The development, which will first appear in May of 2006 and be fully operational for February 2007 courses, will see the largest use of Moodle in the world. Moodle is a free, open source software course management system used by educators to create effective online learning communities.

Currently, Open University students use a variety of software in a network to access their course work, interact with tutors and other students, use the library, submit assignments, and handle administrative paperwork. The new development incorporating Moodle will ensure the network is much more user-friendly and uniform.

Dean Taylor, the programme manager of the OU's Virtual Learning Environment (VLE), says, 'We see the development of Moodle applications, along with involvement of the Moodle open source community, giving our students a great advantage in eLearning. Plus, the innovations added by the OU will be available to the entire Moodle community; it's a two-way creative street.'

Martin Dougiamas, Moodle community leader and lead developer, says he is very proud that the OU has chosen Moodle as the platform for its next generation of Internet-based courses. 'By joining our community, they are recognising the great value of the open source paradigm and the power of a social constructionist approach to both learning and development. At the same time, as one of the largest, oldest, and most respected practitioners of distance education in the world, they bring resources and experience that will give Moodle development a tremendous boost in the coming years,' he says.

Moodle has been evolving since 1999 and since 2001 with the current architecture. The current version is 1.5, which was released on 6 June 2005. It has been translated into 61 languages. Major improvements in accessibility and display flexibility have been developed in 1.5. As of May 2005, more than 3300 sites from 114 countries have registered their Moodle installation. The real number of currently active Moodle installations is unknown, but largest single site has reported over 6000 courses and over 30000 students.