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WSU eLearning News Release
What's happening in the world of educational and collaborative technology at Winona State University?
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Blackboard Wins Patent Case Against Desire2Learn
February 22nd, 2008 - In an open letter on their Website on Friday, Desire2Learn (D2L) President and CEO John Baker, conveyed the news that Blackboard had been awarded $3 million from the jury in their patent case against D2L. The US Patent and Trademark Office will be reviewing the patent and, according to Baker, the decision will have no immediate impact on the company or their support of existing customers such as the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities. Blackboard is also asking the court to ban future US sales of the D2L learning platform. This hearing is scheduled for March 10th.
At issue is D2L's apparent infringement of Blackboard's patented system for course-related file access control, wherein users have varying levels of access to different network file directories based on multiple, system-defined roles (e.g., teacher versus student). This case has caused concern within the educational community and calls for Blackboard to relinquish its patent rights given that virtually every course management system, both commercial and open source, arguably uses some variation of this form of file access control. Blackboard's CEO, Michael Chasen, has said that Blackboard will not pursue open source course management systems such as Sakai or Moodle.
Currently, over 300 WSU instructors use D2L to support over 1000 courses. WSU instructors use the tool to communicate with students, provide access to course materials and grades, and support assessment through online assignments, surveys, tests, and quizzes.
Contact:
WSU eLearning Center
Winona State University
220 Krueger Library
175 West Mark Street
Winona, MN 55987
507-457-2900
elearning@winona.edu
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Last Modified: Wednesday, February 27, 2008 12:31 by Ken Graetz
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