Open source technology is becoming a common term even outside of more technical conversations, providing alternative models for everything from browsers to standard office applications. But what does it mean for e-learning? As the e-learning market wakes up to open source, Kineo launches a new series of briefings on how open source and e-learning are intersecting - focusing first on the potential of Moodle to become the worldís favourite LMS.
The e-learning industry is becoming increasingly attuned to the potential of open source. A US commentator has issued an open source e-learning report (although is charging for it), and itís a serious discussion topic at conferences from Online Educa in Berlin to TechLearn in the US.
Kineo, the leading rapid e-learning company, has long advocated the use of open source tools and technologies in the context of e-learning. In a new resource, available for free on Kineoís website. Kineo highlights some of the open source tools that can be harnessed for open source e-learning. Among these, Kineo provides an overview of eXe, an open source e-learning authoring too, and of Moodleís functionality and potential for management and tracking of e-learning.
Kineoís managing partner, Steve Rayson, commented: ìAs advocates of open-source e-learning, we advise anyone embarking on e-learning development and deployment to think open source. This can range from using eXe, a simple but effective open source authoring tool, to Audacity, another great open-source tool for podcast editing.
ìIn the LMS space, we have been hugely impressed with Moodleís offering. We embrace the open source spirit in which Moodle has been, and continues to be developed. We have provided customised Moodle installations for several of our clients, giving it a look and feel bespoke to their organisations. We would urge anyone considering a commercial LMS to give an open source option such as Moodle serious consideration first.î
An outline of Moodle, along with overviews of several other open source tools for e-learning, and access to a moodle demo site, are available in the new and constantly evolving open source section on the Kineo website at:
Kineo predicts growth in open source e-learning and provides free insights
Open source technology is becoming a common term even outside of more technical conversations, providing alternative models for everything from browsers to standard office applications
