Moodle Open Source E-Learning Heads for the Cloud
by Sam Dean - Jul. 15, 2008Comments (3)- Related Blog Posts
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We've covered Moodle before. It's one of the biggest players in software and platforms for e-learning (online seminars, webinars and the like) and it's also free and open source. Now, Infinity Learning Solutions has announced a cloud computing solution for Moodle leveraging the Amazon Web Services (AWS) platform. The move may let interested parties--such as the many universities that use Moodle--deliver high-end e-learning content, such as streaming video classes. They're also likely to be able to deliver such content without facing high costs.
As we reported before, Moodle is a course management system (CMS) that leverages developers from all around the world and has a user community of over 330,000 registered people. Educators and businesses interested in providing e-learning coursework can use it to deliver courses, downloadable materials, and online learning communities. Over 40,000 web sites use Moodle for e-learning purposes. On top of that, leading universities such as U.C. Berkeley offer free webcasts and podcasts to the public using Moodle.
Infinity Learning Solutions is including in its Moodle-meets-Amazon mashup an optional single sign-on integration with Digital Chalk, a popular and inexpensive authoring and delivery system for streaming video classes. Digital Chalk also leverages Amazon Web Services.
"This is the first Moodle offering on a cloud computing platform that we are aware of," said Troy Tolle, Chief Technology Officer at Infinity Learning Solutions, in a statement. "Many community colleges and universities lack the resources and infrastructure to rapidly roll out a full featured Moodle solution. Taking advantage of cloud computing opens up new possibilities for these institutions," said Tolle.
Interestingly, Infinity Learning Solutions' release also takes a clear swipe at Blackboard, a proprietary platform for building and delivering e-learning content. The swipe is here: "Many learning institutions, concerned about vendor lock-in and Blackboard's aggressive defense of its LMS patents are turning to open source solutions such as Angel and Moodle. Blackboard pledged in 2007 not to pursue patent infringement cases against schools or against open source solutions. The Blackboard pledge has spurred several universities to begun actively contributing to the Moodle code base, further accelerating feature availability and interoperability."
I'm a big fan of Moodle, and I'm not alone. It's a finalist in SourceForge's Community Choice Awards for open source applications. I've also witnessed first-hand how many attempts there are to charge exorbitant prices for emerging platforms for e-learning content such as webinars and recorded university lectures. Universities should take a close look at this new Moodle-meets-Amazon-meets-Digital Chalk mashup, especially if they are currently locked into proprietary platforms or about to become so.
The United States is the single largest e-learning market worldwide with revenues exceeding $17.5 billion in 2007, according to a report from Global Industry Analysts. Businesses have lots to gain from investigating this space, along with academia. There are many videos online that are good for getting to know Moodle, if it interests you. Also check out the numerous resources available at the Moodle home page.
