Think twice before settling for a Learning Management system that is open source and free to download at the click of a button. When we see the word open-source, we assume that we are scoring a free LMS that we can use and customise with various Plug-Ins, but nothing in life is free, and even software freely available comes at a price. An Open source LMS is not a no-compromise no-worries alternative to non-free-source systems. There is a reason why one thing is free and another is not.



Let me start by saying that I have played through demonstrations of Moodle and ATutor and find both systems easy and frustration-free to use. There is no doubt that these systems are well designed and offer great features. However, the concern here is not with what we see in the demonstration, but that which hides behind the term “free-source”.

Reliability of a Free LMS

Why should we question an open-source system’s reliability? Because open-source systems are not a part of the idealistic revolution to provide the world with free software (as many believe), it is a marketing tool. Open source software is often used as a by-product to the thing that a company is actually trying to sell to you. It serves as value added content to help pursuade prospective clients into buying. It is also a means by which to capture the contact details of persepctive clients to build email marketing databases from. The point is that there aren’t large budgets, time and thought invested in the development of free software, or atleast not the same time, energy or budget that is invested in a program selling for R 100 000.

You Need IT Support from a Systems Developer

On an online wiki forum of persons discussing the pros and cons of using Moodle the following concern is raised:

It requires IT Experts on initial stage and for maintenance as well. A common user or non-IT person will find it impossible to handle and maintain. It requires setting up an IT Department that again requires financial resources which equals the cost of a product with technical support. Hence, being freely available does not seem to be a strong benefit - Moodle Pros & Cons.

With open-source, you still need help with installation, integration and configuration (Open Source Technology, 2008). You would still need to customise the LMS to your spesific needs, which become problematic when you are not given “a-phone-call-away” type of support.

Open source LMSs are often not complaint with various Web browsers which means that formatting will seem distorted on different browsers. This too takes development in terms of making the system compatible to a specific browser, or even compatible with multiple browsers simultaneously.

Worst Case Scenario

In recognition and appreciation to the eLearning revolution and those in support of making education available to everyone, everywhere, anytime via eLearning through learning management systems, it is understandable that an open-source freely downloadable LMS will do if budget is limited. You however still need to ask yourself if it is worth the risk.

You might want to use the free LMS for your own pupils, what happens when they have a test the next day and the video lecture that they are suppose to view for the specific test is simply not playing, or the sound is missing? Online forums and YouTube tutorials will not be able to assist you with this problem, or atleast not soon enough to fix it before the test the next day. Worst case scenario, in a futile attempt to resolve this problem yourself, as a lay person, you could compromise your data and delete the entire video by accident.

When You Have No Choice But to Go With Open-Source

If you have a limited budget and need to go for an open-source LMS, spend the budget that you have on hiring the services of a web development digital agency. Trust me, you will need such support for installations, support, fixing bugs, checking for updates, further developing the system and customising its features to suite your authoring needs as well as the needs of the students or employees enrolled in your course.

When There’s No Room to Mess Around

If you are a teacher or lecturer deciding to offer a course to students at a fee, and offering a diploma or degree, or, if you run a large corporation and the growth and development of employees within your company is dependant on integrated eLearning programs, or, when you offer your loyal customers with eLearning training modules to educate them on your products or services...then, there is absolutely no room to mess around with open-source LMS sytems, as real risk is just too prominent a player in such circumstances.

Sound Idea Digital specialises in Learning Management Systems and eLearning developments | soundidealearningmanagement.co.za
Carla van Straten is a Writer for Sound Idea Digital | Carla@soundidea.co.za