Presentation as part of the u!magine Supporting Learning Technology Innovation workshop. The presentation was aimed at providing some hints of how we can extend the current LMS, but also exploring the use of APIs. The use of APIs can be simply explained through services like IFTTT that empower users to connect services in combinations that suit them.

1. Different Architectures
Re-Thinking How

2. Technologies are not neutral.
How they are built affects the
way they are seen & used

3. Extending the LMS

4. Blackboard Building Blocks
» Mini-application that runs within BlackboardLearn
» Looks like the rest of Blackboard
» Bridge to an external system
» Pull in content, call web services, integrate applicaitons

5. Limitations
» Building Blocks are specific to Blackboard
» They are written in Java
» Require administrator access to install & setup

6. How about LTI?
Learning Tool Interoperability

7. The LTI standard allows for third-party
tool providers to easily plug their
applications into any learning
management systems.

8. Learning Tool Interoperability
» An open standard
» Integrates external content
» Providing user data for external systems
» Is two-way

9. The rise of the API

10. Application Programming Interface

11. Ƙ
ơ Ʒ 

12. Using APIs – IFTTT

13. IFTHISTHENTHAT

14. IFTHISTHENTHAT
trigger
action

15. IF THEN

16. IF THEN

17. IF THEN

18. IF THEN

19. Professor Vann said technology was often held
up as the solution to workload stress, but the
reality had been the opposite. “We’ve added
service rather than reduced cost,” he said.
- The Australian, Traditional teachers taking on greater workload, May 13, 2015

20. What’s the potential for this
in higher education?