Comments on: Moodle http://www.opensourcewcms.com/moodle/   Open Source Content Management System Reviews Fri, 11 Jun 2010 12:47:29 -0600 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 hourly 1 By: Rahul http://www.opensourcewcms.com/moodle/comment-page-1/#comment-63 Rahul Tue, 01 Dec 2009 20:45:32 +0000 http://www.opensourcewcms.com/?p=121#comment-63 I honestly can't see why so many people are making a fuss over moodle. It looks pretty on the outside, but when you dig a little deeper (i.e. actually start using it to run a course), it becomes obvious that it is missing many, many, features found in more fully developed course management systems. For example, the chat capability is basically a CGI program that has the web browser constantly refresh itself to update your view of the chat. As another example, you can only issue the one or two built-in surveys that come with the software - you cannot develop your own. And, last I looked, you can't attach files to forum messages!!! No concept of combining students into groups... and so on... On top of everything else, as a PHP/MySQL CGI program, Moodle is very sluggish on all but the most high-end systems. If you wade through the very active list at the moodle site, you'll find that most people are looking for help getting the thing running adequately on their systems. Overall, Moodle is not ready for prime time, although the author deserves an A+ for agressively marketing Moodle and himself. Very nice logo, and you can buy T-shirts and coffee cups! I have used Moodle for a year and a half. I started offering it to the rest of my department this fall and they love it. The author was a distance learner himself and understands what is needed and what is not. It accomodates a variety of teaching styles, levels of interactivity, and methods of evaluation. I honestly can’t see why so many people are making a fuss over moodle. It looks pretty on the outside, but when you dig a little deeper (i.e. actually start using it to run a course), it becomes obvious that it is missing many, many, features found in more fully developed course management systems.
For example, the chat capability is basically a CGI program that has the web browser constantly refresh itself to update your view of the chat. As another example, you can only issue the one or two built-in surveys that come with the software – you cannot develop your own. And, last I looked, you can’t attach files to forum messages!!! No concept of combining students into groups… and so on…
On top of everything else, as a PHP/MySQL CGI program, Moodle is very sluggish on all but the most high-end systems. If you wade through the very active list at the moodle site, you’ll find that most people are looking for help getting the thing running adequately on their systems.
Overall, Moodle is not ready for prime time, although the author deserves an A+ for agressively marketing Moodle and himself. Very nice logo, and you can buy T-shirts and coffee cups!

I have used Moodle for a year and a half. I started offering it to the rest of my department this fall and they love it. The author was a distance learner himself and understands what is needed and what is not. It accomodates a variety of teaching styles, levels of interactivity, and methods of evaluation.

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