Comparison Shopping: Evaluating Open Source Wikis and VLEs

by Randy Metcalfe on 20 March 2007

Introduction

wikis and VLEs

  • A wiki is a website that allows visitors to add, remove, edit, and change its content.
  • A Virtual Learning Environment is any organised online system that supports learning in a directed fashion.

are there open source options?

open source wikis

  • Mediawiki
  • MoinMoin
  • Kwiki
  • TikiWiki
  • PHPWiki
  • and at least 50 others
super resource
WikiMatrix http://www.wikimatrix.org/

are there open source options?

open source VLEs

  • Moodle
  • Bodington
  • Claroline
  • ATutor
  • Sakai

open source challenges

  • tendering may inadvertently exclude open source solutions
  • division between project and support businesses (in some cases)
  • few open source projects have marketing staff with a budget who can come visit you

Open source solutions challenge institutions to fully engage with their open source communities.

initial criteria

Task:

In pairs, choose either wikis or VLEs and identify 5 criteria that you would use in your procurement process

assessing criteria

what groupings do the criteria fall into?

Here are some possible groupings…

  • functionality - what do you actually need the system to do?
  • technical skill set - what skills will your IT staff need in order to deploy and maintain the new system?
  • migration - getting current data (if any) in to the new system
  • training - all new systems will require training of staff
  • exit strategy - getting your data out of the system

evaluation frameworks

An evaluation framework provides a neutral standpoint from which to make comparisons.

Two frameworks that are currently widely used:

  • Open Business Readiness Rating
  • Open Source Maturity Model

Open Business Readiness Rating

The BRR assessment has four phases:

  • quick assessment filter
  • target usage assessment
  • data collection and processing
  • data translation

Open Source Maturity Model

The OSMM also has four phases:

  • shortlisting
  • assigning weighting factors
  • scoring each item
  • multiplying initial score by weighting

deciding for yourself

In the end you have to decide for yourself

No one will be able to tell you what to choose; and no one will be able to tell you you’ve made the right choice.

And the success or failure of your decision and its implementation may have nothing to do with the criteria you used in your procurement process

further resources