Commerical vs. Opensource Software 2.1.3

The main difference for the purposes of a synchronous learning environment is the fact that commercial software is static. Open source software can be edited and manipulated by anyone and used for any purpose. The code is available to anyone who wishes to edit or modify it. The licensing agreements are certainly different for open source since there is no proprietary use. That being said within the virtual classroom setting commercial software provides more structure, stability, and continuity than an open source software can. One upside it that commercial doesn't always mean expensive. There are several commercial software such as google hangouts that are free. As always when you are  building a learning environment, it is important to go with the software that supports the pedagogy that you use. Another point is that with both types of software you are building a social and educator presence that is what is normally missing from an online environment.