http://www.insidehighered.com/sites/default/server_files/styles/large/public/digital_tweed_blog_header.jpgBy Kenneth C. Green. This year marks the 10th anniversary of Sakai, one of the two flavors of Open Source Learning Management Systems (LMS) used by many colleges and universities.  It was with great fanfare (and also great aspirations) that in January 2004 the Mellon Foundation announced a $2.7M grant (more like seed money venture philanthropy) to help launch Sakai, intended as a community-determined and driven alternative to the commercial LMS applications licensed by colleges and universities.    Essential to the Sakai initiative were significant cash and kind contributions from four universities: Indiana, Michigan, MIT, and Stanford. 
At the time of Sakai launch I characterized the LMS arena in higher education as “a mature market with immature products,” a combination that suggested great volatility in the marketplace. Read more...