A Modest Proposal

No, I am not suggesting that we should cook and eat software vendors. (Although...)

Blackboard is apparently entertaining purchase offers. It's a shame all the IHEs can't band together and buy it. It'd probably be cheaper in the long run than dealing with Blackboard itself.

Just a thought...

(Blackboard is an excellent example of the phenomenon of IHEs putting mission-critical components of their operations in the hands of for-profit entities that may not only not share the IHE's mission, but maybe indeed have diametrically opposed missions. This will be fodder for a separate blog posting or 3.)