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Moodle is the learning management system (LMS) that I currently use for my e-learning course. This is and open sourced LMS and has been integrated with Mahara which is an open source electronic portfolio (E-Portfolio or digital portfolio) and social networking web application.
This system is currently in the process of replacing Blackboard at the University I attend and is a private source LMS. Blackboard is Education Queensland's LMS which provides eLearning and online communities system for students and staff. Blackboard can be used for delivering online courses or establishing online communities.
I have the advantage of currently doing an online course on each system (as not all courses have been transferred across to Moodle as of yet) and that gives me some insight into which system works better; and whether the change to the cheaper Moodle LMS is really for the better.
Please remember that this is simply from the viewpoint of a student and that I am not privvy to the University's reasoning process behind their decision.
Quite simply Moodle is better although not because it has better features. In fact some of the features are not as good and it is a place you can get lost in. However the feel of the place (yes I said 'the feel' lol!) is more conducive to learning collaboratively and that is very important as students begin to do more and more of their studies online.
Moodle has a similar layout to Facebook in that when you log in you can see who has been online most recently and what's been updated. You feel like you are part of a group and that encourages more group interactions in the form of online discussions with peers and your tutor.
Blackboard is a lot more isolated. You enter your account and are only privvy to what is on your account. I believe that it is this lack of a user friendly interface that explains the huge difference in student discussion I see on the two LMS's.
I beleive that these LMS will become more integral to both primary and highschools and I know that Blackboard is already working on making their LMS available to students simply using a mbile phone. This opens up many opportunities, could you imagine students being allowed to have their mobile in class in fact being encouraged to because through it they keep track of all their studies, homework and projects. I can!
Education Queensland- The Learning Place: Using Blackboard website
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Hi
ReplyDeleteI agree with everything you have said. The collaborative aspects of Moodle are what puts it ahead of other LMS'. Status updates are definately a necessary feature that promote feedback and deeper understanding of course content through the discussion boards. Having used both blackboard and moodle as well, I do tend to agree that the layout of moodle needs improvement. Hopefully in future updates this issue will be amended as students ability to navigate the system is critical in flexible learning environments. However, given the cost advantages of moodle compared to other private LMS', I predict CQU will make the conversion to this system as competition in the education industry becomes more intense.
Regards
Lyneale
Hi Lyneale,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comment, I agree that it doesn't require a crystal ball to see that CQU will make a full conversion to Moodle and I found a wiki that discussed improvements charted for Moodle.
Regards,
Sharon
Hi Sharon
ReplyDeleteI too am doing subjects both on Moodle and Blackboard and am finding Moodle more "socially friendly". I have problems when having to link back to the forum and there is no link(sometime this is when I get lost). I think, that as I develop my own skill in moodle, I will find it easy to navigate around.
Till next time
Donna
Hi Donna,
ReplyDeleteI agree that it will get easier as we familiarise ourselves with Moodle but it is equally important for us to try and circumvent these problems for our students. I don't want my pupils wasting the time they could be learning trying to remember where they were lol. Perhaps an explicit lesson on bookmarking might be the trick. What do you think?
Cheers,
Sharon.