I would like to thank Blackboard for formalising their intents with respect to open source software in this way, and I'm very pleased that most institutions using open source will feel able to relax. However, I remain concerned that a number of bundling and integration scenarios which are permitted under our GPL license are still potentially subject to legal action from Blackboard, which introduces legal and technical complexity for many in our community. Finally, all of this is based on patents which many of us still believe to be invalid, and I expect to see this issue ultimately resolved by the patent re-examination which is now under way by the USPTO.
- Martin Dougiamas, Moodle Creator and Lead Developer 2/2/2007

Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines has selected Moodle and Remote-Learner.net as its platform and services provider for its new Corporate University, scheduled to start providing online courses for its 11,000 worldwide employees during 2007. All department area training managers within RCL and Celebrity X Cruises will collaborate on a centralized Corporate University, which will be administered through the Human Resources department. Brenda Siebenaler with the Guest Port Services area contracted with Remote-Learner for 3 days of Moodle training and consulting on starting the Corporate University in January, and will deploy their first course called Gold Anchor Standards in Q-1 '07. This course is taken by all new company employees. Welcome aboard Royal Caribbean and Celebrity X Cruises!

AirTran Airways has selected remote-Learner.net to host their new Corporate University called CrewPlace.com. According to Jamie Smith, Flight Operations Manager in Technology Development at AirTran Airways Pilot Training Center, the company will begin offering online courses to all Boeing 717 and 737 pilots first. Following initial roll-out AirTran will offer courseware for their flight attendents in the next phase. To accomodate the needs of a learning population spread out geographically and constantly on the go, Smith has created a unique authentication scheme and other features within Moodle that make remote login a simple process for first time users. According to Smith AirTran Airways management is watching the project closely and feels this is one way of demonstrating its committment to continuing employee development.  Welcome AirTran Airways!

With the begining of the 2007 school year 6-12th grade students in Minnesota and throughout the US gained a new choice in how they can complete their academic school year studies. Excel High School is now offering online fully accredited American High School curriculum, including many AP courses and GED completion studies. For adults and students in grades 9-12 Excel has made it possible to obtain a high school diploma completely from home or work. Excel High School Academic Advisors and support staff stay in close touch throughout enrollment and the school even has a no-interest tuition payment plan.
Remote-Learner created a custom student management system (Virtual School SMS) interface for the Excel Moodle installation that includes an adminstrator and teacher portal with greater reporting functions, and a parent portal that allows a parent or guardian to view what their children (only) are doing within the Moodle courses they are enrolled in. The SMS function has helped Excel and other schools meet the rigorous standards of accrediting organizations with transcripts and other reporting features required. Remote-Learner plans to release a version of the Virtual School SMS for higher education and corporate universities in Q1/'07.

We are pleased to announce that Michelle Moore has joined our consulting staff as Director of Training on July 1, 2006. Moore has been an instructional technology specialist and math teacher at the Winfield Public School District in Kansas for the past 5 years, and has played a major role in organizing Moodle conferences over the past several years. She has recently completed her master’s degree from ESU in Instructional Design and Technology.
Debren Ferris with ISTE Professional Development Services recently informed Michelle that she was selected as one of their best presenters at the 2006 conference in San Diego for her all day Moodle workshop. "Congratulations! I am pleased to share with you that out of the more than 130 workshop presenters at NECC 2006 in San Diego, you have been selected as one of our top ten percent “Best of the Best” workshop presenters. We feel this is quite an accomplishment given the fact that each year NECC attracts some of the best educational technology presenters in the country. The criteria for selection of our “Best of the Best” workshop presenters included quantitative and qualitative evaluation of numerous factors including workshop enrollments, participant evaluations, relevancy of topic, and overall audience appeal."

John Bourne, Ph.D Executive Director of The Sloan Consortium has tapped Remote-Learner.net for a complete rebuild of their website that will include integrating a stack of open source technologies in support of their mission. Sloan-C has long published resources for distance learning professionals including the Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks (JALN) and live professional development events. Sloan-C will soon be adding online courses delivered in Moodle to its member's benefits. Remote-Learner will be integrating Moodle, the popular portal program Drupal and the Alfresco document management system as supporting technologies within their web application infrastructure.