The Guardian Online has recently published a great article about virtual learning environments (VLEs) in the UK. Author Sean Dodson cites a report from the British Educational Suppliers Association (BESA) in which Moodle is given the lead in UK secondary schools and comes in a solid third in primary schools (behind proprietary VLEs Digital Brain and My Grid for Learning).
What makes this article interesting is both the acknowledgment by BESA that Moodle usage is growing and also the subtle attempt by BESA director Ray Barker do inject a bit of FUD into his organizations report. He cites the “cost of resourcing” Moodle as a “hidden cost” that can cause schools to “end up spending much more than […] anticipated”.
This strikes me as a tad bit disingenuous as the costs of FLOSS are always known. Schools who choose FLOSS solutions always retain full control over their costs for the deployment and support of the project. Renewable license fees disappear. Upgrades are no longer mandated by the vendor.
Check out the full article here: Moodle takes lead in secondaries | E-learning | EducationGuardian.co.uk
Aaron Tyo-Dickerson 