Industry Briefs
:: NEWS
STRATEGIC SHIFT. Cdigix, a provider of digital media solutions, has shifted its strategic
focus from entertainment services to educational media delivery. The decision was influenced by a number of factors
including customer feedback, as well as persistent obstacles and restrictions in the music industry.
BLACKBOARD BOOKMARKING. e-Education software and services provider Blackboard has launched Scholar, a free
social bookmarking web service for faculty and students. Scholar allows Blackboard users to save and classify bookmarks
and searches, share resources, automatically update courses with dynamic content feeds, and enable student contributions
to course collections.
HEARING VIRTUAL VOICES. Linden Lab, creator of
the virtual world Second Life, is adding 3D-integrated voice capabilities to the Second Life Grid.
Residents will be able to speak to each other with proximity-based voice communication, taking distance and direction
into account. When speaking, their avatars will become animated according to the intensity of speech volume. Read more here.
FORUM FOR MOBILE COMMUNICATIONS. Mobile messaging
solution provider clearTXT has introduced the Mobility in Education Community, an information resource on mobile
technologies in academia. The company has
pledged to keep sales pitches out of the community.
:: M&A, ETC.
IMPROVING LEARNING TOOLS. Thomson Learning has
acquired Aplia, an educational company focused on learning assessment solutions. Aplia’s web-based
teaching and assessment tools will allow Thomson Learning to continue growing its digital teaching and learning solutions.
:: PEOPLE
PEERLESS PROMOTION. Audio/visual mounting solutions provider Peerless Industries has announced the promotion of Vlad Gleyzer from VP of product development
to the newly created position of SVP. Ralph Kuprewicz assumes the VP/product development
post.
HEADING UP HIGHER ED GROUP. Education market research,
consulting, and peer networking firm Eduventures has hired consultant
and former educator Rob Birdsell as managing VP of its newly launched Higher Education Consulting
practice. The practice will focus specifically on helping university leaders utilize data,
evidence, and expertise to drive institutional success.
TABLEAU NABS ADOBE FOUNDER: Geschke joins Tableau board.
ADOBE FOUNDER JOINS TABLEAU BOARD. Charles Geschke, founder and chairman of Adobe Systems, has joined the board of directors at Tableau Software,
a developer of visual analysis software.
HIGHER ED LEADER FOR CARNEGIE. Former President of Thomson’s Science and Mathematics division Michael
Johnson has joined Carnegie Learning, a publisher of researchbased
math curricula for middle and high school students. Johnson will serve as president of the
company’s new Higher Education Division, focusing on the development and sales of math curricula
for the post-secondary market.
For daily industry news, go to campus-technology.com/mcv/news/
