Moodle (abbreviation for Modular Object-Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment) is a free source e-learning software platform, also known as a Learning Management System, or Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). As of October 2012[update] it had a user base of 70,793 registered and verified sites, serving 63,204,814 users in 6.7+ million courses with 1.2+ million teachers.[3]
Moodle was originally developed by Martin Dougiamas to help educators create online courses with a focus on interaction and collaborative construction of content, and is in continual evolution. The first version of Moodle was released on 20 August 2002.
The Moodle project comprises several distinct but related elements, namely
- the software.
- Moodle Pty Ltd (also known as Moodle Headquarters or the Moodle Trust, based in Perth, Western Australia), an Australian company which performs the majority of the development of the core Moodle platform.
- the Moodle Community, an open network of over one million registered users who interact through the Moodle community website to share ideas, code, information and free support. This community also includes a large number of non-core developers, with Moodle's free source license and modular design allowing any developer to create additional modules and features that has allowed Moodle to become a truly global, collaborative project in scope.
- the Moodle Partner network, which forms the commercial arm of the Moodle environment and provides the bulk of the funding to Moodle Pty Ltd through the payment of royalties.
Features
Moodle has several features considered typical of an e-learning platform, plus some original innovations (like its filtering system).[4] Moodle is very similar to a learning management system. Moodle can be used in many types of environments such as in education, training and development, and business settings.
Some typical features of Moodle are:[5]
- Assignment submission
- Discussion forum
- Files download
- Grading
- Moodle instant messages
- Online calendar
- Online news and announcement (College and course level)
- Online quiz
- Wiki
Developers can extend Moodle's modular construction by creating plugins for specific new functionality. Moodle's infrastructure supports many types of plug-ins:
- activities (including word and math games)
- resource types
- question types (multiple choice, true and false, fill in the blank, etc.)
- data field types (for the database activity)
- graphical themes
- authentication methods (can require username and password accessibility)
- enrollment methods
- content filters
Many freely available third-party Moodle plugins make use of this infrastructure.[6]
Moodle users can use PHP to write and contribute new modules. Moodle's development has been assisted by the work of open source programmers.[7] This has contributed towards its rapid development and rapid bug fixes.
By default Moodle includes the TCPDF library that allows the generation of PDF documents from pages.
Deployment
Users can install Moodle from source, but this requires more technical proficiency than other automated approaches such as installing from a Debian package, deploying a ready-to-use TurnKey Moodle appliance[8] or using the Bitnami installer.
Some free Moodle hosting providers allow educators to create Moodle-based online classes without installation or server knowledge. Some paid Moodle hosting providers provide value-added services like customization and content development.
Interoperability
Moodle runs without modification on Unix, Linux, FreeBSD, Windows, Mac OS X, NetWare and any other systems that support PHP and a database, including most webhost providers.
Data goes in a single database. Moodle version 1.6 could use MySQL or PostgreSQL. Version 1.7, released November 2006, makes full use of database abstraction so that installers can choose one from many types of database servers such as Oracle and Microsoft SQL Server.
E-learning systems can have many dimensions of interoperability. Moodle's interoperability features include:
- authentication, using LDAP, Shibboleth, or various other standard methods (e.g. IMAP)
- enrollment, using IMS Enterprise among other standard methods, or by direct interaction with an external database
- quizzes and quiz questions, allowing import/export in a number of formats: GIFT (moodle's own format), IMS QTI, XML and XHTML (NB although export works very well, import is currently not complete). Moodle provides various types of questions - Calculated, Description, Essay, Matching, Embedded Answers, Multiple Choice, Short Answer, Numerical, Random Short-Answer Matching, True/False.
- resources, using IMS Content Packaging, SCORM, AICC (CBT), LAMS
- integration with other Content Management Systems such as Drupal, Joomla or Postnuke (via third-party extensions)
- syndication, using RSS or Atom newsfeeds - external newsfeeds can be displayed in a course, and forums, blogs, and other features can be made available to others as newsfeeds.
Moodle also has import features for use with other specific systems, such as importing quizzes or entire courses from Blackboard or WebCT. However, these import tools are not perfect. At the time of writing (Feb 2010), Moodle will not import Blackboard courses, apparently due to changes in php code-releases. Some available utilities help convert Blackboard courses to a Moodle-friendly format.[9]
In March of 2012 Blackboard acquired two companies based on Moodle's software including Baltimore-based Moodlerooms Inc. and NetSpot of Adelaide, Australia. [10] Moodlerooms Inc. is located in the same building as another online education company called StraighterLine and has close relations.
Background
Origins
Martin Dougiamas, who has graduate degrees in computer science and education, wrote the first version of Moodle. Dougiamas started a Ph.D. to examine "the use of open source software to support a social constructionist epistemology of teaching and learning within Internet-based communities of reflective inquiry." Although how exactly social constructionism makes Moodle different from other eLearning platforms is difficult to show, it has been cited as an important factor by Moodle adopters.[11][12] Other Moodle adopters, such as the Open University in the UK, have pointed out that Learning Management Systems can equally be seen as "relatively pedagogy-neutral".[13]
Pedagogical approach
The stated philosophy of Moodle[14] includes a constructivist and social constructionist approach to education, emphasizing that learners (and not just teachers) can contribute to the educational experience. Using these pedagogical principles, Moodle provides a flexible environment for learning communities.[15]
Origin of the name
The acronym Moodle stands for Modular Object-Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment. (In the early years the "M" stood for "Martin's", named after Martin Dougiamas, the original developer). As well as being an acronym, the name was chosen because of the dictionary definition of Moodle[16] and to correspond to an available domain name.[17]
"Moodle" is a trademark in many countries around the world registered to Martin Dougiamas. Only Moodle Partners may legally use the trademark to advertise any Moodle-related services such as hosting, customization, training and so on.
Moodle statistics and market share
By 31 August 2011:
- Moodle had a user-base of 55,110 registered sites with 44,966,541 users in 4,763,446 courses in 214 countries and in more than 75 languages.[18]
- The site with the most users, moodle.org, has 66 courses and 1,090,234 users. Following a £5 million investment in 2005, The Open University, UK is the second-largest Moodle deployment by user-base, with 714,310 users and 6,093 courses. A comprehensive list of the top ten Moodle sites (by courses and by users) is maintained at moodle.org.[19]
Development
Moodle has continued to evolve since 1999 (since 2001 with the current architecture). Major improvements in accessibility and display flexibility were developed in 1.5. The current version can be seen at the top of the table of releases, below. It has been translated into 82 different languages.
Not having to pay license fees or to limit growth, an institution can add as many Moodle servers as needed. The Open University of the UK currently uses a Moodle installation for their 200,000 users.[20]
It is often known for individual departments of institutions to use the unlimited feature, such as the maths department of the University of York.
The development of Moodle continues as a free software project supported by a team of programmers and an international user community, drawing upon contributions posted to the online Moodle Community website that encourages debate and invites criticism. As of July 11, 2012, Moodle is developing Moodle Mobile on HTML5 and Phonegap. It is planned to be released at the end of 2012.[21]
Users can freely distribute and modify the software under the terms of the GNU General Public License version 3 or any later version.[2]
There are many vendors that host Moodle such as Remote-Learner and MoodleRooms - which was recently purchased by Blackboard. Because Moodle is an open source software, Moodle can be customized to fit academic needs for students, instructors and the Moodle administrators. Remote-Learner provides their flavor of Moodle called ELIS and MoodleRooms has their own flavor called joule.
| Branch | Released | Release notes | Last version | Date | Support |
|---|
| Moodle 2.4 | December 3, 2012 | | Moodle 2.4.1 | January 14, 2013 | Active |
| Moodle 2.3 | June 25, 2012 | | Moodle 2.3.4 | January 14, 2013 | Active |
| Moodle 2.2 | December 5, 2011 | | Moodle 2.2.7 | January 14, 2013 | Active |
| Moodle 2.1 | June 1, 2011 | | Moodle 2.1.10 | January 14, 2013 | Ended |
| Moodle 2.0 | November 24, 2010 | | Moodle 2.0.10 | July 9, 2012 | Ended |
| Moodle 1.9 | March 3, 2008 | | Moodle 1.9.19 | July 9, 2012 | Ended |
| Moodle 1.8 | March 30, 2007 | | Moodle 1.8.14 | December 3, 2010 | Ended |
| Moodle 1.7 | November 7, 2006 | | Moodle 1.7.7 | January 28, 2009 | Ended |
| Moodle 1.6 | June 20, 2006 | | Moodle 1.6.9 | January 28, 2009 | Ended |
| Moodle 1.5 | June 5, 2005 | | Moodle 1.5.4 | May 21, 2006 | Ended |
| Moodle 1.4 | August 31, 2004 | | Moodle 1.4.5 | May 7, 2005 | Ended |
| Moodle 1.3 | May 25, 2004 | | Moodle 1.3.5 | September 9, 2004 | Ended |
| Moodle 1.2 | March 20, 2004 | | Moodle 1.2.1 | March 25, 2004 | Ended |
| Moodle 1.1 | August 29, 2003 | | Moodle 1.1.1 | September 11, 2003 | Ended |
| Moodle 1.0 | August 20, 2002 | | Moodle 1.0.9 | May 30, 2003 | Ended |
Certification
Since 2006 there has been an official certification available for teachers using Moodle. Initially called the Moodle Teacher Certificate (MTC), this was renamed in 2008 to the Moodle Course Creator Certificate (MCCC). MCCC is available only through Moodle Partners, and through Central Certification Services. Discussion is ongoing regarding an official Moodle Administrators Certificate.
Moodle conferences
MoodleMoot is the name given to the meetings held by the Moodle community.[23] Such conferences take place regularly all over the world and are normally hosted by a university or other institution. They are typically supported by a Moodle Partner and some are preceded by a technical Unconference.
Moodle Conference Center[24] has announcements of Annual Meetings and open MoodleMoots.
See also
References
External links
Moodle
Other
