 Imagine the year is 2042. Welcome to the Moodleverse. This is an augmented reality learning environment driven by Web 3.0 technologies, including next generation software and human wearable hardware, Moodle Glass. This enables learners to immerse with augmented reality learning experiences via wearable technology. Of course, Moodle Glass is preloaded with next generation Moodle software. Moodle Watch enables educators to make informed decisions and interact with their learners in a timely manner. Quantum Leaps in artificial intelligence and machine learning further assist educators to improve the quality of education. All of this, the Moodleverse AR wearables that's supported by Open EdTech. That's OET infrastructure. It's a global platform for educators, learners and organizations. Best of all, it's 100% free and open source. So we're in the year 2042. How many Moodle users do you think we have worldwide? Shout something out if you like. 50 million. How many? 50 million. 50 million. Will there be that many people? I reckon at least, look, I think two billion. We can do better than that. So do you believe it's possible? United Nations has these 17 sustainable goals, SDGs, to transform our world. When I recently spoke with Martin do Yamas, Moodle founder and CEO, he told me that SDG number four is especially important. That's quality education because if we don't achieve it, well, we can't achieve the other 16 goals. Well, guess what? In the year 2042, in partnership with UNESCO, Moodle achieves Sustainable Development goal number four, quality education, by successfully delivering a free global citizenship program. So the program includes topics such as sustainable development, human rights, gender equality, cultural diversity, peace and nonviolence. How good is that? But how did all this start? Do you know or would you like to know the Moodle story? I'll take that as a yes. Let's start from the beginning. So it's the 1970s. A clever young boy by the name of Martin, he grows up in remote Western Australia. Australia's a vast continent. And in Martin's case, the nearest school is hundreds of kilometers away. The internet? Well, that doesn't exist. So Martin attends what's known as School of the Air. It's essentially schooling delivered via shortwave radio. And it gives him a very early insight into the possibilities for remote learning. I think it's fair to say, out of remoteness comes greatness. Let's fast forward to the 1990s. Martin's completed a computer science degree. He's working at a university as an internet consultant, encouraging academics to teach online using the World Wide Web. Next, he commences a master's degree, completes that, and then later a PhD. And it's around this time he begins prototyping Moodle as part of his research paper. 2001 sees Martin make the first ever forum post-use in the Moodle software. What an incredible moment. In the following year, 2002, he releases the first version of Moodle as an open source software to the world. And in a short space of time, Moodle is being downloaded, distributed. It's being discussed in forum, translated into languages other than English, customised, themed. In the same year, he sets up Tracker. This is a bug tracking system. In his own words, so you can see what I'm working on. By 2004, the first Moodle muts are being held in the United Kingdom and in Germany. Martin registers the word Moodle as a trademark and the first companies apply to become Moodle partners. On a lighter note, this is 2005. The Moodle establishes itself as the official Moodle beverage. Where was that? Does anyone know? I think one person knows. Moodle, Moodle, Spain. There we go, so we might see the Moodle this evening at the Moodle party. In 2007, Moodle docs launches. This is our, of course, our online help documentation site. And in the first of many accolades to follow, Martin accepts the Google O'Reilly Open Source Award in the Education Enabler category, of course, on behalf of Moodle. A little side note here. This is 2009. The School of Air, remember that Martin attended in the 1970s and now calls itself the School of Distance and Education. It is implementing a pilot program using Moodle and the pilot's so successful that they mandate the use of Moodle for all classes across the school. This is Moodle version 2.0 in 2010. So new features include repositories, portfolios, course completion, tracking, conditional activities and cohorts. So 2010, who wants to hazard a guess? How many Moodle users do we have worldwide at this point? Hundreds of thousands, pretty close. About a million of us at this point in time. 2011 sees the release of the first version of the Moodle app. That's three screenshots side by side there, incidentally. The app's really available from the Google and the Apple stores. 2013 sees the launch of Moodle, the Learn Moodle MOOC. That's a massive, open online course for educators who are new to Moodle. 2015, this is Moodle Cloud. It's launched as a low-cost, managed hosting service offered from our friends at Moodle HQ. And in the same year, this is Moodle LMS version 3, and there's a big focus on user interface and usability improvements. And the mobile app, this is version 2, looking beautiful for tablet and mobile. Oh, I almost gave it away. If you blinked, you missed it. 2016, how many Moodle users? There's 100 million of us at this point in time. And every country in the world has registered Moodle sites. Imagine that. So, you know, the Moodle project, it's gathering momentum. It's a force to be reckoned with as a global project for humanity, a force for good. In the same year, the Moodle users association establishes itself. In case you don't know, the MUA is a not-for-profit organization where membership fees help fund new development projects in Moodle Core. Moodle introduces a new theme. What's it called? Boost, yes. Modern, clean, web-responsive. And we're looking there at the mobile app in version 3, now supporting the majority of standard features. Still in 2016, this is the launch of the branded Moodle app. So, as the name suggests, the BMA, it's a commercial service where an organization can have its branding applied to the standard app. Very clever. And a big announcement from Moodle. 2017 is their investment partnership with our friends at Education for the Many. Their mission is to invest in entrepreneurs, such as Martin, who are transforming the world through education and learning solutions such as Moodle. And in the same year, he opens Moodle's European office here in Bartholona. This is us, 2019, at our first ever global Moodle. Same city. Where's Martin? There he is, right in the middle. And then, in early 2020, COVID arrives. And the world changes forever. United Nations says that COVID is the defining health crisis of our time and the greatest challenge we've faced since World War II. If you're an educator, I don't need to tell you, but there's been a massive disruption of education. According to Harvard Business Review, more than 1.6 billion students have been impacted. And that represents around 90% of students worldwide. World Bank and Stanford University, they go further. They estimate total loss learning. This is in OECD, the G20 nations, to be around 27 trillion US dollars. Schools and universities, they close their doors. Educators and learners attend classes online. As far as the workplace is concerned, well, staff are told to stay at home, work and learn remotely. Look, to Martin's credit, during the COVID period, Moodle doubles down on its mission to ensure quality education. And that empowers our community, right? Because we don't see COVID as a challenge, we see it as an opportunity. So if you're an educator, COVID's an opportunity for you to rethink education. Let me give you a few examples. Moodle launches the Moodle Educator Certification. So MEC is Moodle's latest curriculum to learn to teach online. Educators have the opportunity to demonstrate competence using the Moodle software. And yes, that's my name on the certificate. Very proud to say I'm a Moodle Certified Educator. Moodle Academy launches. And that's our global community's learning hub. So whether you're an educator, a developer, or an administrator, this is where you come to learn more about the Moodle software. And during this period as well, Moodle workplace launches. Think of this, you know, with many staff working remotely from home, spending less time in the office, workplace quickly establishes itself as a go-to learning solution for staff induction, compliance, and job-specific training. Very clever, very timely. A big announcement from Moodle is their acquisition of three US-based partner companies. And for the very first time, customers are able to access services directly from the Moodle business itself. And after a review of its environmental and social impact, Moodle certifies as a big corporation. What does that mean? Well, it means that Moodle is committed to using business as a force for good. And you know what? That is tremendous news for the future of global education. It means we're in really safe hands. Now, so here we are in the year 2022. How many Moodles do we have at this point in time? There's about 330 million of us in counting, using Moodle in more than 150 languages, being serviced by a global network of about 100 partners. So how things have changed, evolved, and improved for the better. You may be aware that Moodle LMS version 4.0 has been released this year. With a reimagined user interface and user experience, easier for learners to focus on learning, easier for educators to design more impactful learning experiences. MoodleNet, well, that's been relaunched and reincarnated. It's a platform for educators, in case you don't know, to find, share, and curate open educational resources, or OERs, to meet the needs of their learners and courses. Moodle currently lists around 2,000 third-party contributor plugins in its directory. Good news for us, because it's easy to add new features, functions, and appearances to our Moodle sites. And this year, Moodle celebrates 20 years since its first software release. So I think on behalf of everybody, you know, I'd like to wish Moodle a happy 20th birthday. Congratulations, cause for celebration. It's a key milestone. And who knows what the next 20 years will bring. This is how it stands, statistically speaking. All right, we've got 330 million users, 244 countries, about 700 million forum posts, 7 billion quiz questions. It's remarkable. There is so much good stuff going on. And the ecosystem. Well, Moodle LMS, the open source solution, of course, that's front and center. We've got associated products, don't we? Like Moodle Workplace, the app, Moodle Net, services delivered via partners, the cloud, and the academy. And this is all backed and driven, as we know, by a massive community of users. So that's us, really, there were a microcosm of it. Educators, learners, developers, administrators, partners, managers, designers, researchers. There's a lot of us doing wonderful things. So Moodle started as One Man's Vision, Martin, he planted the seed, and we as a community helped this thing grow. The Moodle project highlights the great potential of humanity. When we cooperate and collaborate, we can achieve extraordinary things. So on the journey to 2042, how can you further contribute to the Moodle project? Find ways to get more actively involved in the community. So for example, that may mean if you are new to Moodle, or you're not doing this already, visiting Moodle.org, registering. Go to the forum, post a question, or better still, if you know Moodle, post an answer to help others. If you're doing that, consider joining the Moodle Users Association. Beyond that, quality assurance testing. And if you're an educator, invest the time to attain the Moodle Educator Certification. And if you're a developer, contribute a plug-in back to the Moodle project. That is the challenge. Thank you for listening. Moodle, empowering educators to improve our world.