Moodle

Course Management Systems are “software 'packages' designed to help educators create quality online courses”. So says Martin Dougiamas, the leader of the Open Source Moodle CMS project. Another perhaps more definitive label for this class of software would be Virtual Learning Environments or VLE, a term which is widely used in Europe. Because what we are interested in are ways to enhance and deepen the learning experience for students in our classes and a "learning environment" based on a medium which young people are extraordinarily comfortable with, that is the WorldWideWeb, can provide that experience in creative hands. What is required is a software system that is easily accessible to faculty & students (thus a web based application), that possesses functionality suitable for basic course management but also has the capability to host advanced pedagogical activities, and above all, that is easy to use with intuitive operations. Moodle is that software. Moodle is a course management system (CMS) - a free, Open Source software package designed using sound pedagogical principles, to help educators create effective online learning communities. You can download and use it on any computer you have handy (including webhosts), yet it can scale from a single-teacher site to a 50,000-student University. This site itself is created using Moodle, so check out the Moodle Demonstration Courses or read the latest Moodle Buzz .

Moodle is a course management system (CMS) - a software package designed to help educators easily create quality online courses. Such e-learning systems are sometimes also called Learning Management Systems (LMS) or Virtual Learning Environments (VLE)
Some general features that would interest a system administrator:

• Moodle runs without modification on Unix, Linux, Windows, Mac OS X, Netware and any other system that supports PHP (which includes almost every webhosting provider).
• Moodle is designed in a modular way, and allows a great deal of flexibility to add (and remove) functionality at many leveles.
• Moodle upgrades very easily from one version to the next - it has an internal system to upgrade it's own databases and repair itself over time.
• Moodle requires only one database (and can share it with other applications if necessary).
  
• Moodle includes comprehensive database abstraction that supports many major brands of database.
• Emphasis on strong security throughout. Forms are all checked, data validated, cookies encrypted etc
• Moodle promotes a social constructionist pedagogy (which includes collaboration, activity-based learning, critical reflection, etc)
• Moodle is suitable for 100% online classes as well as supplementing face-to-face learning
• Moodle has a simple, lightweight, efficient, compatible, low-tech browser interface
• Course listings show descriptions for every course on the server, including accessibility to guests.
• Courses can be categorised and searched - one Moodle site can support thousands of courses
• Most text entry areas (resources, forum postings, journal entries etc) can be edited using a capable, embedded WYSIWYG HTML editor.