Hey everyone!
I'm writing this now from our very successful MoodleMoot Global 23 now happening in Barcelona where 700 of us Moodlers are having the best conference ever!
I'm really happy to share some news about an evolution of my role at Moodle!
As you all know (and can see in this Moodle forum if you go back through old posts!) that I’ve led Moodle as CEO for the past 24 years since I founded it in 1999.
I’m incredibly proud of what the Moodle project has managed to achieve so far, from my early experiments at Curtin University, through the journey of growth towards 260 of us at Moodle HQ working together with over 100 partners and a community of tens of thousands of people worldwide helping hundreds of millions of learners daily. I think it's clear that as an open source platform, Moodle has been a major player in bringing the world of education online and making learning accessible to everyone, regardless of their location or financial situation.
Throughout the last two decades, I’ve stayed passionate about research, innovation and experimentation, even while I had to learn how to run and manage our Moodle HQ company at the centre of the project to provide sustainability and management of the project. I feel Moodle HQ is mature enough now to allow me to focus my attention more fully in this area, concentrating on how the world of online learning technology can evolve. Freely available generative AI, robots and new devices are bringing a technology and education revolution that will disrupt these fields as much as the Internet itself did, if not more.
And so, I'm announcing that I'll soon be personally moving to a new role as Head of Research at Moodle, with my own research team, reporting directly to the Board (I'm also still Chairman of that board of course). This will allow me to focus on research and investigation of new open source education technologies helping to support the Moodle roadmap in the long term.
This is not sudden, and I've been preparing for this for over a year, making sure that everything will be smooth.
We have already started our search for a new CEO to take over the management of Moodle HQ's operations. The new CEO will of course be selected based on their alignment with our values and commitment to Moodle’s mission, as well as their commercial, strategic, and people leadership capabilities.
Nothing will change for the Moodle community. Everyone at Moodle HQ remains committed to Moodle LMS as an open source platform and our certification as a B Corp recognises our ongoing dedication to using business as a force for good. It’s incredibly important to me and the Board that we take the time to find the right person for the job, so it's likely to be some time before we announce an appointment. We hope to have a new CEO in place in early 2024.
If you have questions, please reach out to me directly, or for further information about the role, please contact people@moodle.com.
I am very much looking forward to this new situation and to helping propel Moodle through this period of change in a different way that is actually much closer to where my heart lies and how and why I started Moodle in the first place all those years ago.
Thanks all and cheers! 😀🧡
Martin