Founder-Leader Name: Martin Dougiamas
(picture taken from: http://blog.wiziq.com/recap-of-moodle-mooc-wiziq/)
Venture Name: Moodle
(Modular Object-Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment)
Venture Description
Moodle is a free online learning platform (Learning Management System), based in Perth, Australia. It has a free source license and is used in many high school as well as post-secondary online programs. Some of its features include assignment dropbox, gradebook, discussion forum, online quiz/test, Upload/Download of files. It also has a variety of plug-in’s available which adds more elaborate functions to the platform. One of the best features of Moodle is its Moodle Community – which consists of over a million users who interact with each other to provide support.
Short Bio of Martin Dougiamas
Martin Dougiamas was born in 1969. He is a computer scientist and an educator. His has experiences as the webmaster of an university, as well as the manager of a WebCT system. He was frustrated with the learning systems available to him, and started Moodle in 1999.
Martin Dougiamas believes in the constructivist model of teaching and implements this theory in his invention of Moodle. Moodle has a strong management team , as well as an integration team, backend team, frontend team, sites team, and a mobile team. The responsibilities of each team member are very specific and well-defined. There are also Moodle partners who provide commercial services to the users
Personal Reflections
Martin Dougiamas is passionate about Moodle. This is very inspirational because an entrepreneur must be passionate about the product that he/she is developing. Moodle provides a ‘shell’ for a platform, and allows the users to modify it according to his/her needs. This is a great example of a product that is appealing to customers because of its versatilit. As an entrepreneurs, I need to have a vision for my company. My management team must be able to share the same vision, and also be equipped with the concrete skills and abilities needed to reach our common goal.
According to the post, the founder Martin Dougiamas seems to be an adequate role model, however I would not say that he is the ideal role model for would-be entrepreneurs. He seems to have a solid background in education, and has taught in the past most likely about computer science. As someone who is passionate about learning, and who understands information technology, I would presume that he would be able to teach other want-to-be entrepreneurs how to access certain forms of technology, and how to integrate different types of technology into successful business ventures. Depending on what the entrepreneur is starting, he would be an excellent resource in terms of understanding how to build a successful platform, and what the challenges and potential problems would most likely be. The reason I said adequate because I am not sure how much information I can extrapolate from the review in terms of team and financial management, ability to project future developments, and anticipate competition in the marketplace.
Peteo,
I agree that Moodle is a platform, but what makes it “a successful” one? Is it the fact that it is free and open-source? I’ve been designing courses for Moodle delivery for years now, and I would be a bit reluctant to call it “successful”. Successful in terms of its wide adoption, maybe yes…. but in terms of end user ability to manipulate its features and its usability, I would be reluctant to agree. I’ve seen over and over again the struggle my school has had with managing this LMS. But maybe it’s just my school? I recognize that a lot of effort and work went into creating Moodle and the idea behind it is very cool. However, I think that Moodle requires a lot more work to make it truly excellent.