All "open architecture" means is that it uses common programming languages which are available and separate to the architecture on which they run. In other words it could be using something as easy as HTML and Java to create a synthetic display for the student with inputs from the instructor. In the past, propriatory languages/interfaces/architecture wedded computer systems to a single supplier. Since about 2000, the computer world has moved away from single source suppliers towads the "open architecture" world.