Lounge

Happy Mother's Day!

When I think of the mother to Moodle, I think of more than the pioneering developers who birthed this wonderful community of educators and its shared base of code.

I think of Linus Torvalds, who for me, helped birth the open source movement. I am sure Linus is not a poor man, but he chose to give his code to all of us to use freely. Whereas others, chose to monopolize code, and amass personal fortunes of incredible sums.

I think of Helen Koval, a social studies teacher in my junior high school, who spent her free time with me, encouraging me to research and write about social issues I cared about. She is probably the main reason I became a teacher.

And of course, I remember my own mother, Doloris, who went back to school when I was thirteen, got a masters degree in education, and continued a life-long career of teaching after teaching us three kids full-time for 15 years. I am sure if moodle had existed in her time, she would have been taking her courses earlier from home instead of waiting til we kids were more grown up. Her long hours at the kitchen table grading homework made me think how education is a 24 hour vocation, much like the way moodle transforms a class into a 24 hour experience for learners.