 2.0)
Despite all this, I agreed with the presenters on principle that we need a whole new infrastructure for teaching and learning that should include: a collaborative environment, use of rich media in the classroom, learning focused on outcomes, the use the tools that the students are familiar with, and ability to deliver learning when, where, and how it is best received by the intended audience.
In the course of the presentation, there was supposedly to be a demo of the iLife (I did not get to see it) which did not succeed because "the resolution on the computer....and his 'not working for apple'" and after all the person doing the "presentation was an educators not a techie". Its description looked like it might be a good thing but am not ready to dispose my computer for a Mac. I can do most (if not all) the things cataloged as the edge of iLife with my old laptop - using a number of Free and Open Software as I will discussing soon.

When they are marketing their wares & elearning challenges

The other day, I attended the mini-conference on ICT and business commerce education. This, as it turned out to be is a meeting between the the education sector (specifically high schools) and the vendors of business applications mainly accounting. Referring to my previous article on marketers and marketing, I instantly had an opinion on arrival of the venue. I however had to contend to the fact that, I had to do what I had to. Even though eLearning is my passion, and how it was used for teaching business in high schools is an important line I would like to see, the presence of more vendors have something special to offer for the high schools was making me uncomfortable.
The first presentation was as boring as ever, it was the key note address for the day, and was delivered by one of the vendors' representative. All though, most of the issues he pointed out were good, in relation to the way forward for the education sectors, he made a comment to the effect that it has to be the vendors way and no other way for the venture to succeed. This is unfortunate, especially because the vendor has managed to entrench itself in the government's ICT plans for school. Its ICT curriculum that is bragging about is too tailor made for it products - and NO OTHER, and it seems to be what the government is using. I have no problem with people being trained on using products from a particular vendor. What am worried about is the future of the students going through this kind of training for academic and professional purposes. I believe we should be training more people on the general principles that are used in any similar application, and leave the very specifics to them to choose. For example, what would happen if the learners leave school for workplaces that do not use products from the vendor? Will the learners start being trained on the general principles or on the particular use of an application? Are we really concerned about the employability of our learners?
Other challenges being faced, are almost the same everywhere in any education setting that I have encountered. First, there is the challenge of teaching with technology where questions are raised on where do teaching on using the technology end, and where do we start using the technology for teaching. Simply put, when do we stop seeing the technology but instead see the educational outcomes of using the technology of teaching and learning?
Second, there is the question of what influence on the outcome of the educational process does the technology have? Are we just using the believe that technology in teaching and learning improves the educational outcomes? What is its influence in the learning process? Is there any empirical evidence? Canadians were quoted to have done studies to this effect, I would like to know what they found out.
Third, there is the question we would want to wish away. That of access. We are very much being bogged down by the question of access that we cannot move beyond it to concentrate on teaching and learning.
There are subtle recommendations that like minded people and institutions should collaborate, communicate, use real-world integration models, and partnerships in education. However, I would warn anyone who would want to enter into any form of agreement or commitment with 'partners' to be wary of blackmail from vendors and others who would like to hijack the process for their own selfish gains.

Of Marketers and Marketing of Technology for Education

Apple is offering a presentation of their iPod (though not explicitly stated) in Cape Town in a campaign code named "Podcasting in e-learning". Some educational experts "will address the key issues and opportunities afforded by podcasting as an educational tool for eLearning." I am tempted to attend, although I am very apprehensive of any marketing campaign. I am very wary of salesmen because I know a good salesman would sell you something you will throw in the next trash bin for twice its market price. However, I would want to see, and be among the people who are in the forefront of the eLearning 'e-volution'. I have a belief (still naive) that podcasting can add value in the teaching and learning process.

In my mind, when thinking about attending this presentation, an article I read a while ago by Heather-Jane Robertson - "Towards a theory of Negativity Teacher Education and Information and Communication Technology" linger in mind. In the article, there is the warning of the vulnerability of educators to take any technology with the 'naive faith' in its promises. This vulnerability, unfortunately, is perpetuated by the marketers who back their marketing on research that has either failed or is inconclusive. Robertson disputes the 'findings' claimed to have been arrived at by Apple that "Classroom Computers = Remarkable Results" and how Apple applies its marketing campaign to win educational customers.

In the light of Robertson's sentiments about the claims on technology, and with my apprehension about marketers, I am enticed to go there to listen, and maybe see what 'e-volution' in learning Apple is claiming to bring us. I know, imaginatively, Apple is targeting the education sector through this campaign because it is a rich and wide market. I also, know some of us will fall for the marketing campaign without knowing whether whatever we buy, will be more useful in the next trash bin or will indeed 'extend the learning experience beyond the walls of the lecture hall."

See: Robertson, H. 2003. Towards a Theory of Negativity, Teacher Education and Information and Communication Technology, Journal of Teacher Education, 54(4): 280-296

The Question of Access....Again

Today I encountered a new faculty member who wanted to start learning about, and using eLearning. Having contacted me last week to schedule a consultative session, I went in high spirits, ready to show all that I believe about eLearning and what it will provide to her teaching experience.
Part of my mission (as usual), is to go through some of the (perceived) benefits of eLearning, and then exploring what the options are given the specific requirements of the customer. All went well, until the time came for demonstrating what the customer could do with technology. I discover the technology that I am bragging about is a mile or two ahead of what my potential customer is using. Worse, an indication that the hardware need to be upgraded is met with a stun NO with question - What will my students use to access this technology if I am still behind?

Is it PR, irony or doublespeak?

I wrote a while back two articles related to the patent application by blackboard (From blackboard to whiteboard and Life after blackboard). This week, Blackboard is in the press again for two reasons. 1) the patent office is re-examining its patents and 2) Blackboard announces Patent Pledge in support of Open Source Software and Home-grown Content Management Systems.
It ironical that they had to issue this pledge when they have a case pending in court and when their patent is to be re-examined - although they claim they have a high chance of success.
Isn't it doublespeak their claim that the

Pledge commits Blackboard not to assert U.S. Patent No. 6,988,138 and many other pending patent applications against the development, use or distribution of open source software or home-grown course management systems anywhere in the world, to the extent that such systems are not bundled with proprietary software..

without naming the 'many other pending applications'? What of the contradictory statements:

the Pledge, Blackboard promises never to pursue patent actions against anyone using such systems including professors contributing to open source projects, open source initiatives, commercially developed open source add-on applications to proprietary products and vendors hosting and supporting open source applications.

Q. How can you have "commercially developed open source add-on applications to proprietary products" that is "not bundled with proprietary software"?

All in all, I agree with them that this is "unprecedented for a product company such as Blackboard" to conceal and misrepresent facts to appear to be friendly or in support of the general public good.

Where do we go from here?

I have been keenly observing and reading what bloggers have predicted for eLearning in 2007. With all the predictions, or at least the ones I have set my eyes on, what struck me is that there was nothing new. At no one time, during my reading did I stop to think...aha...! This is a new idea, I have not heard of it!

• From the use of open education resources to the use of games in education.
  
• From the need for staff retention, training and retraining using eLearning to the mourning of lack of necessary skills for eLearning development.
  
• From the growth of new online universities to the transformation of traditional universities.
  
• From the use of outsourced learning materials to the use of in-house developed materials.
• From use of new words to explain what has always been to just repeating the song - maybe in a different tune - you all know that we are better than me.

So, have we reached the end to eLearning or we are just laying in waiting for the Next Big Thing?