The Open Source Portfolio Initiative releases 1.0 .

Earlier this year, the university of Minnesota realised that its well regarded and mature e-portfolio system would have a much better chance of reaching its full potential by open sourcing it, and getting others involved. The first fruits of that decision are now available for demo and download. Next stop: OKI and IMS “compliance”…

Well, well, well. I’m gong to have to look at this. Minnesota offers a free electronic portfolio to all its residents and students, something that Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (my employer, the other public higher education system in the state) is heavily involved with. However, I’m disappointed by how difficult it can be to use, and must confess to being uneasy with relying on a single vendor and their closed system. So I’m intrigued by the University of Minnesota’s portfolio and especially the Open Source Portfolio Initiative‘s work. Very exciting stuff.

Quick side note. The U has been getting involved in open source in more than one area. In the mid- to late nineties, they introduced a portal that they’d developed in-house (in Java). Now I see they’re using Metadot, an open source mod_perl portal server. I wonder what prompted the move.

Tangential note to self: play with OpenCms.