USING AN OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE TO DESIGN AND DEVELOP AN ONLINE LEARNING MATERIAL IN EDUCATION MANAGEMENT AND LEADERSHIP NORAZAH MOHD NORDIN SHAM IBRAHIM MOHD IZHAM HAMZAH ZAMRI MAHAMOD MOHAMED AMIN EMBI Faculty of Education Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) 43600 Bangi, Selangor MALAYSIA drnmn@ukm.my sham8968@yahoo.com d-zam@ukm.my izham@ukm.my m.amin@ukm.my Abstract: This study aims to investigate the use of e-learning among future school heads in education management and leadership. The study was conducted in two phases. The first phase focused on developing an e-learning system using open source software - Moodle. This phase emphasized on the processes involved in designing and developing the e-learning prototype called E-Headship. The second phase evaluated participants‟ suitability in becoming future school leaders and managers through the use of NPQH (National Professional Qualification for Headship) programme. It was then evaluated in terms of e-learning content, knowledge, usage, skills and cognitive level. Employing an experimental post-test design, this study analyzed participants‟ respond towards the materials uploaded using the e-Headship prototype. Sixty (60) participants from Institut Aminudin Baki (IAB) - an institute for training school administrators took part in the study. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistic focusing on reporting of the results in percentile, means, standard deviation and frequency. As it compared the results of two groups, a simple T-test was also performed. The results reveal that e-Headship has succeeded in promoting teaching and learning strategies to a higher degree. It is hoped that the use of such prototype will help the education institution in designing and developing better programmes that could benefit the participants at large. Key-Words: - open source, education, leadership, management, learning management system, school administrators 1 Introduction The development in information technology has now moved from the first wave that emphasises on computer technical skills to the second wave which focuses on the application and management aspects [1]. The second wave in online learning technology emphasises more on the administration and management of information technology. In other words, online learning explains how man manages technology in their daily lives. Ready-made software and system are abundant in today‟s market but the problem remains: how are developing countries use the available software with a budget that fits their pockets? A study has found out that FLOSS (Free Libre Open Source System) is very potential in using open source system and also has contributed to the education system [4]. A research in Bhutan