Different ArchitecturesRe-Thinking How

Technologies are not neutral.

How they are built affects the way they are seen & used

Extending the LMS

Blackboard Building Blocks» Mini-application that runs within BlackboardLearn

» Looks like the rest of Blackboard

» Bridge to an external system

» Pull in content, call web services, integrate applicaitons

Limitations» Building Blocks are specific to Blackboard

» They are written in Java

» Require administrator access to install & setup

How about LTI?

Learning Tool Interoperability

The LTI standard allows for third-party

tool providers to easily plug their

applications into any learning

management systems.

Learning Tool Interoperability» An open standard

» Integrates external content

» Providing user data for external systems

» Is two-way

The rise of the API

Application Programming Interface

! " # $ % &'( ) + , - .

Using APIs – IFTTT

IFTHISTHENTHAT

IFTHISTHENTHATtrigger

action

IF / THEN 0

IF - THEN #

IF 1 THEN 2

IF / THEN 3

Professor Vann said technology was often held

up as the solution to workload stress, but the

reality had been the opposite. “We’ve added service rather than reduced cost,” he said.

- The Australian, Traditional teachers taking on greater workload, May 13, 2015

What’s the potential for this

in higher education?