Ebook

3
Ways Open-Source
eLearning Technology
Will Benefit Your
Organization
1 3 Ways Open-Source eLearning Technology Will Benefit Your Organization

Introduction
Choosing the right eLearning software for your organization or education
institution is a big decision, one that takes into account how the technology will
solve your institutional needs. Making the case for a specific software at any
university or school is often a decision-making process that involves several
layers, stakeholders, and orchestration at the administrative and IT levels.

When exploring the market, organizations can decide between proprietary or

open-source software, and depending on where they stand in terms of available
internal resources, they will choose one or the other. There’s certainly a place in
the education space for both.

In this ebook, we’ll address the benefits of open-source technology and how Open
LMS’ SaaS eLearning platform could be the right fit for organizations looking for an
open-source software provider that can effectively scale, support, and help shape
educational programs.

As institutions further spread their wings with eLearning technology and

capabilities, open-source software can provide the right resources and support
to institutions looking to scale operations with software that’s adaptable and is
continually evolving.
2 3 Ways Open-Source eLearning Technology Will Benefit Your Organization
Why Open-Source Software for Education
The open-source technology movement is often attributed to activist and
programmer Richard Stallman1. Stallman believes that much like academic
research, there are products and ideas that can have a greater impact when
they’re free.
Open source means free, and organizations of varying sizes have taken advantage
of this important feature to advance projects across industries, including the
education space. The benefits of open-source technology can, in many cases, far
outway the advantages of proprietary products, which is why this technology is a
popular choice among educators today.
In the past 20 years, the market has seen corporations try to build proprietary
systems that are as powerful as Moodle™, arguably one of the most successful
open-source projects to date, with 303 million users worldwide2.
1. Wikipedia. ‘Richard Stallman’. Available online.
2. Moodle™. ‘Statistics’. Available Online.
At the heart of open-source technology in the eLearning space is a large, diverse,
and engaged community of coders and enthusiasts that have come together
to iterate and innovate the code since its introduction to the market. hese
communities thrive on shared challenges and pioneer best practices, improving
important aspects of the code to reflect the needs of learners today, such as
accessibility standards, usability, tools, and resources. Companies with proprietary
software can struggle to keep up with open-source innovation, due to the large
community working on open source every day.
Open-source software can be modified and redistributed without limitations—and
that’s precisely what open-source eLearning technology brings to the table. More
people around the world have had access to learning thanks to this technology,
and open-source LMS companies help enable the entire process for improved
learning experiences that are secure, reliable, and flexible. In the education sector,
institutions of all sizes and with varying resources at their disposal have been able
to offer equitable learning opportunities at a fraction of the cost. Put simply, if the
world is to continue opening the borders to education, open-source technology is
the gateway.
3 3 Ways Open-Source eLearning Technology Will Benefit Your Organization

3 Reasons Why Open-

Source Technology Makes
Sense for Higher Ed
First and foremost, the idea of open-source software is directly linked with the
philosophical underpinnings of education. Higher education institutions carry
out incredible amounts of research for the benefit of society. They publish peer-
reviewed articles, and academics and researchers build on each other’s research
over time, making these contributions their legacy.

Philosophically, free software also shares some of the same underpinnings: if you
can open up the software code and share it with others, they can build on it and
make it better. This philosophical connection between open source and educators,
of shared values and mission, is perhaps one of the strongest reasons why so many
higher education institutions and organizations opt for open-source technology. It
just makes sense at a deeply-rooted level.

At the practical level, open-source software has allowed for massive

experimentation. It’s incredibly flexible as people all over the world can create
their own plugins and tools that seamlessly integrate with the technology. Open
source means there’s now an entire ecosystem solving for multiple challenges,
one that’s available for organizations to try and adopt. Open-source platforms are
customizable and can scale over time to meet institutional needs.

Here are three major advantages of open-source technology for higher education.
4 3 Ways Open-Source eLearning Technology Will Benefit Your Organization

1) Flexibility and Seamless

Integrations
When organizations implement proprietary software packages, they quickly
find they have to change their business practices to adopt a piece of software,
instead of having the software meet their current needs and practices. A flexible
piece of open source software can be adjusted and adapted to meet the needs of
an institution without having to go through massive business process changes.

When choosing between open-source or proprietary software, it’s important for

organizations to weigh the pros and cons of having to meet the technology where
it is, rather than adapting the technology to the institution’s unique standing.

Today’s organizations operate with a number of tools and resources to run

smoothly, and in the best-case scenarios, all tools should be connected in one
place, where they’re not only easily accessible but can interact with each other.
Currently, we’re operating in a world where there are thousands of tools that are
connected to open-source software, and institutions can easily implement and
adopt the ones that best meet their needs.

Proprietary software, on the other hand, restricts access to integrations.

Organizations often discover these limitations when the need for new tools arises,
not during the acquisition process. The ability for thousands of integrations to
interact with open-source learning management systems (LMSs) removes the
constraints of proprietary software packages.
5 3 Ways Open-Source eLearning Technology Will Benefit Your Organization

2) Cost-Effectiveness
A key element of open-source technology that can’t be ignored is the cost
element associated with its adoption. Open-source technology is the most
affordable software available today. With higher education institutions often
working with tight budgets and limited resources, the cost of any new resource
will be top of mind for administrators, especially so for institutions where
there’s a lack of funding.

When choosing open-source software, there’s no cost associated with a license fee,
often one of the most expensive aspects of acquiring a new piece of software. What
organizations are in fact paying for when adopting open source is the service that’s
provided for the hosting and support that comes along with it.

Generally speaking, an open-source platform represents a lower total cost of

ownership. Importantly, this not only includes the cost being paid at a moment in
time for the service but the cost of exit. When organizations implement software,
they often know how much it costs upfront to do so, but rarely calculate how much
it will cost to leave in the future if they decide to move to a different provider.

Open-source software offers organizations complete control over their own

destiny: they can decide whether they host it themselves or whether they host it
through a third-party provider, and the cost of exit is significantly lower or non-
existent. A proprietary product usually doesn’t have a direct replacement that’s
easy to find, so you may incur migration costs to another technology. Alternatively,
when switching between open-source services, there are multiple options in
the market. You may switch between similar technologies or even to the same
platform but with a different provider. With proprietary software, there are exit
costs related to technology, project and change management, migration, and
hidden costs like training, skills development, and adoption.

Additionally, institutions of varying sizes can host as many users as needed,

without hiking up the overall cost. With proprietary software, that’s not the case.
6 3 Ways Open-Source eLearning Technology Will Benefit Your Organization

3) Enhanced User
Experience That
Continually Evolves
With so many individuals and communities experimenting with open-source
technology today, another key advantage that has emerged in recent years is the
improvement in the user experience. With open-source software, institutions
can deliver an easy and meaningful user experience that isn’t mandated by a
software company but rather has evolved within a community over time. The
flexibility of open source allows anyone to tailor the experience to the end-user.
Since the community is also made up of educators, who better than those who
actually use and interact with the technology to adjust and enhance it?

At the end of the day, instructors and students shouldn’t even be aware that the
software they’re using is open source. It should be transparent to all users, except
the administrators and coders working in the back-end. The idea is that an end-user
has a positive experience and whether it’s open-source or proprietary shouldn’t
matter. What does matter is providing an IT team with the right tools to modify and
adjust the product to deliver a great user experience that can evolve over time as
change occurs and your programs expand.

One of the most prescient benefits of open-source software is that many people can
participate in the process. It’s not tied to just the instructors or the CIOs, but it may
be a group of programmers or a group of developers that want to try something
new—open-source technology allows for open-ended and diverse contributions
over time.
7 3 Ways Open-Source eLearning Technology Will Benefit Your Organization
4 Reasons to Choose Open LMS as Your Service Provider
Since 2005, Open LMS has experienced first-hand the evolution of eLearning
at higher education institutions and the need for systems to evolve with them
over time. With the proliferation of online learning today, educators are seeking
a learning environment that can keep up with their expansion and use of
eLearning programs, offering administrators, instructors, and learners a secure
and reliable platform that works 24/7.
With over 15 years of experience serving clients, pioneers in having an open-
source LMS on the cloud, 10+ million users globally, and 1,500+ clients, Open LMS
is a highly curated, enhanced Software-as-as-Service (SaaS) platform based on
Moodle™.
Offering uninterrupted, continuous delivery is just the beginning of what Open
LMS does. IMS standard support, Caliper, LTI, LIS, and 580+ integrations are some
of the many benefits Open LMS customers receive.
With Open LMS, clients receive support and consulting services to take their
eLearning initiatives to the next level. This includes:
• Ongoing support 24/7 from seasoned EdTech professionals
• T
 raining to support educational staff take full advantage of LMS features and
capabilities
• I nstructional design capabilities to design courses that engage learners and
deliver desired results
• C
 ontent development capabilities for teams that need the additional support
preparing courses
1) Move to Open-Source SaaS and Redirect Your Resources
Where They Matter Most
Moving to an open-source SaaS-based product such as Open LMS helps education
institutions redirect resources to activities that are significantly going to improve
the teaching and learning experience. It’s been our experience that many schools
that choose to be self-hosted later discover that trying to be both a hosting
organization and a software provider takes a great deal more work than they
originally anticipated.
Take, for instance, one of the biggest higher education institutions in the United
States, which at some point had a large in-house engineering team that ran a
sophisticated version of Moodle™ on their own servers. Over time, this institution
added a large number of customizations and made the product much more
specific to its organization—to the point that it was unable to update it to the new
version of the product due to the cost involved of moving all customizations. The
cost to move to the upgraded version was simply too high. In a way, it got trapped
in its own product and discovered how complex it can be to actually run a reliable
software product.
Moving to a SaaS provider allows organizations to focus their energy on what they
do best: teaching and learning. They get to be worry-free by receiving a service
that keeps up with all the updates and security patches needed, reducing the risk
for their institution from a service delivery standpoint. It can also scale operations
on its behalf, guaranteeing the same quality service for an expanded number of
users. Additionally, it guarantees that all stakeholders such as faculty, students,
and staff have a seamless experience time and again.
8 3 Ways Open-Source eLearning Technology Will Benefit Your Organization

2) Ongoing Support From Seasoned Experts 4) Digital Content Development Services

When opting for an open-source eLearning provider like Open LMS, institutions
tap into ongoing support from seasoned professionals. Training, troubleshooting,
and learning can be shared among both organizations, guaranteeing knowledge
transfer from one team to the other. Organizations can rely on an extended partner
to solve challenges, taking advantage of knowledge gained from serving other
institutions using open-source technology and sharing best practices that will
improve the quality of service and experience over time. The support is timely and
the learnings stay with the institutional teams looking after the back-end of the
product.
An LMS by itself is empty. What powers the LMS is the quality of the content and
the faculty that are willing and trained to teach it successfully. With so many
education professionals now using online learning, Open LMS recognizes the
importance of providing support to produce digital content that effectively
engages and interacts with learners. The days of scanning materials to turn them
‘digital’ are long gone. It’s not enough—your learners expect more! So, how can
educators be empowered to deliver great eLearning content when perhaps it’s not
their forte? Open LMS’ digital content development services can help solve this
challenge.

3) Personalized Learning Designer

Over the years, education institutions have learned that providing personalized
learning experiences to students increases engagement and results, and that
technology can effectively enable this process. Among Open LMS’ unique features
is the Personalized Learning Designer (PLD), which allows instructors to automate
their courses to stay on top of student behavior and gauge the pulse of their
classes.

By allowing instructors to set a series of automation rules to deliver personalized

feedback based on student activity or performance, PLD helps improve learner
performance and satisfaction. Providing timely, personalized feedback based
on a learner’s unique activity can be automated, enabling instructor efficacy in
managing individual learning activities on otherwise manual and time-consuming
processes.
9 3 Ways Open-Source eLearning Technology Will
Benefit Your Organization

Conclusion: Open-Source Learning

Solutions Enable Organizations
to Deliver Flexible, Reliable, and About Open LMS
Scalable Learning Experiences Open LMS leverages open-source software to deliver an effective and
engaging learning experience. As the largest commercial provider of
hosting and support services for the open-source Moodle™ learning
While proprietary software can be the right solution for some organizations, open- platform, we help organizations and institutions deliver great
source learning solutions can provide the reliability and adaptability that many learning experiences without complexities. Previously a Blackboard
institutions look for today. With fewer entry and exit costs and full ownership of
their data, organizations have the flexibility to move between solutions or hosting product, Open LMS was acquired by Learning Technologies Group plc
providers without the hassle and cost that a proprietary product represents. Most (LTG) in March 2020.
importantly, they can rely on software code that’s continually being innovated
around the world, making it robust, focused on the end-user, and with the
capability of seamlessly integrating with the thousands of tools and resources
available for open source today. When choosing an open-source LMS service Learn more about Open LMS at www.openlms.net.
provider, education institutions can focus on what they do best: teaching and
learning.

To learn more about how open-source eLearning

technology can support your institutional needs
and how Open LMS can help, contact us today.

Part of Learning Technologies Group plc

openlms.net