A universal Learning Object Repository

Out of all of the product announcements at the corporate keynote session today at BbWorld 2012, the one with the broadest & most fascinating implications is the new xpLor learning object repository. The xpLor product will be available to Bb clients without an additional licensing fee, and spans the boundaries of both LMS environment and institution. From the demo, the interface is very clean and friendly. It should be both easy to use and offer access to a wealth of both locally created and professionally produced rich learning content.

The complexities are staggering, however.

How do you manage content licenses with providers? Libraries spend millions of dollars licensing content, and if the xpLor tool is not able to respect and build upon those licenses it faces tremendous push-back from those who are struggling to stay on top of an already dynamic content landscape. I hope that Blackboard, publishers, and libraries can all work together to come together around some models that will benefit everyone.

I think that, as xpLor spans institutions as a cloud-hosted service, the challenges of identity management will become massive. How will they vet, maintain, and curate identities between institution (and probably have to include identities from popular commercial entities such as Facebook or Google)? There could be a great advantage as Blackboard receives identities from already vetted sources like universities to become an extremely valuable Identity Provider (IDP) that could work with institutions and groups like InCommon to serve as an transitionary bridge that could continue service for a user as they move between institution. I encourage Blackboard to reach out to InCommon to talk about how to best take advantage of any opportunities.