I was recently asked about Moodle and how to go about using it… I’m definitely not an expert in this Learning Management System but I have enjoyed messing about with it to create a course or two during my own Masters Program.
What is Moodle? “Moodle is a Course Management System (CMS), also known as a Learning Management System (LMS) or a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). It is a Free web application that educators can use to create effective online learning sites.” from https://moodle.org/
I’ve never personally come across Moodle courses in an elementary school setting. It is, however, commonly used at the secondary and post-secondary level to create online course material. Other LMS’s include: Blackboard, Desire2Learn, Joomla
Visit Moodle’s website and try out their online Sandbox – you can practice building a course using the login information provided… note that login times out after about an hour and your work is not saved. You can also take a tour of their ‘demo site’ at the fictitious Mount Orange School . At this fictitious school site, you’re even able to login as a student, teacher, parent or manager to test out features. Take a ‘video tour’ of Moodle and learn more.
Finally, there are many blogs out there where you can learn Moodle tips and tricks (including, of course, the Moodle forums which I’d recommend you join!). Visit Michael Penney’s blog for some very clear and concise tutorials.
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