We live in a constantly changing society, and during the last months, we have witnessed many of these changes, which happened without prior notice. What we knew as normal has changed its meaning. Therefore, we must learn to adapt and be resilient; however, this adaptation process should not be hard or complicated.
Many professors and teachers around the world, as well as educational institutions, had to adapt overnight to a virtual class methodology, meaning overtime work for everyone involved. They laid hands on their vocation and dedication, in addition to the Information and Communication Technology (ICT). This increased the demand for information technology services and systems, mainly those related to remote learning and/or work.
Academic institutions have used computer platforms such as Moodle, Canvas, Sakai, edX, Blackboard, among others, and have seen an increase in the services required to manage the different virtual tools or to install or hire new ones. In this context, and in response to the need of continuing with the learning process, whether remotely or virtually, Krestomatio develops its first product. This is how the idea of moodle-operator, a free virtual software operator, comes to facilitate the management and life cycle of a platform for a virtual learning mode. The Krestomatio operator also allows the integration of a learning platform with other collaboration and communication tools such as Zoom, Teams, and others.
The word Krestomatio comes from the Greek, meaning “desire or love to learn”, and this is the reason why we decided to call our company that way. The primary objective is to offer an innovative, efficient, and cost-competitive solution for educational institutions or independent users to manage and operate their own virtual classroom platform.
The idea started long before the pandemic, its creator, Cloud and Arquitect Engineer Job Céspedes Ortiz, has worked for the University of Costa Rica for several years and has specialized on the design, deployment and management of virtual learning platforms in that institution. His professional experience has allowed him to know first-hand the urgent need for educational institutions to have a tool that simplifies or focuses their work on teaching, while engineers and other technical staff take care of the rest. In line with that vision, Krestomatio offers a product and services that ease the management and life cycle of a platform for remote learning, enabling institutions to focus more on their substantive activity.