Media.Knet.Ca

Just as regular "bricks and mortar" schools rely on a physical place (i.e. a building) to meet the needs of educators and learners, eLearning also requires a virtual place, which usually comes in the form of a website.  

Last month, Fernando Oliveira had the privilege of showcasing some of the work that Keewaytinook Okimakanak's K-Net team has done with the Moodle eLearning platform (http://www.moodle.org/).  The presentation was called "MoodleFN: Extreme Customizations" and it featured many of the MoodleFN (http://www.moodlefn.knet.ca/) plug-ins and modules that have been produced over the last few years.

Over the last decade, the number of eLearning software programs, often referred to as Course Management Systems, has grown dramatically. Proprietary software programs, like Blackboard and WebCT, were among the first wave of programs that allowed educational institutions to create online schools with minimal start-up time and knowledge.  Rather than sell the program outright, however, most companies turned to a licensing model based on an annual or per-user billing practices. The availability of capital and technical know-how allowed these companies to quickly establish themselves as the status-quo in the eLearning industry.  Meanwhile, proponents of the "open-source" movement were slowly developing a platform called Modular Object-Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment, or Moodle.  Today Moodle is one of the most popular platforms in the world, and growing strong with close to 700,000 registered members.

The term "open-source" refers to software that is publicly "owned". Unlike proprietary software, where the source-code that constitutes the program is protected under copyright law, open-source software is usually held under a General Public Licence (GNL). Open-source software is free to use, distribute, modify and study.  Here's a short summary of GLP that was taken from the PostNuke website:

The GPL allows you to modify the code without restrictions ensuring you can customize it to fit your project requirements. You can also redistribute your work, with the understanding credit must be given to the original authors and that you must also license the new modified code as GPL. At no time are you permitted to change the license terms.

The GPL license ensures you have full access to the source code. This gives peace of mind about security since nothing is hidden in the code. It improves security since there is no need to reverse engineer the code to find potential security issues, in fact this open-ness enables world wide peer review. Lastly it makes it easy for anyone to modify or tweak the software to their own particular requirement.

Source- http://www.postnuke.com/module-Content-view-pid-6.html

Open-source initiatives allow people to create tailor-made software and virtual environments that are relevant to local needs and shared perspectives. The open-source movement challenges us to see ourselves as designers and buildings, rather than merely clients and consumers. For Aboriginal peoples, and other disenfranchised groups who are underrepresented in the big-box world of software development, this movement has special significance and opportunity.

In Canada, the Keewaytinook Okmakanak (KO) tribal council (http://www.knet.ca/) was one of the first Aboriginal organizations to jump on the open-source bandwagon. For more than a decade, K-Net has been using open-source software to create web-based resources for and with First Nation communities.   

In 2003, K-Net added the Moodle platform to its list of open-source tools. The following year, a Moodle workshop was held in Balmertown, Ontario to "identify needs, share experiences and explore options". This meeting set the stage for the MoodleFN project (http://www.moodlefn.knet.ca/), which was created to customize Moodle to help meet the eLearning needs of First Nation (FN) schools and organizations.

MoodleFN is currently being used as a platform for programs such as Keewaytinook Internet High School (http://www.kihs.knet.ca/), K-Net Meeting Place (http://www.meeting.knet.ca/), NED Supplementary Courses Program (http://www.ned.knet.ca/), the Youth ICT Employment Program, Oshki-Pimache-O-Education and Training Institute (http://www.oshki.ca/) and Masinahikana Online School (http://www.edcentre.ca/).  

We would like to send out a special invite to First Nation schools, organizations and communities who are interested in eLearning to join us as we continue to develop the MoodleFN Project. For more information about the MoodleFN Project, please visit http://www.moodlefn.knet.ca/.