Proposal to choose Moodle LMS for GlobalEd.ca
February 5, 2012
Verena Roberts
Rationale:
When choosing a Learning Management System for an educational organization, there are a wide variety of factors to be considered. GlobalEd.ca is encouraged to consider Moodle as its LMS foundation because of its cost, prevalence across the province of BC, the fact that it is a open source product and because it strives to meet the changing needs and desires of its clients. As of February 2012, Moodle offers the most LMS options for a small educational business in an ever changing world.
Evaluation Tool used for LMS Choice:
Based on the SECTIONS model by Bates and Poole (2003), and the LMS Working Group 1 from ETEC 565A, an evaluative rubric was created to compare the following LMS categories: Cost, Technology Support , Ease of Use and Reliability, Interactivities, System Parameters, Content Integration and Security. The LMS compared in the rubric were: eFront and Moodle based on the fact that they are all open source, educationally focused LMS options. Based on the rubric completed by the administration team and online teachers, the Moodle LMS had the strongest support as a result of the open- source concept, cost, attainable resources including technological support and attempts at evolving with educational trends and change.
Budget and Costs associated with Moodle:
GlobalEd.ca is a business company owned by SD73 (Kamloops/Thompson). As such, the technological services provided to the district are also provided to GlobalEd.ca. These services include technological support, some basic hardware, all Moodle upgrade, add-ons and a local server. GlobalEd.ca has no additional licensing costs or technical costs associated with using Moodle. The technology budget from SD73 is confidential, however the following information offers some possible budget estimates for Moodle implementation. Based on Remote– Learner.ca’s current website (February 5, 2012), hosting and licensing moodle ranges from $2 795.00 and ranges to $13 295.00 to own your own Moodle server for small organizations. With the inclusion of technological support for the Moodle configuration, upgrades, some basic training and support, the costs would all be above $0 which is what GlobalEd has budgeted for the use of Moodle at this point in time. More information about the cost benefits of Moodle can be found at:http://lmseval.uncc.edu/ Based on the estimates gathered online through Moodle suppliers and evaluations completed by US colleges, the numbers suggest that no other LMS can compete with Moodle in terms of the cost benefits which offer an on-site site server and technological support.
Moodle support:
While the cost is a strong reason to switch to Moodle, other local and provincial organizations are also a factor in transitioning to Moodle. SD73 is a member of OpenSchoolBC, and as a member the school district has paid for the use of Moodle as a LMS. The support that comes along with that includes access to Moodle courses from other members. SD73 has its own virtual school called, @KOOL (Kamloops Open and Online Learning) which has numerous Moodle courses as well as Moodle trained staff to help support new Moodle teachers. Although BC school districts offer a variety of LMS options, the majority tend to use moodle. The support and resources supplied from SD73 and other Open School BC members as well as the additional technological and server support from IT staff in SD73 and the international community, demonstrate that the Moodle LMS has the most support for a small educational company.
Open Source Options and the Future:
Moodle is known as the first open source LMS. Open source means that the content and configuration of the LMS is able to be changed to accommodate the users. SD73 uses the Moodle as its LMS. Moodle has proven its reliability in data management and administration for the school board office, as a communication bridge for schools that use Moodle for their websites and in the development of all distance learning programs. @KOOL has been able to work with other Moodle users to develop their own individual courses. When choosing a LMS, the organization needs to consider the organization’s growth and priorities as well as the LMS options for growth and change. The Moodle developers demonstrate genuine concern for the future of distance education and the Moodle LMS offers the opportunity to change and develop current courses and software. (Dougiamas, 2003)
Future Learning Considerations:
LMS are in constant transition. Jumping on board with one company may mean that your organization will “be behind” as new LMS systems upgrade, revamp and are developed. With cost being the single most important factor in determining the LMS for GlobalEd, a Moodle LMS server offers the most cost benefits. However, the recent trend towards mobile learning may directly influence Moodle’s overall strength as a LMS. “Mobile learning is here to stay. There doesn’t appear to be an end in sight as smartphones and tablet devices become more and more pervasive.” (Marshall, 2011) Marshall advocates for the surge of mobile learning within all LMS features of the future. However, Koole, McQuilkin and Ally (2010) created the MobiGlam study which analyzed the use of Moodle as a mobile option for graduate students with mixed results. At this point in time, there is no evidence to support the fact that a LMS needs to have mobile learning or social networking capabilities. A successful LMS needs to be able to link, connect to and offer the opportunity to create new opportunities for future trends in learning. The Moodle 2.0 App offers some direction in LMS and mobile learning.
Conclusion:
Based on the rubric evaluation and research comparing the Moodle LMS to other LMS options, Moodle is the most obvious choice for GlobalEd.ca. Moodle offers the most cost effective open source option, used by SD73 and many other Open School BC members and has the ability to meet future “add-on” potential in mobile learning and educational trends. Please consider Moodle as the LMS for GlobalEd.ca
References:
Bates, A.W. & Poole, G. (2003). A Framework for Selecting and Using Technology. Effective Teaching with Technology in Higher Education: Foundations for Success. (pp. 77-105). San Francisco: Jossey Bass Publishers.
Cato, M., (2009) Final 2009 Report and Recommendation. Retrieved from http://lmseval.uncc.edu/
Dougiamas, M. and Taylor, P.C. (2003)Moodle: UsingLearningCommunitiestoCreateanOpenSourceCourseManagementSystem. Proceedings of the EDMEDIA 2003 Conference, Honolulu, Hawaii. Retrieved from http://dougiamas.com/writing/edmedia2003/
Hart, J. (2012, February 3) TOP TOOLS: MOODLE. C4LPT. Retrieved from http://c4lpt.co.uk/top–tools/top-100-tools/top–tools–moodle/
Koole, M., McQuilkin, J., & Mohamed A. (2010) Mobile Learning in Distance Education: Utility or Futility? Journal of Distance Education. Vol. 24, No. 2, 59-82. Retrieved from http://auspace.athabascau.ca/bitstream/2149/2673/1/UMLAUT_M_MobiGlam_project.pdf
Marshall, S. (2011, October 31) Reporting & Analysis of Mobile Learning: Is It Worth It? Learning Solutions Magazine. Retrieved from http://www.learningsolutionsmag.com/articles/780/reporting—analysis–of–mobile–learning–is–it–worth–it
Melton, J. (n.d.). The LMS moodle: A Usability Evaluation. Retrieved from CiteSeerX:http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.124.7533&rep=rep1&type=pdf