The Open University’s SocialLearn platform is still moving along. They seem to be replicating a lot of things that are available already in elgg. I am sure they had good reasons to start from scratch , but it would be interesting to talk to the development team and find out why they haven’t picked up on an existing platform, rather than re-inventing the wheel on a number of counts.
It will be interesting to see if they release the platform open source, or if it will only be a cloud service – and if the second what the eligibility for access will be.
They have a walk through video available which gives a good idea of where they are heading with the platform.
Given our interest in online communities and social learning we will certainly be watching this space …