Welcome to our series, Made with Moodle. Every month, we spotlight someone using the Moodle platform in creative, impactful ways. Have a story of your own? We’d love to hear it.
“Digital learning works when it’s meaningful and interactive.”
At IBM Ecuador in the late 1970s and early 1980s, Carlos Altamirano saw the personal computing revolution first-hand — from the inside. Suddenly, people all over the world began buying word processors, printers and software, and in less than five years, went from writing in paper ledgers to using programmes like Word and Excel.
Carlos found the transition fascinating and started teaching colleagues how to make the most of all the emerging technology. A short while later, he left IBM and founded Alcecal (later Xyclos Academy), a training business offering in-person Microsoft Office courses in Spanish to people in Latin America.
“For over 15 years, I trained thousands of people through live classes,” he explains. “I taught them how to use Excel, Word, PowerPoint and Outlook.”
Then, in 2008, he saw an opportunity to move into online learning. Even now, Carlos describes his discovery of Moodle LMS with genuine enthusiasm.
“Back then, the world of online education was completely new to me. I honestly didn’t know what I needed from a platform,” he says. “It took me about six months of testing, experimenting and learning to truly understand the tools available. When I found Moodle, it was love at first sight.”
Unlike other learning management systems, Moodle LMS felt easy to use, even for a beginner, and he started designing courses that were similar to those he led in person. People enrolled straight away, genuinely enjoyed themselves and gave glowing feedback.
Looking back, Carlos considers this validation a turning point — the moment he knew for sure he’d chosen the right tool to deliver digital learning in a meaningful way.
“Over the next 15 years, I developed all the courses we now offer,” he says. “These days, every course I create is built around the Moodle Lesson activity. It’s a rich, hands-on environment that really helps learners absorb and apply what they’re learning.”
Learners at Xyclos Academy span students, workers in a wide range of industries, entrepreneurs and professionals from various fields. Carlos sees this diversity as an advantage — something he’s used to make the learning experience better over time.
“That diversity shaped a key element in my courses: the language I use,” he explains. “Every lesson is designed to be simple and easy to understand, and we provide personalised support to make sure every learner can keep up and succeed.”
The results speak for themselves. Xyclos Academy has an 89 per cent course completion rate and an average satisfaction score of 9.8 out of 10 across all courses, an achievement that brings Carlos a quiet sense of satisfaction.
“My goal isn’t to overwhelm people with technical jargon, but to open the door to technology. At the end of the day, they truly appreciate that,” he smiles.
