Murray Goldberg
Encyclopedia
Murray Goldberg is a noted Canadian educational technologist
and a faculty member in the department of Computer Science at the University of British Columbia
in Vancouver Canada. Goldberg is best known for being the founder of the elearning companies WebCT
, Brainify, Silicon Chalk, AssociCom, and Marine Learning Systems. Goldberg was born in Calgary
, Alberta
, Canada
and raised in Edmonton
until he moved to British Columbia
to attend the University of Victoria
in 1980. Murray graduated from UVic in 1985 and then went on to earn an MSc from the University of British Columbia
. In 2004 he was awarded an honorary Ph.D. from the Southern Cross University. Murray serves as director for various companies, public and private, and is a frequent consultant and speaker on the future of eLearning and social learning. Murray is also the chair of the British Columbia chapter of the Manning Innovation Awards
.
Goldberg took a leave of absence from UBC in 1998 to lead WebCT full time.
Goldberg found that the experience of building the courses for this experimentation was sufficiently time consuming and expensive that he decided to create a platform to enable the simple and rapid creation of web-based learning environments, WebCT.
WebCT was widely accepted as a catalyst in the world-wide boom of on-line learning that accelerated beginning in 1997. By November, 2000 WebCT was purportedly serving 6 million students in 57 countries, and by late 2001 10 million students in 80 countries at 2250 universities and colleges.
In 1999, Goldberg sold most of his stake in WebCT to Boston-Based Universal Learning Technology. The combined company took on the WebCT name. Goldberg remained as president of the Canadian division of WebCT until 2002 when he left to co-found Silicon Chalk.
as their first customer.
Educational technologist
An educational technologist is someone who is trained in the field of educational technology. Educational technologists try to analyze, design, develop, implement and evaluate process and tools for to enhance learning .- See also :* Instructional technology...
and a faculty member in the department of Computer Science at the University of British Columbia
University of British Columbia
The University of British Columbia is a public research university. UBC’s two main campuses are situated in Vancouver and in Kelowna in the Okanagan Valley...
in Vancouver Canada. Goldberg is best known for being the founder of the elearning companies WebCT
WebCT
WebCT or Blackboard Learning System, now owned by Blackboard, is an online proprietary virtual learning environment system that is sold to colleges and other institutions and used in many campuses for e-learning...
, Brainify, Silicon Chalk, AssociCom, and Marine Learning Systems. Goldberg was born in Calgary
Calgary
Calgary is a city in the Province of Alberta, Canada. It is located in the south of the province, in an area of foothills and prairie, approximately east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies...
, Alberta
Alberta
Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
and raised in Edmonton
Edmonton
Edmonton is the capital of the Canadian province of Alberta and is the province's second-largest city. Edmonton is located on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Capital Region, which is surrounded by the central region of the province.The city and its census...
until he moved to British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
to attend the University of Victoria
University of Victoria
The University of Victoria, often referred to as UVic, is the second oldest public research university in British Columbia, Canada. It is a research intensive university located in Saanich and Oak Bay, about northeast of downtown Victoria. The University's annual enrollment is about 20,000 students...
in 1980. Murray graduated from UVic in 1985 and then went on to earn an MSc from the University of British Columbia
University of British Columbia
The University of British Columbia is a public research university. UBC’s two main campuses are situated in Vancouver and in Kelowna in the Okanagan Valley...
. In 2004 he was awarded an honorary Ph.D. from the Southern Cross University. Murray serves as director for various companies, public and private, and is a frequent consultant and speaker on the future of eLearning and social learning. Murray is also the chair of the British Columbia chapter of the Manning Innovation Awards
Manning Innovation Awards
The Ernest C. Manning Awards Foundation has been recognizing and encouraging innovation in Canada since 1982. By means of a nomination, Canadian resident citizens, who have demonstrated recent innovative talent in developing and successfully marketing a new concept, process or procedure, may be...
.
University of British Columbia
Murray began as a faculty member in the Department of Computer Science at UBC in 1993 and was awarded tenure there in 1998. In 1994, his first year as a faculty member at UBC, Goldberg won the Killiam Teaching Prize at UBC.Goldberg took a leave of absence from UBC in 1998 to lead WebCT full time.
WebCT
In 1995, as a UBC faculty member, Goldberg was researching the effectiveness of Web-Based learning environments.Goldberg found that the experience of building the courses for this experimentation was sufficiently time consuming and expensive that he decided to create a platform to enable the simple and rapid creation of web-based learning environments, WebCT.
WebCT was widely accepted as a catalyst in the world-wide boom of on-line learning that accelerated beginning in 1997. By November, 2000 WebCT was purportedly serving 6 million students in 57 countries, and by late 2001 10 million students in 80 countries at 2250 universities and colleges.
In 1999, Goldberg sold most of his stake in WebCT to Boston-Based Universal Learning Technology. The combined company took on the WebCT name. Goldberg remained as president of the Canadian division of WebCT until 2002 when he left to co-found Silicon Chalk.
Silicon Chalk
In 2002 Goldberg co-founded Silicon Chalk and served as the president and CEO. Silicon Chalk created software for use in laptop or computer enabled higher education classrooms. The software facilitated the recording of classroom presentations, student note taking, polling, file sharing, and other features. The company never achieved wide spread success, though did have users in 70 universities and colleges when it was sold to Horizon WimbaBrainify
In 2007 Goldberg began work on Brainify (website), an academic social bookmarking and networking site for university and college students and professors. Brainify was launched in January 2009 and Goldberg acts as the President and CEO. Members from 250 institutions had joined within the first 20 days of its launch.AssociCom
In June, 2010, Goldberg launched AssociCom (website), a professional networking and discovery platform with an emphasis on enabling member discovery, learning and connection within professional associations and societies.Marine Learning Systems
Also in 2010, Murray founded the company Marine Learning Systems (website). Their product, MarineLMS, claims to be the first learning management system for training in the maritime industry, with BC FerriesBC Ferries
British Columbia Ferry Services Inc. or BC Ferries is a de facto Crown Corporation that provides all major passenger and vehicle ferry services for coastal and island communities in the Canadian province of British Columbia...
as their first customer.
Selected Awards and Distinctions
- 2004 - $100,000 National Manning Innovation AwardsManning Innovation AwardsThe Ernest C. Manning Awards Foundation has been recognizing and encouraging innovation in Canada since 1982. By means of a nomination, Canadian resident citizens, who have demonstrated recent innovative talent in developing and successfully marketing a new concept, process or procedure, may be...
Principal Award for Innovation. This is a National award, awarded once per year for innovation in any human endeavor Award video can be found here. - 2004 - Honorary Ph.D., Southern Cross University, Gold Coast, Australia
- 2001 – New Media Hyperion Award. This award for excellence is awarded annually to those who have made a significant contribution in the creation or development of software tools, hardware or connectivity innovations.
- 2000 – National CANARIE IWAY Award. This is a national award, awarded to nominees who have pioneered innovative uses of technology related to the development of Canada's information highway.
- 1994 - Killiam Teaching Prize. These prizes, accompanied by a monetary award, are given annually at UBC to a small number of faculty members who have exhibited excellence in teaching.