User:Eloy Lafuente (stronk7)
"Moodle's Knight in Shining Armour"
If someone had told me a few years ago (in 2003) what I was letting myself in for in becoming involved in Moodle, then I would have kept on enjoying a peaceful and relaxed life far from all you, oh, my dear moodlers! :-P
However, I wasn't so lucky, so here I am, ready to battle as much as I can, and to help whenever my work allows me to do so.
Many subjects' apprentice (PHP, Java, XML, HTML, CSS, SQL, Unix, Mac) and no subject's expert, I declare myself categorically in favor of open source code which, thanks to the Internet big-bang and the the collaboration opportunities it has generated is, nowadays, a real alternative to proprietary software.
Related to the academic world in different ways, and with some concerns about how the technical advances were being used to support new ways of learning, I started a research (2002) about existing alternatives, with the aim of develop some tool that could assist in the learning process.
It was after much reading, searching, comparing, installing and analyzing, that I arrived to Moodle, at a very first version/prototype, with a very interesting philosophy, that changed the stagnated and traditional way of learning to pass.
And there was more, it wasn't just a theory, but also everyone in the Moodle Community was impregnated with this philosophy, this way of learning all together, in a collaborative style, leading to the construction of Moodle under some really original quidelines.
More yet, in case I had any doubts, there was a plus. It was Martin Dougiamas, the founder and lead developer of Moodle. He's the absolute exponent of Moodle philosophy (of course!). After some discussions, talking about technical and pedagogic subjects, ... about life and death, I dropped any initial idea about any new development, and chose to put my 5 cents into Moodle.
And, since then, there is not too much to said. Here I am, ready for a fight, with the same hopes than the first day (though far less time to post on the forums), truly grateful to the Moodle Community, without whom, nothing of this could have been possible.
Tons of thanks to all, moodlers! B-)
