Inside Higher Ed reports about a new competitor for Blackboard’s Learning Management Monopoly:
New Player in Course Management Software
The learning management software industry has a new competitor.
It’s Learning, Inc., a Norwegian company, is looking to take a share of the U.S. market from Blackboard and other top learning-management software providers after cornering the learning-management markets in Norway and Britain, and gaining “substantial” shares in Sweden, Denmark, and Holland.
The company caters to professors who put a special emphasis on personal attention in the classroom. Many classrooms — especially those at community colleges — include students with a broad range of capabilities, said Jonathan A. Bower, the president of the U.S. branch of It’s Learning. And while Blackboard “does a superb job of supporting the delivery of lessons in the classic fashion” — that is, to everybody at once — it is less useful for professors who wish to simultaneously challenge advanced students and reach those who may need remediation.
I am always leery about a product being touted as a “competitor” to a company with a stranglehold on the market. Wasn’t the Palm Pre supposed to be the iPhone killer? It’s Learning has a steep hill to climb of it wishes to be a learning solution for college campuses. However, competition is healthy, though I hope they do not succumb to Blackboard’s buying power. Maybe Google should take a chance on them?
