Open Source/Open Courseware Movement

Thinking ahead to your career, how do you anticipate being involved in the open source/open courseware movement?

My magic 8-ball does not always work reliably, but it does indicate that "it depends". I definitely support the open source movement and take advantage every day of the industrious, collaborative efforts developers have exerted to provide useful productivity tools. I am a certified Java programmer and try to think open source first. It isn't always practical, however, if you're an independent contractor. You have to measure the utility, maintenance and compatibility of a product and sometimes open source is not the answer.


As far as the educational arena is concerned, I am very interested in learning more about open source LMSs. I plan to learn more about Moodle and am interested in how it can be customized, optimized to create a more collaborative, interactive experience.

Regarding open courseware, I have not yet had the opportunity to teach professionally so I relate more to the student-side of this issue. I applaud the efforts of institutions like MIT that provide access to their instructional assets. I know it must be a bit of a pulling experience for some professors who work hard to create their content, but I know from my IT experience that it is so rewarding when you create something that is used and is useful. It's seems like that may make it easier then to make it available to a wider audience.