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Learning Management Systems: Making the Most of Moodle
December 26, 2008
As an open-source, downloadable tool, Moodle widely has been used in public and higher education, but it now has grown to become a viable non-academic, online training tool. (From Training's 2009 Preview)
By Jon Aleckson
Findings released by the eLearning Guild in 2007 suggested Learning Management System (LMS) Moodle was gaining acceptance as a tool in the training industry. According to the Guild Research 360 Report on Learning Management Systems, smaller corporations identified Moodle as the preferred method for implementing special training initiatives.
The report also highlighted Moodle’s success relative to proprietary systems. The data gathered suggested that Moodle enjoys "the largest market share and the highest satisfaction" among corporate trainers. This news expanded the possibilities for the use of a tool once thought to be restricted to academic circles.
What Is Moodle?
First released in Australia in 2002, Moodle now is used in 193 countries and offered in more than 75 languages, with 45,000-plus registered sites worldwide. As an open-source, downloadable tool, it widely has been used in public and higher education and has grown to become a viable non-academic, online training tool.
Moodle is not the typical corporate LMS deployed by human resources departments on a company-wide basis. However, it has been effective in the implementation of special initiatives within organizations. Moodle's quick set-up time and ease of use make it an appropriate tool for introducing content to diverse learners in short amounts of time. It requires no technological or programming skills to use or to administrate, and its flexibility allows it to change to suit the project.
Case Study: State of Georgia
Let's consider a case study from Georgia, where state government officials partnered with the Urban Agricultural Council to educate and certify more than 13,000 people on water conservation in fewer than 90 days. They chose Moodle as the tool for this job.
North Georgia has been in Level 4, or "extreme to exceptional drought," conditions since fall 2007. Restricting the watering of urban landscapes was a measure suggested to conserve water in this region, but this jeopardized the livelihoods of thousands of employees of nursery, gardening, and landscaping businesses.
As a compromise, the Georgia Environmental Protection Division mandated the creation of a water conservation education program with registration and certification components. Water usage would be limited to those who took and passed a course facilitated in Moodle.
The Web-based course enables Georgians to enroll in a course that educates them on water conservation topics, quizzes them on that knowledge, and issues a certificate upon successful completion. Together, the course and quiz take about 30 minutes to finish.
Working on an abbreviated schedule, program developers identified the technical requirements and educational best practices necessary to create, user-test, and deploy the course in 15 days.
Course-Building in Moodle
While the instance of Moodle development outlined above focuses on certification and the tracking of learner performance, Moodle also is a course-building tool. Trainers can design courses, create learning activities, and set up learner reporting—as well as integrate Web 2.0 capabilities such as RSS feeds and blogs—in short amounts of time.
Moodle has diverse capabilities, including those in the following areas:
PowerPoint Presentations: Moodle's file-launching capabilities allow for the crisp and clean display of files authored in PowerPoint or any other presentation software.
Self-Paced Tutorials: The file management system in Moodle accommodates externally built proprietary courses containing their own objective-tracking functionality.
Web 2.0: Each learner enrolled in a Moodle course may create a customized user profile that includes a personal photo; contact, occupation, and personal information; and course enrollment. Moodle also contains built-in tools allowing for the creation of wikis, blogs, and self-contained workshops.
Basic Course-Building: In addition to social constructivist tools and file-launching capabilities, Moodle offers tools for the creation of standard course components such as lessons, quizzes, and questionnaires.
Jon Aleckson, founder and CEO of Web Courseworks, is a speaker and writer on
e-learning topics. Inspired by his post-doctorate studies, Aleckson produces projects in game-based learning, as well as innovative work with Moodle LMS. At Training 2009 Conference & Expo, he will speak on "Moodle Doodle: Building Online Courses Using the Open-Source LCMS Moodle." Attendees of this session will be able to:
• Create simple activities using Moodle course-building tools.
• Incorporate externally authored files within a Moodle course.
• Create and manage Moodle user accounts.
• Identify situations in which Moodle would be the most appropriate development tool.
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