Market for K-12 Course-Management Systems Expands
An increasing number of K-12 educators in regular classrooms are using course-management systems to share assignments, homework, classroom assessments, and other information with students and their parents. A course-management system is a software program that allows controlled exchanges via the Internet of information related to a course, although the features of individual products differ.
Moodle is perhaps the most popular rival to the course-management system sold by Blackboard Inc., the dominant company in the U.S. market for e-learning tools in higher education. The for-profit Washington-based company is trying to expand its foothold in what Blackboard officials call the emerging K-12 market. Blackboard, which in 2006 bought its main for-profit competitor in higher education, WebCT, says that 400 precollegiate schools or school districts use the full or partial version of its academic product.
The company says it welcomes open-source competitors like Moodle, because interest among schools will help expand the use of course-management systems—a market that company officials believe they will dominate. Blackboard is now launching an enhanced version for small schools and districts, for an annual flat fee starting at $10,000, including online hosting and training of personnel. That rate is substantially lower than what larger institutions pay. Still, cost remains a formidable obstacle in many school districts, and that’s one reason why Moodle is creating a buzz in the school marketplace.
The software is free, with a modular design that allows educators to start using a few tools, while working gradually to add more. Yet while Moodle is free, it is not without cost. Those costs include computers, networks, and personnel to install and maintain the hardware and software, as well as the cost of training teachers, though some or all of these requirements can be outsourced to outside providers.
— Teachers of Color
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