After 16 years of developing classroom software,
Blackboard is getting into the massive open online course (MOOC) business. The
company plans to provide free hosting for MOOCs that are offered by existing
customers and expects to generate revenue by providing additional services to
the institutions.
Blackboard said it wanted to take its time to
understand the phenomenon of MOOCs. Its results showed colleges use MOOCs to offer educational material to the widest possible
audience, to experiment with new forms of online teaching, and to attract
students by featuring their top instructors.
“Institutions need more flexible options for
experimenting with MOOCs and running online courses that meet their individual
needs,” said Katie Blot, president of education services.
“As schools better define how they want to experiment with MOOCs, it’s becoming
clear that the best platform is usually the one they already have.”
The Blackboard plan allows institutions to connect
their learning management systems and MOOC platforms in areas such as content
and social learning. A mobile application through the Blackboard Learn platform
also provides students and instructors access to MOOC content through iOS and
Android devices.