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CMS or Course Management Systems help teachers by being an easy to use tool for putting courses online. So instead of having to do the tricky job of creating a new web site, the teachers can just convey messages and documents using a simple user interface. One such CMS that has been very popular with people is Moodle. Also it is absolutely free.
While commercial CMSs have been around for quite some time now, they have not been good enough to earn the appreciation of teachers and students who have so far used it. Many have realized that interactions are dull and awkward when done using such systems. Also, these CMS software are getting more and more expensive with time. This has made it extremely tough for institutions that want to upgrade to a new CMS.
And although there have been many free alternatives for these commercial CMSs, none are comprehensive enough to do the job to satisfaction. At last, we now have an open source system in the name of Moodle, which presents far more features than even its commercial counterparts.
Apart from being available for free use, Open source software is also free to modify and distribute. With Open source, widespread alliances are possible, which can be accessed and used even by those with scarce funds. In this way, Open source has grown to be a movement of sorts than just a simple software. Also with open source, people can directly take part in contributing to the upgrading of the software than having to wait for the next version to arrive. |
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Moodle (or Modular Object-Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment) was set up by Martin Dougiamas, and ever since the initiation its main plan has been to facilitate e-learning, online education, and the attainment of degrees online.
It is an open source learning management system offering an e-learning platform, which significantly helps various instructors to conceptualize their courses and curriculum. This has consequently helped easy communication with students online. And while Moodle offers some general features present in most e-learning tools, it also provides certain extra plug in options. Some of the common features you can get for e-learning are: database activities, blogs, chats, glossaries, support systems in multiple languages, content management and also the necessary assessment tools.
The present infrastructure services implemented by Moodle allow it to sustain a variety of options for various plug-ins like content filters, graphical themes, authentication & enrollment processes and also question patterns. Moodle is compatible with any operating system that supports PHP. Some of the compatible Operating systems where Moodle can perform without any need for alterations include Windows, Mac OS X, UNIX, NetWare and Linux.
Before you start using moodle, you should know that it should be installed on a server. And you need to set up a database to store the documents. Although this installation may require some technical acquaintance, it should be convenient for any technical support person to complete. Or, you can just ask Moodle to set up the server for a reasonable one time fee of $100. Once you get this done, the daily teacher use of Moodle is quite easy.
If you want to learn more, you can start taking part in the Moodle community. Please log on to the site http://moodle.org, register your account and explore. |
