Today I officially launched the first local prototype of my AAEL-LMS (AI-Augmented Exploratory Learning – Learning Management System) for my doctoral research and textbook development project.
Setup took about 30 minutes. A little longer than expected because this desktop is older and underpowered, but that actually worked out well. Since I do not use this machine for much else, it has now become my dedicated dissertation lab and AI learning environment.
The LMS is built locally using Moodle, Apache, MariaDB, and PHP running directly from my hard drive. No cloud hosting. No monthly fees. No enterprise infrastructure. Just a fully functional private development environment designed for experimentation, instructional design, and research.
Why Moodle?
Because Moodle gives me:
A private development LMS
A dissertation sandbox
A plugin testing environment
A local educational platform
Complete control over structure and experimentation
And right now, it costs:
$0/month
For this phase of the research, that matters. Instead of spending time and money on hosting infrastructure, I can focus on:
instructional design,
analytics curriculum development,
AI-supported learning workflows,
and the AAEL framework itself.
The project is centered around:
“Real Estate Analytics with Excel, Python, and AI”
The initial workbook and LMS environment will focus on residential real estate professionals and lenders. Over time, I plan to expand the framework into a broader cross-industry book and learning ecosystem centered on AI-supported exploratory learning and analytics education.
As the study unfolds, I will continue sharing:
LMS development insights
AAEL design decisions
analytics lab concepts
AI workflow integration
and lessons learned while building a functioning educational technology
environment from the ground up.
This is where theory begins turning into infrastructure.
Robert Foreman
Doctoral Candidate, Educational Technology (DET)
Central Michigan University
Research Focus:
AI-Augmented Exploratory Learning (AAEL), AI-Supported Problem Solving, Learning Analytics, and Professional Analytics Education
Website: NhanceData.com
Email: forem1r@cmich.edu