1

Conquering the Competition

2

Blackboard Learn SWOTStrengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats

Proven market-leader offering longevity in clients’ investments

Client perception around user experience & workflows

Multiple platforms for cross-selling &

Greenfield accounts in K-12 and ProEd

Upgrading clients to most recent version of technology & perceptions from older versions

Available technologies meet changing needs of institutions

Client perception around addressing quality & support needs

Expanding/growing existing implementations

Lack of adoption at some institutions

3

Traditional Market Players

• Instructure Canvas– Strong: User Experience, Price/Packaging, Cloud– Weak: Depth, Content, Plagiarism

• Desire2Learn (D2L)– Strong: Portfolio, Adaptive, Consortium– Weak: Plagiarism, Program Assessment

• Moodle– Strong: Depth, Customization, Price/Packaging– Weak: User Experience, Community,

Plagiarism, Program Assessment

Competitive Position – Feature Deep Dive1-5 rating (1 is worst, 5 is best), Green is substantial win for Bb, Red is substantial loss

Area LearnCanva

sD2L

Course content (Creation & Display of files, video, audio) 4 4 4 

Communication (Announcements, Calendar, Messages, Chat, Notifications)

4 4 3 

Interactive Tools (Discussions, Blogs, Wikis, Journals) 4 3 3 

Synchronous (Screen sharing, Chat, not including Collaborate) 2 4 2 

Grading & Grade Book 4 3 4 

Plagiarism Detection 5 2 2 

Group & Peer work 5 4 4 

Course Assessment (Tests, Assignments, Surveys, Rubrics, Goals) 4 3 3 

User Experience / Workflow 3 4 3 

Mobile (Mobile App & Responsive) 3 4 3 

Adaptive / Personalized 4 3 5 

System Administration (Users, courses, hierarchy, themes, etc.) 4 3 4 

Enterprise Integration 4 4 4 

Customization & Configuration 4 4 3 

Portal 4 2 3 

Portfolio 3 3 5 

Learning Object Sharing / Reuse 5 1 4 

Social Learning 5 3 4Enterprise Content Management (xpLor + Content Management)

5 1 4

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K12 LMS Competitive Landscape Continuum

 

K12 LMS Competitive Landscape Continuum

Classroom Communication Platform Framework for Teaching & Learning

Teacher/Class Pages Needs: One-way Communication Simple teacher presence off school

website Limited interactive student engagement &

assessment

Light LMS Needs:  Two-Way Communication Student Engagement Assessment Blended Learning

Enterprise LMS Needs:  Two-Way Communication Student Engagement Robust Assessment Online & Blended Learning Institutional Control, Implementation &

Analysis

Teacher Page T & L Enhanced Class Page

Social Learning Focused Basic Toolset Comprehensive Toolset

The Players

                                                                                             Blackboard Learn

                                                                                    ANGEL                                                                                    D2L

Moodlerooms (Joule)

Moodle

                                                Instructure Canvas*

Blackboard EngagePearson / SIS LMS Optional Add-Ons

Schoolnet

      

Haiku*BrainHoney*

 

Edmodo*Edsby

CourseSitesAmplify (Tablet + Content)

   

Schoology** See notes

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• Syllabus• Announcements• File uploads• Content Editor

• YouTube• SlideShare• Flickr• NBC Learn• Learning.com• xpLor• Crowd-sourced

content

• Wikis• Blogs• Journals• Discussions• Social Learning Tools• Video Everywhere

• Assessments• Item Analysis• Rubrics• Assessments• Rubrics• Standards• Retention Center• Grade Center

Build Curate Engage

Assess

Technology Adoption Continuum

Objection Handling

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Objection Handling

Myth: Learn is old and hard to use

Truth:

• Blackboard’s UI has undergone a massive change in the past few years.

• Our emphasis on social learning, cloud based content sharing, instructor efficiencies, and mobile UX over the last few years have pushed us farther and faster than we've ever been before. 

• We work with hundreds of schools and thousands of institutions when developing releases.

9

Objection Handling

Myth: Learn costs too much

Truth:

• Blackboard works with clients to ensure that we are providing an affordable option for their institution.

• Blackboard provides a solid platform with ongoing R&D, core technology support, professional management and support resources.

10

Objection Handling

Myth: Blackboard Needs a Better Support Team

Truth:

• Blackboard Support has focused on closure rates and rapid resolution in the past few years.

• Blackboard has the largest user community, providing a valuable channel for support.

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Objection Handling

Myth: Open Source is free

Truth:

• Open Source requires you to have a robust technical staff who is willing to manage all aspects of the LMS

• You also have to rely on the community for new features and enhancements, which is somewhat unpredictable.

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Objection Handling

Myth: We don’t need all the functionality Bb Learn provides

Truth:

• Districts needs change & evolve over time• Teachers comfort with technology and depth

of use grows over time