ATutor

Learning Management Tools


ATutor: The Future

July 31, 2017

Message from Greg Gay, ATutor Lead Developer and Community Moderator

ATutor came to life in the late 1990s, initially part of a graduate school project of mine, then shortly after becoming open source software – the idea was to make online learning accessible to everyone. At the time, it was the only elearning environment that would allow blind learners to participate at the same level as their peers. For many years, ATutor led the industry in accessibility support, and support for open learning standards. I’m happy to see today that accessibility and interoperability are fairly commonplace in elearning. And, many institutions are making these key requirements when they procure tools for delivering learning online. This has been a driving force on those in the market to support accessibility and interoperability, or be left behind.

I have been running ATutor for almost 20 years. It’s given me great insight into many aspects of learning online, the elearning industry, inclusion, not to mention open source development and community building. I’ve come from tinkering with code while studying applied psychology in my grad school years, 20 years later almost able to call myself an “engineer,” certainly a “social programmer.”

But, my interests are changing as I get closer to retiring. I have some writing, some travelling, and some teaching to do. Though I will stay involved with ATutor for the foreseeable future, I can no longer give it the attention it needs to keep it innovating.

In July 2018 I will be stepping down as the leader of ATutor. Until then I will continue maintaining ATutor and assist with community support, and I will be searching for a group or organization to take the lead.

There is now an opportunity for the right group to take over leadership of ATutor, and the open source community around it. If your organization wants to see ATutor continue to thrive, you may begin a discussion by submitting an expression of interest (EOI), no more than 2 pages, that describes your motivation, and the capacity to take on an open source community and continue work on ATutor and AContent.

Questions or an EOI can be sent to info@atutor.ca.

Greg Gay