I just posted this response (with a few corrections) to an open letter to Blackboard (http://bit.ly/A878U ) calling on them to embrace current technology and make significant improvements (related to the 'VLE is dead' debate):
Worth a go, and I admire the sentiment to engage with the producer to seek improvements (as I argued for at the ALT-C debate on the issue) - but there are 3 things I'd say you need to consider further:
1) recoding a large application like Blackboard is not a trivial exercise. Even with complete commitment and deep pockets, it will take quite some time to re-engineer
2) There are potential issues with software patents to consider-where 'best of breed' sites out there may already have protection in place which may require license arrangements or very creative re-thinking to avoid issues (a topic Blackboard legal people are all too familiar with!)
3) You haven't yet clearly articulated the real issues, beyond saying that "frames are bad m'kay?" ;)
I envisaged the community working together to produce a VLE design spec which would really meet the needs into the next few years against which any existing or future VLE offering could be measured when procuring. This would need to refer to relevant standards for interworking with other systems, detailed feature sets with priorities etc.
...the other aspect is that of course the Moodle option exists to actually contribute directly to the development/improvement cycle too. I also envisage scope within and across institutions to collaborate on projects to produce legal and technical frameworks to allow the easy use and integration of those 'best of breed' services without waiting for existing VLE systems to catch up, as they are probably better focused on being the glue between institutional information systems and the cloud based 3rf party tools rather than constantly playing catch up.
But who knows, the revolution might be starting here? :)
-- Post From My iPhone
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