© Bombardier

Course management systems such as Blackboard are extremely popular and are used by colleges across the nation. But, not everyone is a fan. A new group of so-called "edu-punk" professors are advocating for alternatives. Wired Campus reports:

"punk rock was a rebellion against the clean, predictable sound of popular music and it also encouraged a do-it-yourself attitude. Edupunk seems to be a reaction against the rise of course-managements systems, which offer cookie-cutter tools that can make every course Web site look the same.

Jim Groom, an instructional-technology specialist and adjunct professor at the University of Mary Washington, coined the term, and this week on his blog he declared himself a poster boy for the movement. He says he is worried that Blackboard's latest release, which attempts to incorporate the latest social-networking tools, will end up presenting a watered-down version of what pioneers of Web 2.0 technologies have done in their experiments."

Standardized course management systems make it easy for teachers to upload curricular content. But, they do tend to be an expensive, bland, and uninspired choice. I say: rock on, edu-punkers.