Moodle to topple a cottage industry?
I had first heard of Moodle while attending a conference in California some years ago. The presentation was done by a (Australian?) University administration person or teacher who was using it to enrich instructor-led classroom material. I was of course interested initially due to its low price [a reasonable $0], open source, and architecture [PHP], but I became further invested once I'd installed it. It really is quite full-featured and given the erstwhile limited gamut of commercial LMS's, it brings something to the table. Especially taking into account its ability to integrate community learning features and a rich user heirarchy, it goes beyond its peers in some respects.
It was my observation for a number of years from polling the industry and serving as something of an advocate that interest in a free LMS was pretty much limited to academia. Over the past year or so, however, I have been asked more and more about this product of the 'open source community'. Not only is it being re-sold via third parties, corporate e-Learning managers are looking at installing it locally like a commercial LMS. Time will tell whether it sees long-term use, but at least for now the benefits seem to outweigh the challenges.
Like anything open source, it is no panacea. Someone who "knows things" will still need to be involved to fill the gap which is naturally filled by the LMS vendor's support people. However, this can work to your benefit, especially if you want a highly specialized system, or need to integrate into a CMS or e-commerce site. It is best to have access to someone familiar specifically with Moodle, but in a pinch a top-shelf PHP/MySQL expert will do. Keep in mind, like any LMS, it is a sophisticated system and its maintenance should not be underestimated. I have seen clients using Moodle run into issues and have nobody on their staff to turn to, so just make sure you have a good relationship with a suitable consultant.
If you're an e-Learning manager currently in the LMS discernment process, have a look at Moodle.
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