Teacher's Best Friend

Martin Dougiamas is possibly Australia’s least-known big-time tech entrepreneur.

- Alan Deans

His creation, Moodle, is the world’s second largest software learning management system (LMS), used in universities, schools and private businesses to organise lessons. It is now in every country. Since its first release in 2002, the system has been translated into 100 languages and has more than 100 million registered users. That gives it 23% of the global market. All this, and Dougiamas still owns Moodle outright.

It is astounding that he isn’t known in a country where start-ups, incubators and tech whiz-kids are lauded for their talent. Yet Factiva’s extensive database of Australian media clips reveals just four mentions during the past five years in mainstream news outlets. The last was in November 2016 when the ABC ran an item saying he was a finalist for Western Australia’s 2017 Australian of the Year award. Andrew Forrest won the gong but one senses that it’s only a matter of time before Dougiamas is known just as far and just as wide.

LMSs such as Moodle are now essential tools for educators and students in nearly every learning environment. Put simply, they streamline the way that educators develop and manage their courses. Teachers can choose from numerous teaching tools that plug into the LMS to customise their own courses and distribute a variety of material. Students tap in to keep up with in-class studies, check their schedules and complete assignments. Long gone are overhead projectors and lecture notes written in ink on the back of students’ hands.