And if you take Blackboard out of an educational environment/mindset, you can see that much of it is actually brilliant design… just not always for educational contexts (even the most adamant Blackboard haters have to admit that a few things do actually work well). You see, Blackboard has come to be known in some circles for having this attitude that they know what is best for us; that they can give us a good product because they have an “outside perspective.” They have been perceived by some to have a problem with listening because they “have a vision that they feel others need to also adopt.”

This is pretty much the exact same attitude that many educational start-up companies are adopting.

So if many of these new educational companies look and act just like Blackboard did in the late 1990s… where do you think they will end up in a few years?

What we really need are educators involved in these projects and companies… at the core of these companies… maybe even calling the shots at these companies.

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