Familiar with Moodle? Yes, you heard me right…sounds like Doodle. The name hardly represents the complexity of this new open-source course management system. However, Moodle was originally an acronym for Modular Object-Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment, which, yes, does sound complex. But don’t get me wrong, it’s not too complex for the K-12 teacher. The fabulous thing about this FREE software (yes, that is probably one of the most fabulous things) is that it can be scaled to a 50,000-student University or a single teacher in a small rural school. Many colleges have adopted Moodle and many K-12 teachers have started to implement Moodle in their classrooms.
Not only is this software useful for development of online classes, but consider blending this online approach with your regular classroom environment. Essentially, your students can take their classroom home. Learning doesn’t have to be confined to the walls of your school. Some of Moodle’s features include forums, quizzes, glossaries, resources, choices, surveys, assignments, real-time chats, and workshops. Whatever you choose to leave on your Moodle site will be accessible to your students not only at school, but also at home.
I have included a link here to a wonderful interview with Michelle Moore about Moodle. This is a great interview to listen to, especially if you really aren’t sure what Moodle is or what you can do with it.
Also, here are some example Moodle sites that have been created by teachers of different levels. Check them out and see what you can do!
September 21, 2006 at 10:45 pm |
I have heard of a lot of colleges and universities that are switching over to this system! I was wondering exactly what it was..
November 4, 2008 at 12:27 pm |
I tried your links above and they do not work. They say the page could not be found. Do you have updated links?
November 4, 2008 at 12:51 pm |
Tammy,
This blog is no longer updated, as we have started using a What’s New page on our website instead. I apologize for the links not working…they were at least good in September of 2006 when I made that blog post!
Since they are gone, it makes me wonder if those people gave Moodle the boot? I don’t know…Two years in the tech world is a long time, and I haven’t stayed current with Moodle so I don’t know how people’s opinions of it have changed.
I’m sure that searching in Google for “example Moodle sites” will get you something. Sorry I couldn’t be more help!