State of Major Education LMS Conferences in Wake of COVID-19
Some major LMS conference cancelations or online alternatives have been announced in an attempt to limit the spread of COVID-19, though not all summer LMS conferences have been canceled. As of the date of publication, the status of the following major events is as follows:
- BbWorld (Blackboard): Originally scheduled for July 28-30, Orlando, Florida. It will now be presented as an online conference.
- Blackbaud K-12 User Conference: July 8-10, Los Angeles, California. The conference website states the conference “is proceeding at this time.”
- D2L Fusion (D2L Brightspace): Originally scheduled for July 20-22, Anaheim, California. It will now be presented an online conference.
- InstructureCon (Instructure Canvas): July 28-30, Nashville, Tennessee. No cancellations or alternatives have been announced on the website as of this publication date.
- MoodleMoot (Moodle): Held in multiple global locations and on multiple dates throughout the year. The April 17-18 MoodleMoot for Faridabad, India, was held online, with the onsite component deferred to October.
- Sakai already holds an annual virtual conference, the last of which was held in November 2019. Sakai’s owner, Apereo Foundation, has announced that it was already planning to offer a blended experience for its June 15-19 Open Apereo conference (Michigan) and will proceed entirely online if the onsite component is canceled (a decision that will be announced by May 20).
- Schoology Next (Schoology): July 26-29, Austin, Texas. The conference is not cancelled as of this publication date, but Schoology will “reassess plans as necessary.”