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[school-discuss] Re: [IIEP] reply to Bonnie and Anil re: VoIP-LCMS integration
Hi,
Thank you Tony for brining the discussion back to the original context.
Tony Bailetti kirjoitti 17.10.2005 kello 23:29:
Teemu, thanks for the reply. Agree with what you say, however,
Bonnie was
asking her question in a much different context. Why would the
University
of Manitoba, or any other institution in their situation, migrate
from WebCT
to Moodle/Skype so the university could add VoIP capability? This
is the
context of Bonnie's question.
Well, my answer to the original question is that to have VoIP
capability and/or audio-video IP conference inside Open Source LCMS
(such as Moodle) is more sustainable and probably cheaper than having
it inside LCMS (such as WebCT).
The OpenAPIs to proprietary LCMS is just another form of Manorialism
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manorialism) promoted by the big
software industry. The more you invest your time and money to develop
add-on in your proprietary LCMS (integrations, teacher training etc.)
more tight your relationship with the software provider will be. It's
a classical Lord-Peasant relationship.
Your example is not one of VoIP-LCMS integration. What you describe
is an
open source LCMS using a loose external interface to access a
proprietary
piece of software. Enabling what you describe is not a technically
difficult
task. Cant see folks at U of Manitoba worrying about this issue.
You are right, my example is very simple, but so is the example of
"integration" of Wimba to WebCT/Blacboard (http://
www.horizonwimba.com/products/integration.php). Both are easy to
implement - in theory and in practice - to Open Source LCMS.
So, finally, I am just proposing that U Manitoba should seriously
consider if they want to be a free or a peasant of the WebCT/
Blacboard Lord. :-) The VoIP capability is not a problem in either
cases.
Best regards,
- Teemu
-----------------------------------------------
Teemu Leinonen
http://www.uiah.fi/~tleinone/
+358 50 351 6796
Media Lab
http://mlab.uiah.fi
University of Art and Design Helsinki
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