Stephen Downes

Knowledge, Learning, Community
Great article, filled with depth and insight, on the balance between open source and proprietary learning management systems (LMS). Arguing that open source systems can compete when the market reaches commodity stage and when open source becomes more innovative, author Sam Adkins suggests that we may be at that crossover point. And with major open source installations such as the University of Sourth Africa's Sakai installation (thanks Seb) buyers are beginning to see the alternatives. Adkins also interviews some LMS professionals to get their take, and particularly worth noting is the response from Comcourse's David Grebow, who identifies three major hurdles for open source: really bad interfaces, poor documentation, and endless feature creep. Sounds like my recent experiences with Ruby! Also worth noting is the potential for an LMS-SIS merger, as noted by an anonymous commentator in my discussion area. "Eventually there will be an SIS/LMS purchase/merger that will create a full service SIS/LMS system for higher ed. SCT Banner/BB OraclePeoplesoft/BB BB/Jenzabar ??"

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Stephen Downes Stephen Downes, Casselman, Canada
stephen@downes.ca

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Last Updated: Mar 28, 2024 1:59 p.m.

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