MuLTItool Forge is a collaborative open source community developing reusable, LMS-agnostic learning tools for higher education.
As colleges and universities increasingly rely on large enterprise Learning Management Systems (LMS), many institutions face growing challenges when trying to adapt quickly to evolving teaching and learning needs. Faculty, instructional designers, and campus technology teams are experimenting with AI-enhanced learning, accessibility improvements, discipline-specific learning experiences, student engagement tools, alternative assessment models, and new digital workflows — often faster than commercial LMS vendors can respond.
Too often, institutions solve these challenges independently, building custom applications in isolation while other campuses are tackling similar problems at the same time.
MuLTItool Forge was created to change that.
The project provides a collaborative open source space where institutions, developers, and educators can openly build, refine, and share reusable learning tools designed to work across LMS platforms such as Canvas, Moodle, Blackboard, and Apereo's Sakai.
These tools are built using LTI® (Learning Tools Interoperability)1, an open standard that allows institutions to add new capabilities to their learning environments without modifying the core LMS itself. This flexibility enables campuses to experiment, innovate, and evolve more quickly while maintaining stable enterprise learning platforms.
Rather than waiting on vendor development cycles or recreating solutions campus by campus, MuLTItool Forge encourages institutions to collaborate openly on interoperable tools that can be shared and adapted across the higher education community.
The goal is not a single application or platform, but a growing ecosystem of curated, educator-focused learning tools developed collaboratively for the broader academic commons.
Because the goal is not simply to build software.
It’s to forge solutions together.
Across higher education, institutions are creating incredible teaching and learning innovations — but many remain isolated to individual campuses. MuLTItool Forge aims to create a collaborative workshop where those ideas can be refined, strengthened, improved, and shared openly across institutions.
Not a single tool.
Not a single campus.
A growing ecosystem of reusable open learning solutions.
CONTACT: multitool-forge@apereo.org
MuLTItool Forge is currently participating in the Apereo Incubation process.
The Apereo incubation process provides scaffolding and mentorship for emerging open source projects and communities during their critical formative stages. The process emphasizes sustainability, open governance, community development, and collaboration across the higher education ecosystem.
Interested in participating as a contributor, collaborating institution, or mentor? CONTACT ed@apereo.org
1LTI® is a trademark of the 1EdTech® Consortium, Inc. (1edtech.org)
