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What is Moodle?
Moodle is the open-source course management system (CMS) currently used
by Hope College. The CMS was given the name Moodle for two reasons.
First it is Australian slang that means “to toss around an idea
in your head for a while to look at different aspects of it”. Second
Moodle is the acronym for the full name of this CMS; Modular Object Oriented
Developmental Learning Environment. On Wikipedia, a course management
system is defined as “a computer program that facilitates computerized
learning or e-learning, especially by helping teachers and learners with
course administration.” CMS’ give teachers the tools
to grant easier access for the sharing of ideas. Tools such as
the ability to upload assignments, hold discussions online, give online
quizzes and surveys, and record grades.
How is Moodle different from other Course Management Systems?
Moodle was created by a professor from Perth, Australia. Martin Dougiamas
was both a computer scientist and an educator who supported the use of
a CMS at his university. After repeated let downs by the current
CMS, Professor Dougiamas found out that engineers, not educators, had built
the current CMS. He decided that a system built from an educational
background would be far superior to one designed from an engineering background,
and began working on Moodle. When designing the core theory behind
Moodle, Professor Dougiamas decided to use Social Constructionism. This
is a revolutionary idea because most commercial CMSs are tool based, and
Moodle became learning based. Social Constructionism is based on
the idea that people learn better when they are engaged in a social process
of constructing knowledge through the act of constructing objects. Moodle’s
interface includes tools whose purpose is to make learning central. Another
thing that makes Moodle so great is the community. As of November
2005 there are over 1.6 millions users enrolled with over 7000 individual
Moodle sites in 142 countries. The global Moodle community has translated
the program into 40 other languages. It is constantly being updated
with new modules that adapt to new ways of learning.
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