Is the Canvas open-source LMS becoming the next dominant platform in online education? See edutechnica's graphic above. An increasing number of institutions are switching their LMS from Moodle and Sakai to Canvas LMS. Canvas has overtaken Desire2Learn in terms of number of enrollments. â…• of institutions that currently run Sakai seem to be willing to switch their LMS and have set up tests with either Canvas or Blackboard Learn. The new Unizin consortium, a potential threat to edX, is creating a new learning ecosystem that will use Canvas LMS. Through Unizin, Canvas could add Colorado State University (Blackboard), Indiana University (Sakai), Oregon State University (Blackboard), Purdue University (Blackboard), University of Florida (Sakai, with some use of Canvas), University of Michigan (Sakai) and University of Wisconsin (Desire2Learn) to its list of customers. Canvas Catalog, a recent white label storefront solution to create branded web portals, is expected to attract many more customers. "Instructure Canvas is quietly building what could become one of the dominant platforms in online education, from academic to vocational and lifelong learning," writes Edukwest.com.
However, we are still far from that. What do we need, then, to guarantee the ultimate success of Open edX? See this infographic created by ExtensionEngine.com. It highlights Stanford University's recommendations in a paper commissioned by its Office of the Vice Provost for Online Learning (we referred to this report recently at IBL Studios). Basically, the xConsortium who runs Open edX must involve the open-source community with further conviction. As developers and contributors to the Open edX community, and having worked for six universities, here at IBL we think that one of the most urgent recommendations is to set up a public bug tracking. Otherwise, there is no way to know if a bug has been identified and someone is addressing and fixing it. Another practical suggestion is to attach some documentation to the frequent –almost weekly– software updates at GitHub. Stanford advises to move to only 2-4 stable releases per year with notes, upgraded scripts, and improved packaging and clear version numbering. And that is fine too. Open edX is amazing, disruptive technology. It is worth the effort!
How does Stanford use Open edX? An engineer from this University, Sef Kloninger, has shared a snapshot of the features Stanford has built on its own Open edX's instance. So far we knew that those contributions included "real-time chat, bulk email, new installation scripts, operations tools and integration with external survey tools", according to Stanford's website. The all-new features Stanford has built on Open edX are: Shibboleth integration Chat for on-campus courses Shopping cart / Cybersource payment for paid courses Bulk email Authoring tool improvements (e.g. view this unit in Studio, check all captions) Basic analytics (metrics tab) Theming Targeted feedback Option shuffling LTI 2.0 (multiple submissions) Send anonymized user_id to external tools (e.g. Qualtrics) Time delay between problem set attempts Assist with new peer assessment system Incremental cert generation Unauthenticated, deep linking Stanford-specific checklist Beyond this description, Mr. Kloninger's talk at the University of Zurich, on June 3, focused on the process behind Stanford Open edx's instance: servers, code management and developing features. Click here to download the slides from Mr. Kloninger's talk. The Stanford Open edX platform is being developed by a team of engineers as way to support research and experimentation in interactive instructional learning. This platform is being used for residential education and MOOCs. Recently a report from Stanford University examined the use of online technology and methods for delivering education to improve course material for on-campus students, distance learners in professional education programs and lifelong learners around the world. This "Stanford Online: 2013 in Review is a key document to understand how technology is advancing teaching and learning.
Instructure, the maker of the Canvas LMS and operator of the Canvas.net MOOC platform, has launched a new service called Canvas Catalog, that allows to create edX and Coursera-style public course collections online. Canvas Catalog (pictured above) also supports customized landing pages, payment for courses, discounts and promotion codes, credentials and certificates for completion. The goal is to help Canvas LMS' customers produce, host and market their own branded distance courses. The first two organizations that will use this service are Pasco County Schools in Florida and Academic Partnership.
Even if the hype on MOOCs is decreasing, higher education institutions need to follow a strategy regarding open online courses in order to stay relevant. One possibility is to join the not-for-profit edX Consortium (or xConsortium; the creator of the Open edX software). The problem is the high price of the ticket. EdX university partners have to invest an estimated $2 to $4 million to be part of the xConsortium. Another possibility is to negotiate a fee per course. An East Cost university was asked recently to pay around $250K per course plus 70 percent of revenue earned from it.
