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Moodle

Moodle Virtual Learning Environment

Moodle is an open-source virtual learning environment. Moodle is PHP-based and uses a database (MySQL Oracle, PostgreSQL etc.) to store data including enrolment, courses and other related data. While other VLEs were developed as subject-specific content management systems Moodle is unique in that it was developed from the start to conform to  pedagogical (art of teaching) theories.

Moodle User Interface (Slemish College, Ballymena)

Moodle offers many different forms of student assessment. Some involve the student uploading a document which is later checked by the teacher and a grade published via Moodle. There are also many different forms of auto-grading. Teachers can set quizzes which require the student to enter text, select from options and group answers. These can all be checked by the system automatically and thus provides almost instantaneous feedback to the student.

The Moodle system can accommodate many types of additional software into the system. This includes forums, wikis and additional question formats. This gives the teacher the ability to tailor the software 100% towards the students to which content is being taught. This may mean adding specialised question formats for a specific subject.

Moodle Northern Ireland / Web Design for Schools

Originally written for Final Year Project

SCORM

Shareable Content Object Reference Model, or SCORM,  is a standard method for packaging e-learning materials. It can be used to transfer materials between online learning systems such as WebCT, Blackboard and Moodle.

Usually a SCORM package consists of a ZIP archive and an XML file which contains all the information required to import and produce the content within an online learning system. The XML effectively describes the structure of the course, from the learners perspective it groups content and external documents into sections and from a file system perspective how to store the information.

SCORM can be used with many of the most popular course management systems including WebCT and Moodle.

Moodle

Moodle is an open source course management system and virtual learning environment. Moodle stands Modular Object-Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment. Moodle has been used by everyone from primary schools to the largest universities, including the UK’s Open University.

Moodle is an extremely flexible system . It doesn’t classify its content by level or subject, categorisation is left up to the website administrators. A normal install contains a number of courses, which are effectively classes or class modules. These can contain a wide range of ‘activities’ which are included in the system including assignments, chats, quizes, forum, SCORM packages amongst others.

Best of all the system doesn’t require any special hosting applications. It can run on any web server running any operating system which supports PHP and a database. For example MySQL, PostgreSQL, Oracle and MSSQL amongst others. Most importantly it can be run on Classroom 2000.

Moodle is being increasingly used by schools and collages throughout Northern Ireland, including…

• Belfast Model School for Girls (Virtual GMS)
• North West Regional College (NWRC Moodle)
• Slemish College, Ballymena (Slemish VLE)

Web Design for Schools | Moodle Northern Ireland