Forum LAMS for Tech-Heads - General Forum: Re: roadmap for LAMS and Blackboard 7.x inter-op?

By: Ernie Ghiglione

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G'day Barry,

Again, thanks for the good questions

In terms of Blackboard integration and without having seen the Blackboard 7.x API and assuming that we can build a building block similarly to what we have done with Blackboard 6 in the past, I think the grouping and gradebook bits should be possible.

Grouping

Regarding groupings, Blackboard6 alows you to create groups within a course. However having a look at our BB6 server here I can't see how you can use groups for assignments, forums, etc.

I imagine in BB7 now you can create groups within a course and assign assigments, forums to each groups?

If so, then when LAMS2.0 has a building block, we could make use of that grouping functionality as well. So effectively you can assign sequences to specific BB groups that you have created before hand... and if BB behaves as it should ;), then when people from that group login they would only see sequences assign to them.


Assessment/Gradebook

We didn't add gradebook for the LAMS1.0-BB6 integration before as we probably weren't sure what exactly LAMS would "return back" to Gradebook.

We could have returned just a flag to the gradebook telling it whether a student had finished a sequence or not. But that doesn't necessarily tell you whether he has done a good job on it or just clicked all the activities thru.

Therefore the discussion on what we should be reporting back to gradebook is still a pending one.


It's important to note that the BB6 integration was done with funding and contribution from Nanyang Tech University in Singapore and they've been using this for at least a year now.

In terms of when the integration with BB7 will be rolled out. Well, you and another University in Queensland Australia are interested on this as well. So it's probably just a matter of see what each of us can contribute to it so we can get this started.

As of today, we have finished the LAMS 2.0 integration with Moodle and Sakai is currently underway. Hopefully we can have Blackboard next.

Thanks,

Ernie

Posted by Ernie Ghiglione