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Will Open Source Software Unlock the Potential of eLearning?
11/30/2004
The open source movement can be viewed with many different lenses. For this discussion, I'm going to focus on two things: (1) how open source can lead to more effective use of technology, and (2) how open source can stimulate greater innovation.
Using technology more effectively for learning and teaching
Aside from leveraging new media, proprietary eLearning software has done little to improve learning and teaching. Two characteristics of proprietary software make it ill-suited to the task: (1) the rapidly escalating cost of proprietary software leaves too little of an institution's IT budget available for creative exploration, once the software has been installed and minimally supported; (2) reduced flexibility to adapt to institutional culture, teaching practices, and disciplinary uniqueness occurs when software development is driven by mass market economics.
Institutions that have the capacity to build their own software gain control over their destiny and applications well suited to their needs, but bear the full cost of development and maintenance over time. For some institutions this may be an appealing option, but it still leaves precious little of the IT budget for the non-software activities like planning, customization, and professional development essential for success.
Open source software offers the potential to reduce the cost of the software while providing an institution greater control over its destiny. Three characteristics in particular make it an attractive solution:
- Elimination or reduction of license and maintenance fees leaves more budget available to invest in adapting the software, managing organizational change, providing professional development, and responding to end-user requests.
- Commercial services are kept in check by market forces, because companies offering commercial support for open source software must compete on the quality and value of their offering rather than relying on an artificial lock on customers that makes switching prohibitive.
- Customizing open source software can be done more effectively because there are few barriers to adapting, sharing, and collaboratively developing new applications.
Stimulating eLearning innovation
Open source eLearning applications like Sakai, Moodle, and LAMS are reinvigorating learning technology by making new eLearning systems available to the world. These new open source systems have a number of advantages that make them excellent platforms for innovation:
- Many schools adopting open source applications add functionality that solves a local priority and then contribute these enhancements back to the community so that others can benefit from their work. Proprietary systems depend on the company that owns the system determining that there's a bottom-line justification to add a new feature or enhance the software in some way. Resources have to be allocated only to those features that satisfy the broadest possible market.
- News Update :: Tuesday, November 25, 2008
:::::: NEWS
: Institute for Cyber Security at U Texas, San Antonio Opens Incubator
: ISO/IEC Publishes Office Open XML Standard
: Dynamics NAV 2009 ERP Coming Next Month
: Southwest Baptist U Adopts Angel LMS
: IE8 Release Candidate Coming on Q1 2009
: Hodges U Credits Lecture Capture for Online Enrollment Boost
: Mitsubishi Debuts WXGA Projectors for Education
: Slippery Rock U Applies SAS to Data Management and Reporting
: Moodle Gets SCORM Improvements, Security Fixes - IT Trends :: Thursday, November 20, 2008
:::::: CASE STUDY
:: DePaul Sets the Bar in Student Relationship Management
:::::: IT NEWS
:: Microsoft Unveils Exchange and SharePoint as Services
:: Penn State Pilots Proctored Online Testing System from Kryterion
:: State-wide New Mexico E-learning Program Adopts Wimba for Collaboration
:: IBM Launches 'Pass It Along' Social Networking, Knowledge Sharing Tool
:: MIR3 Adds Recorded Response Feature to Mass Notification Service
:: Northern New Mexico College Moves to Latest AVG Anti-Virus
:: Ubuntu ARMed for Mobile Expansion - SmartClassroom :: Wednesday, November 19, 2008
:::::: SPOTLIGHT
: 6 Ways Not To Become Rote Using Instructional Technology
:::::: NEWS and PRODUCT UPDATES
: CSU System Adopts Moodle LMS Services
: CourseCast Integrates Closed-Captioning Service
: Wimba Pronto 2.1 Adds Accessibility, Spanish Language Features
: Mitsubishi Debuts XD95U 'Pico' Projector
: InFocus Launches DisplayLink Projector for Education - Web 2.0 :: Wednesday, November 19, 2008
:::::: THE BUZZ
: Bringing Student Web "Stuff" to Campus Enterprise Systems
:::::: WEIGHING IN
: Tipping Point for "Content"--Dynamic Interaction, Not Static Stuff
:::::: PRODUCTS AND APPS
: Delta iTunes U Helps Meet Student Expectations for Web 2.0 Apps
: Penn State Pilots Proctored Online Testing System from Kryterion
: State-wide New Mexico E-learning Program Adopts Wimba for Collaboration
: CSU System Adopts Moodle LMS Services
: Office Web Apps Will Work on iPhones - News Update :: Tuesday, November 18, 2008
:::::: NEWS
: Carnegie Mellon Validates Production Xirrus 802.11n Network
: Ave Maria U Deploys In-Building Cellular Gear
: ASU Campus Nixes Fiber; Chooses Gigabit Wireless for Network Connectivity
: Sun Unveils Family of Open Storage Appliances
: Office Web Apps Will Work on iPhones
: Sun To Cut More Than 15 Percent of Global Workforce
: Texas A&M Upgrades Supply Chain Lab Curriculum
: Texas Lutheran U Implementing Jenzabar EX for ERP
: Anna U Chennai Partners with Cypress on Embedded Systems Engineering - Campus Security :: November 14, 2008
:::::: SECURITY SPOTLIGHT
: Smart Phone Security: New Challenges for Road Warriors
:::::: CAMPUS SECURITY NEWS
: SMobile Releases Antivirus To Protect Google Android Phones
: Blue Coat Integrates Network Appliances
: e2Campus Provides Twitter Integration in Emergency Notification System
: Moodle Gets Student Verification Capabilities
: Rave Wireless Adding BlackBerry Devices to Notification Service
: U Miami Trades IPS for Top Layer Security System
: Cornell Hardens Campus Network with Gigabit Wireless Radio Links
: U Pittsburgh Turns to Verizon Business for Automated Notification Services
