BigBlueButton 3.0 introduced a plugin architecture for FOSS virtual classrooms. Educators, hobbyists, and developers can employ the new plugin API and SDK to personalize the online classroom, interoperate with other FOSS projects, experiment with new learning technologies and approaches, implement their own ideas, and share their plugins with others -- without the overhead of modifying and recompiling the core platform source code.

This lightening talk briefly introduces FOSS developers to the new BigBlueButton 3.0 API and SDK, describes some of the FOSS innovations introduced so far as BigBlueButton plugins, and invites the community to build on this work for other FOSS applications. The plugin architecture has lowered the learning and effort required to onboard new contributors, and has enabled casual experimentation and sharing by educators, hobbyists, and students who might not otherwise get involved in a FOSS project. Anyone can try out your own ideas as virtual classroom plugins. Meanwhile, it has also enabled education research on a range of topics including applications of generative AI, learning analytics, effective student engagement, and learning outcomes in online and hybrid teaching.