WebCT Powerlinks to open source portfolios, HorizonLive synchronous tools

http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/
google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&
newsId=20031106005458&newsLang=en
and also
http://www.horizonlive.com/aboutus/news/
press_release_view.php?id=35

Two recent press releases from WebCT that help to illustrate the strategy the major CMS players are adopting to extend their products. In WebCT’s case the strategy is called “Powerlinks,” which I take to be roughly analogous to Blackboard’s “BuildingBlocks” initiative…

Both allow third party developers to tie in their products to these CMS through an API. They’re not the *same* API, and you could go on and on about standards, openness… And you wouldn’t get any arguments here. That doesn’t change the fact that these vendors are moving quickly to integrate with a host of existing campus systems and new applications.

In this case the systems are the Open Source Portfolio Initiative’s portfolio product, and Horizon Live’s synchronous classroom products. Both are important steps for WebCT, adding functionality that has either been missing or had not been a core strength of the existing product. Now if only I could convince these guys to add RSS feeds for their news pages… – SWL