Will Coursekit Launch Up-End Blackboard?

Can't wait to see where this goes. The world needs a game changer in this space.

The only problem is that professors don't usually pick the software they use to deliver their online course -- they can certain pick certain applications, but the professors aren't the "buyer" it's the schools and cracking that nut is very, very difficult since Blackboard has heavy investment (and contractual agreements) with so many of the pick players in higher ed. Even if a professor wanted to switch, Blackboard integration in higher ed is far deeper than a single class. Higher ed and enterprise is exceptionally difficult to disrupt when it comes to institution-level installations. There's a reason many orgs are STILL using Windows XP and IE 6. Fighting institutional inertia is massively difficult.

If coursekit wants to accomplish that goal though, they should take a facebook approach -- one school at a time. Convince some small school that isn't using Blackboard to try their software. Then expand the school targets outward to adjacent schools in the geographic region. Build up a core school-base and then go after bigger targets. It'll take more than great software. Institutional penetration is far more about sales skill than code quality (see Windows XP comment above.)

Articles with question marks in the title are inevitably answered "no".

No disrespect to CourseKit, but what's so special about this LMS vs all the other new ones on the market every year? BBBB suing you is not the biggest issue LMSes have, it's actually getting traction.