Press Release
August 2, 2005
Using Moodle: Using the Popular Open Source Course Management System
In recent years, Course Management Systems (CMSs) have
matured to the point that they're now considered critical software for
many colleges and universities. At a basic level, a CMS gives educators
the tools to create a course web site and provide access control so only
enrolled students can view it. Beyond access control, a CMS typically
offers a wide variety of tools to make a course more effective: an easy
way to upload and share materials, hold online discussions and chats, give
quizzes and surveys, gather and review assignments, and record grades. In
other words, it's a suite of tools that enhance teaching by taking
advantage of the Internet without replacing the need for the teacher.
Moodle is the open source CMS used by more than two thousand educational
organizations around the world. In Using Moodle (O'Reilly Community
Press, US $39.95), author Jason Cole takes a hands-on approach to
explaining how the system works, offering plenty of examples and best
practices for its many features and plug-in modules. Available for free on
the Web, Moodle can scale from a single-teacher
site to a 40,000-student university. Its tool set and features are
comparable to those of the leading commercial packages, and the system has
the added benefit of being built on a sound education philosophy with a
huge, active community that supports and develops it.
The name "Moodle" is both an acronym (Modular Object Oriented Development
Learning Environment) and a verb (to let the mind or body wander and do
something creative but without particular purpose). Martin Dougiamas, a
computer scientist and educator who spends time supporting a CMS at a
university in Perth, Australia, created Moodle. Increasingly frustrated
with the existing system, Dougiamas learned that engineers, not educators,
had designed it. He surmised that a system built by someone who started
with the educational process, rather than an engineering process, would be
infinitely better than what he had to work with, and so he began to
develop Moodle.
Using Moodle is written for instructors learning how to use Moodle. The
book is more than just a how-to manual; each chapter includes suggestions,
case studies, and best practices for using Moodle effectively. The book
also exposes little-known but powerful hacks for the more technically
savvy users. "I've spent a lot of time working with teachers to
incorporate technology into their classes. I've seen what works, what
doesn't, and some of the pitfalls to avoid," says Cole. "I'm really an
education geek. I love living at the intersection of technology and
learning."
According to Cole, you can use Moodle to teach a course fully online or to
supplement a course taught in a traditional setting. "We've run classes
for thousands of years without the use of computers and the web," he
notes. "Chalk and talk is still the predominant method of delivering
instruction. While traditional, face-to-face meetings can still be
effective, applying Moodle's tools opens up new possibilities for learning
that just weren't possible a few years ago." For example, instructors can
use the online environment for content delivery and save course time for
discussion, questions, and problem solving. Or, students who are reluctant
to speak up in class owing to shyness, uncertainty, or language issues can
take their time to compose questions and answers in an online discussion.
"It doesn't matter if you teach at a primary school, at a secondary
school, in higher education, or in a corporate setting, the tools and
features available in Moodle can be used to create an effective class,"
Cole says.
Using Moodle is part of the O'Reilly Community Press series, which spurs
the development of interesting technologies by making online documentation
available in print. Key players in technical communities create and edit
the content of O'Reilly Community Press titles, and O'Reilly manufactures
and distributes the books. Each book reflects the knowledge and voice of
the community that has created it.
Additional Resources:
Using Moodle
Jason Cole
ISBN: 0-596-00863-5, 219 pages, $39.95 US, $55.95 CA
order@oreilly.com
1-800-998-9938; 1-707-827-7000
About O'Reilly
O'Reilly Media spreads the knowledge of innovators through its books, online services, magazines, and conferences. Since 1978, O'Reilly Media has been a chronicler and catalyst of cutting-edge development, homing in on the technology trends that really matter and spurring their adoption by amplifying "faint signals" from the alpha geeks who are creating the future. An active participant in the technology community, the company has a long history of advocacy, meme-making, and evangelism.
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