Forum .LRN Q&A: Re: Interesting Information Originating from a Study Funded by the European Web-edu Project

Blackboard has only 14 adopters??? Aaargh...that report must be outdated!

Blackboard has swept The Netherlands under its feet litterally storming into every university in this country. And, I just think it's stupid to see how all these universities blindly shell out money to pay for a solution that is not worth the price (as compared to .LRN). Netherlands alone has over 14 installations for sure, starting at the top from Groningen to the tip in Maastricht.

  1. Universiteit van Amsterdam (http://blackboard.ic.uva.nl/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp)
  2. Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam(http://blackboard.vu.nl)
  3. Delft University of Technology (http://www.icto.tudelft.nl)
  4. University of Groningen(http://nestor.rug.nl)
  5. Universiteit Leiden (http://blackboard.leidenuniv.nl) I use it at my faculty, and I can tell you, it is a rip-off for a primitive application !!
  6. Tilburg university (http://dlo.uvt.nl:8080) previously called Katholieke Universiteit Brabant
  7. Universiteit Maastricht (https://blackboard.unimaas.nl)
  8. Katholieke Universiteit Nijmegen (http://brightsite.uci.kun.nl)
  9. Erasmus Universiteit (http://www.eur.edu)
  10. Universiteit Utrecht (studion.fss.uu.nl)
  11. Katholieke Theologische Universiteit te Utrecht (http://blackboard.ktu.nl)
  12. Wageningen University. (http://blackboard.wau.nl)
  13. Open Universiteit (not sure of the Web address)

I am not adding in the Hogeschools (technical schools that offer education that is now equivalent to a Bachelors under the Dutch BaMA system). For, they in Leiden, Groningen etc.,

In Belgium you can already see BB implementations in

  1. Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (http://bb.kuleuven.ac.be)
  2. Universiteit Limburg (http://bb.luc.ac.be)

And, from what I have noticed in my faculty (information sciences btw)...no one cares about looking at good and cost-effective solutions for the university. No one's bothered actually. All are in their own little worlds, teaching jobs and research projects. Or maybe I am wrong again. I wish I am. I would really like to meet anyone in any of these universities who could use any help, and work together to help Dutch universities and well, the Dutch government invest their valuable money into good education rather than on licenses of expensive software solutions, especially when there are better alternatives in place.

The number 14 represents adoptees among the institutions surveyed, not the total in all of Europe.