We have developed an *opensource* platform (http://www.arsdigita.com/customers/casestudies/mit.adp) which we believe is superior (at least for us) functionally and architecturally to WebCT, Blackboard, Prometheus, etc. The platform originated as a Computer Science thesis project at MIT and the production system was developed by ArsDigita, Inc. (http://www.arsdigita.com) based on their opensource toolkit. It's more than a course management system. At Sloan, we are using it as a portal to support instruction, research, administration, and industry collaboration. The backend RDBMS is Oracle, but we are planning a port this summer so that the application can be deployed by those who wish to use an opensource stack from top to bottom. The next version release will thus support PostGRES, an opensource relational database. We continue to add functionality such as a module for event management, ecommerce support, and research dissemination. We are also starting to map out enterprise architecture elements, support for J2EE, APIs for integration with backend system. Here we will try to take advantage of work currently underway at MIT, Stanford, and others as part of the Open Knowledge Initiative.

The application will be maintained as opensource under the GNU General Public License and BSD Licenses. Our goal is to develop a robust enterprise elearning platform that is freely available and widely used. While the current version can be downloaded from the ArsDigita web site, we are working on a more accessible package with documentation. If you wish more information, please don't hesitate to contact me. We will also have a website up shortly.

Alfred H Essa
Executive Director, Information Technology
MIT :: Sloan School of Management
50 Memorial Drive, E52-007, Cambridge, MA 02142
Phone +1 617 258 6898 | Fax +1 617 253 5628
Administrative Assistant : Patricia Shaughnessy
Phone +1 617 253 6008 | Email pshaughn@mit.edu