Communism among Us
Before examining the case study of Benoit and his decision between the learning management systems, (LMS) WebCT/Vista or Moodle, I have to admit my bias. I know I should critically examine the systems against Chickering and Gamson’s (1987) Principles and the SECTIONS model of Bates and Poole (2003), but I am sold on just a single quality, Moodle is open-source.
I have used both systems as a user and have had comparable experiences. I know that my opinions are shaped by these experience and so it is not just the ‘open-sourceness’ of the product that entices me. Moodle is a fine product and will continue to improve and grow. There is a swelling community of users who are contributing to Moodle and making it a better product every day. Many are motivated by the sense of being able to help learning communities. They can create an add-on or module and freely share it with others who can use it to aid learning.
WebCT/Vista, developed by Blackboard Inc. and traded on the NASDAQ: BBBB, is a commercial software that is controlled by parties who are unlikely to have learning as their primary goal. Some of their past actions and patents (Alcorn, 2006) are attempts to protect the intellectual property of the product but are so broad they seem monopolistic towards using technology in education. Alcorn’s (2006) patent attempts to licence the act of uploading assignments (p.44) and making announcements to the class (p.51).
Benoit needs to make a decision on whether to go with Moodle or WebCT/Vista. He needs to choose whether to support a multinational company trying to turn profits from learning or join an open-source community trying to build a better tool for learning. The question, is Benoit a communist?
(I used Word to type this 😉
References
Bates, A.W. & Poole, G. (2003). Chapter 4: a Framework for Selecting and Using Technology. In Effective Teaching with Technology in Higher Education: Foundations for Success. (pp. 77-105). San Francisco: Jossey Bass Publishers.
Alcorn, Robert L. (2006). Internet-based education support system and methods. Patent number: 6988138. Retrieved from http://www.google.com/patents?id=RX94AAAAEBAJ&printsec=abstract&zoom=4&source=gbs_overview_r&cad=0
Chickering, A.W. & Gamson, Z.F. (1987). Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education. American Association for Higher Education Bulletin, 39 (7), 3-7.
Retrieved from http://www.aahea.org/bulletins/articles/sevenprinciples1987.htm