668 - Blackboard Purchased, Netflix Advice from a LMS, Last Days for Discounts
July 1, 2011 Learning TRENDS by Elliott Masie - July 1, 2011.
#668 - Updates on Learning, Business & Technology.
55,314 Readers - http://www.masie.com - The MASIE Center.
Host of Learning 2011 - Over 614 Registered Already!
1. Blackboard Purchased - More Learning Systems Market Action.
2. Netflix-Like Advice from a Learning System?
3. Last Day for Early Discount for Learning 2011.
1. Blackboard Purchased - More Learning Systems Market Action: I woke up this morning to news that Blackboard, a major provider of Learning Management Systems software to the higher education market, accepted a $45-a-share cash takeover bid from a group led by Providence Equity Partners. The deal is worth $1.64 billion, plus the assumption of about $130 million in net debt. Over the past few months, there has been significant speculation about who would buy Blackboard, including rumors about Google or Pearson as possible new owners. This purchase continues a wave of market interest and activity in Learning Systems, following purchases of Learn.com, Plateau and the IPO for Cornerstone.
The Blackboard deal also fits into expanded action in the private, higher education marketplace. The acquisition marks Providence’s third education deal in recent years. The private equity firm acquired educational services provider Study Group Pty Ltd. last year. It joined with Goldman Sachs Capital Partners and Leeds Equity Partners to acquire for-profit college operator Education Management Corp., which sold shares to the public in 2009. Providence, founded in 1989, manages $23 billion and focuses on media, communications, information and education investments.
Watch for 2 or 3 more major deals in the coming months, meaning that it is more important than ever for buyers of Learning Systems to focus on both contractual aspects of their agreements and portability of their resources if a deal does not go in their favor.
2. Netflix-Like Advice from a Learning System? Talking about Learning Systems, I was very intrigued by a recent article about adding Netflix-like recommendations to a learning system. Last week, undergraduates at Austin Peay State Uni¬versity were invited to visit its new online recommendation system before meeting with their academic advisers. When suggesting a course, the automated system considers each student’s planned major, past academic performance and data on how similar students fared in that class. It crunches this information to arrive at a recommendation. An early test of the system found that it could lead to higher grades and fewer dropouts, officials say.
I contacted Tristan Denley, Austin Peay’s provost and a former professor of math¬ematics who designed the course-picking software, to find out more. The system uses data mining to look at which courses will help accelerate students to completion of their requirements and what courses are most likely to be successful for students with specific backgrounds, performance levels and other factors. The students are getting an additional resource of advice, in addition to their own research and conversations with Faculty Advisors.
I am convinced that Recommendation and Guidance features will be the next wave of functionality that corporations will ask for in our Learning Systems. As the quantity of learning assets increases, learner choices get more difficult. Give us the same advice and suggestions that we find in Netflix or Amazon. After talking with Tristan Denly, I asked him to be one of our keynote speakers at Learning 2011! He will be joining us to explore the role of data mining and recommending as part of the learning empowerment process. You can read the article in the Chronicle of Higher Education at http://chronicle.com/article/The-Netflix-Effect-When/127059/
3. Last Days for Early Discount for Learning 2011: Please register now to take advantage of our lowest rates for Learning 2011 (Nov 6 to 9 in Orlando). The discount ends this weekend. We will be announcing additional keynoters for our event and the lineup now includes:
* President Bill Clinton.
* Inventor Dean Kamen on Innovation.
* Wharton’s Peter Cappelli: Managing the Older Worker: How to Prepare for the New Organizational Order.
* MIT’s Ken Zolot on Entrepreneurial Learning Departments.
* Newsweek’s Sharon Begley on Brain Freeze and Information Overload.
* Elliott Masie on Learning Trends and The Learning Imperative.
* Betsy Myers on Growing Women in Leadership.
* Honoring McDonald’s Corporation for 50 Years of Hamburger University.
And much more!
Complete information and registration information at http://www.learning2011.com
Yours in learning,
Elliott Masie
email: emasie@masie.com
MASIE Center Seminars, Events and Services:
* Video for Learning LAB & Seminar - July 18 - 20 - Saratoga Springs, NY.
* Learning 2011 - Nov 6 to 9, 2011 - Orlando, Florida.
* Membership in The Learning CONSORTIUM
Info and Registration: http://www.masie.com