The International Technology, Education and Development (INTED) Conference

This paper examines the key features and limitations of leading open-source Course Management Systems (CMS), with respect to developing course content to support mobile and nomadic devices, such as PDAs, tablet PCs, smartphones, and convergent media devices. The use of open-source software (OSS) for developing online course content is on the rise among education institutions world-wide. Many of the open-source course management systems, including Moodle, Sakai, and .LRN rival commercial packages in terms of features and user base. With the growing interest in mobile and nomadic learning, many of these systems are incorporating modules and add-on functionality for learning in context, to foster collaboration and education within authentic, real world environments. Best practices and insight into the capabilities, as well as inherent limitations of, utilizing OSS CMS packages for mobile and nomadic course content are discussed.