haiku LMS

Have you heard about Blackboard's newest venture?  They call it Project NG... like next generation.  In a sincere attempt at not sounding trite, I would like to welcome Blackboard (almost) into the Web 2.0 community.  Bryan and I were talking about this just yesterday.  I contend that Blackboard's entry into our world is a good thing.  After all, we want better educated students and lower stressed educators, right?  If they can help, then I am all for it.  So the next time you have a lunch hour that isn't already booked with an online episode of The Daily Show, or Rush Limbaugh, or maybe yesterday's interview by Terry Gross at NPR.org, take a quick look at Blackboard's promotional video about their upcoming Project NG.  The narrative sounds a lot like Haiku LMS with phrases like "comprehensive yet open solution" and  "engaging yet powerful" or "integrates easily with your technology ecosystem."  I have to admit, I wish I had come up with some of that language when writing or editing copy for our website.  Still, we have come to expect great marketing from BlacKboard, so I am not surprised that they even impressed me with it.  When you see their new drag & drop CMS, or their course dashboard, you might think of Haiku LMS' content and course-centric approach to organizing and customizing lessons that we pioneered almost two years ago. 

But as I said, Blackboard and our other colleagues are enthusiastically welcome into the "next generation."  If we face one challenge as a technology leader and relative newcomer it is convincing the educational community to embrace our technology as today's technology.  Perhaps as the more traditional Ed Tech companies introduce products with Web 2.0 elements, technology directors and assistant superintendents will see what the teachers in their classrooms already embrace; the more invisible the technology is, the better the effect on teaching, learning and communication.  Also, I am a firm believer that options are good.  As much as we might like to think it, Haiku LMS is probably not for everyone.  And with almost five million K20 instructors in the U.S. alone, I'm sure some of you will find something in NG or Angel or even Moodle that you like better than Haiku LMS.  So, welcome Blackboard.  Now, more about us...

In the last several days we launched some cool upgrades that HAIKUers will want to check out.  As you know, since Haiku LMS is on-demand, you can access your stuff with a browser from anywhere.  And when you do, ideas pop into your brainy heads like, "it would be cool if I could see which pages and resources my students are using; and which students are proficient or slackers."  Those great ideas accumulate at HAIKU headquarters and we turn them into reality on an almost weekly basis.  Nice, huh?  Try THAT with the software you have installed on your own computer or servers.  So, about those upgrades:

See Statistics under the Class Management button after you login.  We've provided you with a report enumerating every individual user who visits your class and how many times users view or download your content.  You'll also see how much time visitors are spending there.  Instructors asked for this information as a way of monitoring student activities.  We believe it will also help you know what kind of content best facilitates learning.  Give it a try, teachers like you loved the new feature when we tested it with them over the last few weeks.

The Haiku LMS Gradebook received some attention also in recent weeks.  If you haven't used the Gradebook yet, give it a try.  Even for classes that do not require a traditional grade, I think you will find ours to a flexible, fast and ridiculously easy way to record progress.  The recent upgrade fixed a minor bug in the way final grades were calculated when using weighted categories.  One of your fellow HAIKUers pointed out the discrepancy and we fixed it right away.  Another great example of the HAIKU Community working together to deliver responsive service to everyone.  This is the kind of thing that makes me thrilled that we decided early on to launch Haiku LMS as an on-demand software solution.

Student Nicknames can now be turned off by instructors.  I'm sure this doesn't happen with your own students, but some HAIKUers found that their students were using some rather creative nicknames for themselves.  We're all for creativity, but teachers sometimes need to reign it in a bit.  Now you can.

Almost weekly we launch some sort of minor upgrade.  As I said earlier, many of these are the result of requests or ideas from our users.  Don't forget to check out the Feedback Forum to add your two cents.  We take your ideas quite seriously.  In fact, Bryan, Reynard, Marcos and I spent 2 1/2 days this month at our twice-annual retreat planning our next 12 months of development.  The items you all voted for on the Feedback Forum played a major role in our deliberations.  We will keep you posted as each new idea becomes a reality.  In the meantime, don't underestimate the influence you have.  We consider HAIKUers to be among the most conscientious and talented educators around.  It is no surprise that you come up with such awesome brainstorms.  Keep them coming.

Bryan and some of our more proficient HAIKUers started a community "brain trust" a few weeks ago.  These super users provide invaluable ideas and often serve as testers for new features or upgrades.  If you are interested in participating, drop us a line.  I'm sure Bryan would love to have you aboard.  Even as 2008 begins to approach its end, we have plenty to look forward to.  The U.S. will soon have a new president.  (Let's hope it is one who understands and supports education.)  And pretty soon the holiday season will be upon us.  It is our experience that as we move into January, educators begin to feel the end of the school year approaching.  As that happens, let's support each other to keep our energy high so that student achievement remains a priority.  We are here for you.  And we appreciate your being there for us.