We've written about free e-learning resources and tools, such as Moodle, several times here on OStatic, as well as collections of open source tutorials. Many universities are picking up on the fact that it is easy to use free, open source tools such as Moodle to provide classes online that anyone can take. U.C. Berkeley provides free online classes based on Moodle, and M.I.T. has a collection of over 1,900 free courses on its MITOpenCourseware site, many on tech topics. MITWorld also has a searchable database of free, educational videos. Here are some notable examples of classes and seminars that may be of interest to you.

Though today's piece in The Chronicle of Higher Education is less about the advantages of open source courseware and more about the advantages that open source courseware has suddenly been given, it's worth taking a few moments to read and consider.

The leading proprietary course management system, Blackboard, announced this month that it was purchasing another of its major competitors. Many Angel Learning clients said they chose the company because of its low-key approach and helpful customer service, coupled with the open nature of at least portions of its source code.

It's an area where software preferences -- not necessarily in regards to open or closed code, but service, features, and responsiveness to client needs -- are not simply a matter of favorites. As the Chronicle explains, the course management system isn't just a platform for managing coursework, schedules, and grades. It's an extension of the school.

Where Blackboard has seemingly fallen short, where Angel Learning excelled, and how this acquisition is being received has resulted in many educational institutions giving open source alternatives a much closer look.

We've covered free e-learning resources and tools, such as Moodle, several times here on OStatic, as well as collections of open source tutorials. E-learning is a very fast-growing field, and open source tools and principles dovetail nicely with it. For example, U.C. Berkeley provides free online courses based on Moodle. While the free, open courseware you'll find in this exhaustive list isn't specific to open source, there are some excellent resources that people in the open source community can get access to for free. Here are a few gems I found in the list of over 100 resources.