Instructure got sold for $2B. How is that possible when Moodle is far superior, famous, huge user base, flexible, cheap? And, do you think that Instructure was sold way over the top? Does it even deserve this much? If Moodle was a publicly-traded company, do you think it will sell higher than $2B? I think so. Your thoughts pls?
Thanks from the Kitty.
So a private equity firm spent (borrowed? invested?) $2Bn on an asset (Canvas). They're not educators, a charity, or in this for "making the world a better place." They want a return on their $2Bn, one way or another. So the question is, how are they going to get that? University of Toronto, among other institutions, are switching from Blackboard to Canvas. Perhaps Canvas is similar/familiar enough to Blackboard that faculty & admins are more comfortable with switching to it? Aggressive growth would be one way to make some money back.
It seems that Moodle is the only major FOSS LMS/VLE around. The EU has its FOSS-first directive & other governments, institutions, & organisations are gradually going the FOSS route - I think it's the most sustainable route. That Moodle exists & is doing so well also means it'll have a significant (positive) effect on the other 3 non-free & open LMS/VLEs, i.e. they have to compete with Moodle's openness & community foundation.
Also, in terms of Ed. research, using Moodle makes studies easier to reproduce & build on. Having a substantial body of accessible, high-quality research on how to best do online & distance learning via Moodle has got to be attractive, especially when evidence-informed pedagogy is gaining traction around the world, e.g. https://researched.org.uk/
I think the future's looking bright for Moodle
KittyCat, where is it that you saw that Instructor got sold for $2B. All that I can find is that they are thinking about selling.
Hi Rick,
I don't share your view on this matter. I go along with the idea of, "Don't attribute malice/skull-duggery to what can be explained through ignorance/incompetence." Or better still, that their decision-making processes & considerations don't prioritise in the same ways that yours & mine do.
It may be that transitioning from HE institutions' old LMS' to Canvas is technically less problematic in terms of the courseware they already have & faculty & admins' knowledge & skills in using their old LMS. Canvas may be been designed & developed quite deliberately with this in mind in order to be more attractive to HE institutions. It could be that in their eyes, it's the right tool for the job.
Just my $0.02!
No problem, Matt.
I actually think that I understand your first paragraph. For what I described might have happened, it would have taken some smart folks to pull it off.
Yes, you portray a good scenario in your second paragraph.
Hi Visvanath & James,
One possible scenario may be that Canvas may be used as a gateway to access educational content for both students & publishers, i.e. charge for access at both ends. There's a lot of money to be made by being gatekeeper & the profit margins are higher because you don't have to actually produce anything.
Look at academic publishing in general. Elsevier make 40%+ profit margins from doing nothing more than providing an automated online repository system for published journal articles. Universities & their staff do all the work & find the money to do the actual research, write the papers, do the editorial work, do the peer-review, etc.. Then Elsevier & others charge extortionate fees to universities for access to those papers.
Imagine if they could do something similar with online educational resources? Pearson Education are already trying but running into difficulties. Maybe there's an opportunity for Instructure there?
I seriously hope I'm not giving anyone ideas