Big Blue Button

One of the open source projects to come out of Carleton University is Big Blue Button (BBB), a WebEx-like solution for long distance learning or any other application, such as tele-conferencing, which requires remote users to interact and collaborate. Unlike some "open source" solutions such as DimDim (which doesn't provide all of its src or all of its features in the open source version), all of the src and APIs for BBB is open, fairly well documented, and has attracted a very active community of developers and translators.

Last week I attended Big Blue Button day and was very impressed at how far the quality of the software had progressed. Developers from China, France, and Louisiana attended the celebration using BBB and were able to interact with the attendees. Some movies of the event, showing the software demonstration, are available here.

If you're a student looking for a Google Summer of Code project, Big Blue Button has its project ideas here. Note that applications for Summer of Code end on April 9th.