Instructure bought software AND data, both of which have value. How much value is dependent on a lot of things, especially privacy law, but the data is worth a fortune. It is a plain fact.
I have followed Instructure closely this year. Canvas is the #1 most used learning technology I support. If you want to know what they believe about the financial value of data, read on.
2019 began with a transition of leadership at Instructure. New CEO began on January 2nd and got to work maximizing shareholder value. Data was an area of focus this year.
The @Ubyssey did good journalism covering what data, specifically, is at stake. ubyssey.ca/features/doubl…
@Ubyssey This was a very significant article, and includes coverage of UBC alum @bryanashort and his determined journey as a student to opt out of data collection.
ubyssey.ca/features/doubl…
ubyssey.ca/features/doubl…
@Ubyssey @bryanashort In July, Instructure's CEO gave a "conversation" interview to @EdSurge, an ed tech industry news site. There were some statements in this article that were very alarming to the ed tech community. edsurge.com/news/2019-07-1…
@Ubyssey @bryanashort @EdSurge Laura Gibbs raised my awareness and led a lot of conversation about this interview. Nobody who follows her is unaware of what Canvas thinks about privacy. #followfriday @OnlineCrsLady
@Ubyssey @bryanashort @EdSurge @OnlineCrsLady The BC Freedom of Information and Privacy Association is also raising awareness in multiple communities, and FIGHTING for our privacy rights. @bryanashort continues his privacy advocacy as Program Director at @bcfipa.
@Ubyssey @bryanashort @EdSurge @OnlineCrsLady @bcfipa Here in BC we take our privacy seriously. Our privacy commissioner took Facebook to court and found our strong privacy law, FIPPA, was essentially worthless as a deterrent to rich tech companies. nytimes.com/2019/04/25/tec…
@Ubyssey @bryanashort @EdSurge @OnlineCrsLady @bcfipa A few weeks after his EdSurge interview, Instructure's CEO published this post about data rights and usage on the company blog. instructure.com/canvas/blog/po…
@Ubyssey @bryanashort @EdSurge @OnlineCrsLady @bcfipa I'm not sure if this post was supposed to assuage privacy concerns, but it got the community TALKING again. Instructure asserted they could use disaggregated learning data for making other products, which is NOT OK. It is commercializing data that does not belong to them.
@Ubyssey @bryanashort @EdSurge @OnlineCrsLady @bcfipa At this same time, they were planning to take Bridge, the corporate LMS they make that is not Canvas, to the next level of shareholder value. An AI driven LXP, using Canvas data.
@Ubyssey @bryanashort @EdSurge @OnlineCrsLady @bcfipa You know how much data they have? So much! In August, their Chief Financial Officer started to brag about it. 1 trillion records in the largest database of student activity in the world.
@Ubyssey @bryanashort @EdSurge @OnlineCrsLady @bcfipa It was right about this time that Canvas shipped an AWFUL set of changes to the Gradebook. This article by Nancy LaChance in the Canvas Community goes over the debacle. Students were not able to see grades! community.canvaslms.com/groups/admins/…
@Ubyssey @bryanashort @EdSurge @OnlineCrsLady @bcfipa It's almost like leadership was thinking about something else this summer. The product was no longer the most important thing at the company. It was shareholder value.
Everyone was getting ready for the auction.
Everyone was getting ready for the auction.
@Ubyssey @bryanashort @EdSurge @OnlineCrsLady @bcfipa I learned almost everything the Instructure business auction from @PhilOnEdTech. On October 29th he wrote about Instructure's business statements about the LMS market. philonedtech.com/did-instructur…
@Ubyssey @bryanashort @EdSurge @OnlineCrsLady @bcfipa @PhilOnEdTech It was exactly this time, on October 28th, that Instructure posted changes to their privacy policy. I wrote a little about the significance of these changes, their first in almost two years.
@Ubyssey @bryanashort @EdSurge @OnlineCrsLady @bcfipa @PhilOnEdTech Then, they announced that they were considering sale options for the company.
philonedtech.com/instructure-co…
philonedtech.com/instructure-co…
@Ubyssey @bryanashort @EdSurge @OnlineCrsLady @bcfipa @PhilOnEdTech Then, they sold the company for two billion dollars. philonedtech.com/private-equity…
@Ubyssey @bryanashort @EdSurge @OnlineCrsLady @bcfipa @PhilOnEdTech One of the narratives that is being told about this sale is that this money was being spent to purchase a Learning Management System company. But the leadership hasn't been talking about making the best LMS anymore. About making technology that enhances learning.
@Ubyssey @bryanashort @EdSurge @OnlineCrsLady @bcfipa @PhilOnEdTech And that makes sense, because almost none of them have education experience.
philonedtech.com/7-things-we-kn…
philonedtech.com/7-things-we-kn…
@Ubyssey @bryanashort @EdSurge @OnlineCrsLady @bcfipa @PhilOnEdTech What Instructure's leadership has been talking about is how to monetize all that private data they have. Remember what the CFO said? One trillion records. About 30 million people.
@Ubyssey @bryanashort @EdSurge @OnlineCrsLady @bcfipa @PhilOnEdTech Nobody knows what is planned, and over the next 34 days while the sale finalizes, nobody from the company is going to say very much. @PhilOnEdTech linked to these "internal FAQS" in the previously-linked post. d18rn0p25nwr6d.cloudfront.net/CIK-0001355754…
@Ubyssey @bryanashort @EdSurge @OnlineCrsLady @bcfipa @PhilOnEdTech The only we have to know what is most likely is to look at what Thoma Bravo, the private equity company buying them for the two billion dollars, does with companies it buys. Phil writes about this.
philonedtech.com/7-things-we-kn…
philonedtech.com/7-things-we-kn…
@Ubyssey @bryanashort @EdSurge @OnlineCrsLady @bcfipa @PhilOnEdTech Buy and build. Buy a smaller product company, find a way to make it more valuable using Instructure's resources, then sell it off or build a profit engine.
bain.com/insights/buy-a…
bain.com/insights/buy-a…
@Ubyssey @bryanashort @EdSurge @OnlineCrsLady @bcfipa @PhilOnEdTech Instructure is already saying it will spin off or sell its other LMS product besides Canvas: Bridge. Bridge is a corporate LMS. Corporations usually don't hire instructors, or teaching assistants.
But, hey! They have all this student data from Canvas...
But, hey! They have all this student data from Canvas...
@Ubyssey @bryanashort @EdSurge @OnlineCrsLady @bcfipa @PhilOnEdTech So what if they are working to launder the student data from Canvas using "machine learning" and "artificial intelligence", then transfer the magical "learning algorithms" back to Bridge before selling it off.
The student data in Canvas is now a shareholder value multiplier.
The student data in Canvas is now a shareholder value multiplier.
@Ubyssey @bryanashort @EdSurge @OnlineCrsLady @bcfipa @PhilOnEdTech The stage has been set in all of 2019. I'll summarize my thread.
Step #1 EdSurge interview: normalize the monetization of student data that DOES NOT belong to them. edsurge.com/news/2019-07-1…
Step #1 EdSurge interview: normalize the monetization of student data that DOES NOT belong to them. edsurge.com/news/2019-07-1…
@Ubyssey @bryanashort @EdSurge @OnlineCrsLady @bcfipa @PhilOnEdTech Step #2 Blog post: equate the explotation of student data to selling hoodies. Cash out on the previous leadership's commitment to privacy. Normalize that there will be no opting out of this data use. instructure.com/canvas/blog/po…
@Ubyssey @bryanashort @EdSurge @OnlineCrsLady @bcfipa @PhilOnEdTech Step #3 Begin making the pitch for the sale of the company
@Ubyssey @bryanashort @EdSurge @OnlineCrsLady @bcfipa @PhilOnEdTech Step #4 Sell the company for two billion dollars. 500 student records a dollar!
@Ubyssey @bryanashort @EdSurge @OnlineCrsLady @bcfipa @PhilOnEdTech We are here, educational technology community. We can still make a difference. KEEP TALKING ABOUT THIS. THEY ARE SELLING THE DATA.
@Ubyssey @bryanashort @EdSurge @OnlineCrsLady @bcfipa @PhilOnEdTech Steps #5? 6? 7? Forever? (and I'm spent)
- Buy a company
- Multiply value using student data
- Sell the company
Now WHO thinks the data does NOT have value? Let's talk about this as a community.
- Buy a company
- Multiply value using student data
- Sell the company
Now WHO thinks the data does NOT have value? Let's talk about this as a community.
@Ubyssey @bryanashort @EdSurge @OnlineCrsLady @bcfipa @PhilOnEdTech Retweeting Step #3, as it seems to have gotten detached from the thread:
@Ubyssey @bryanashort @EdSurge @OnlineCrsLady @bcfipa Correction, this post was written by their VP, Higher Education Strategy.
