WebCT vs. Moodle
Benoit has a decision to make regarding his use of a LMS in his Business Writing course. According to MIT (Panettien 2007), LMS system enhancements are organized into six categories:
- Content Management (class materials)
- Website Structure
- Homework (assignments and submissions)
- Access control
- Interaction with students (e-mail and RSS feeds)
- Ease-of-use enhancements
Having used both WebCT and Moodle, I’ll relate my experience to which program I feel is stronger in each of these 6 categories. The following responses are only my opinion and open for discussion:
Content Management and Website Structure – I’d give the edge to Moodle. The layout is easier to organize for the teacher and easier to follow along for the students. WebCT often uses frames that require the user and creator to jump back and forth from topic to topic. Although the interface appears more pleasing to the eye, the sequential nature of Moodle, I feel, is far more effective.
Homework – both systems I found were quite effective in both handing out and submitting assignments, so I would say this would be a split.
Access Control – I’d give the edge to Moodle with a caveat, I’d never used WebCT as an instructor. To access Moodle all you have to do is click “turn editing on” to begin editing and “turn student view on” to see what the content looks like. Because a teacher sees is similar to what students see, managing a course in Moodle is quite intuitive (Perkins & Pfaffman, 2006).
Interaction with students and Ease-of-use enhancements– again I found both systems to be quite effective in both the interaction and ease-of-use enhancements, so I would say this would be a split.
I would say, Benoit should go with Moodle not only because of the results mentioned above but because WebCT offered no real technical support through an ineffective Help Desk, Moodle has a variety of support located at http://moodle.org/support/. To steal their phrase “You are not alone! There are a variety of ways to get help with Moodle if you need it.”
Question to ask: What is the purpose of the LMS that he is using? Is he looking for better organization and structure to his classes or he is looking to just continues to disseminate lecture notes and readings for his face-to-face Business Writing course?
References:
- Perkins, M. & Pfaffman, J. (2006). Using a Course Management System to Improve Classroom Communication. Science Teacher, 73(7), 33-37.
- Panettieri, J. (2007). Addition by subtraction. University Business, August, 58-62. Accessed online 11 March 2009.http://www.universitybusiness.com/viewarticle.aspx?articleid=845