Blackboard Connect
"Foster engagement, interaction, and quality learning through leading-edge technology, services, and data capabilities." (Blackboard Inc., 2016)
Where GAFE, Edmodo, and Schoology are all open-source software, Blackboard is a Proprietary LMS, which means that it is owned by profiting entity (unlike open sourced or cloudbased LMSs), so functions as a closed system whereby users have no control over features such as appearance, structure, or types of activities allowed. Further, due to the fact that it has been created for profit, it is not free the way that many cloud based and open-sourced options are and the cost of licensing fees increases year on year (Wright, Lopes, Montgomerie, Reju & Schmoller, 2016).
The software will only ever be as current as the knowledge who are responsible for keeping it up to date, so as the dynamic nature of the teaching profession changes and adapts, there will often be a lag between what we are wanting to do in the classroom and what a proprietary LMS is capable of (Wright, Lopes, Montgomerie, Reju & Schmoller, 2016). Licencing agreements are an issue in this case, often limiting who and how the product can be used. Further, if it should stop generating the revenue required it can be discontinued. Having said that, due to the fact that it is a company some research should clarify the likelihood of this occurrence.
Where GAFE, Edmodo, and Schoology are all open-source software, Blackboard is a Proprietary LMS, which means that it is owned by profiting entity (unlike open sourced or cloudbased LMSs), so functions as a closed system whereby users have no control over features such as appearance, structure, or types of activities allowed. Further, due to the fact that it has been created for profit, it is not free the way that many cloud based and open-sourced options are and the cost of licensing fees increases year on year (Wright, Lopes, Montgomerie, Reju & Schmoller, 2016).
The software will only ever be as current as the knowledge who are responsible for keeping it up to date, so as the dynamic nature of the teaching profession changes and adapts, there will often be a lag between what we are wanting to do in the classroom and what a proprietary LMS is capable of (Wright, Lopes, Montgomerie, Reju & Schmoller, 2016). Licencing agreements are an issue in this case, often limiting who and how the product can be used. Further, if it should stop generating the revenue required it can be discontinued. Having said that, due to the fact that it is a company some research should clarify the likelihood of this occurrence.
Why Choose Gafe?
GAFE is a cloud based LMS. This means that it is free and that the teacher has the ultimate freedom of picking and choosing the tools which are most useful, and adapting the tools to suit themselves and their classes. Google tools are already familiar to many of us, teachers and students alike, and so time can be spent on activates around the content with the help of google tools rather than just on the content itself, this is very much in line with the move in education to promote 21st Century skills. Learning can happen anywhere, anytime which means that the students can connect the content being taught in class to their experience in the real world wherever and whenever from whatever device is handy (see our tutorial on Google Drive for more detail).