Moodle

Moodle, which stands for Modular Object-Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment, is an online learning management system that is popular in schools, universities, and for workplace training. It is a free, open source resource that is used to create private websites, which must be accessed by logging in. 

History 

Moodle was developed by Martin Dougiamas, inspired by his experience of the online learning platform WebCT. He trialled his own version in 1999, registering the name "Moodle" as a trademark. The first site to be considered part of Moodle was introduced in 2001; and by 2002, it was being translated into different languages, and new themes were being developed. 

The number of sites and users grew rapidly, and has now reached over 100 million registered users, although some of these are likely to be inactive if they have left the school which registered them, and not been removed from the database. 

Who uses Moodle?

Schools and universities around the world are the largest users of Moodle, although it is also a popular choice for workplace training. Moodle's most recognisable users are the London School of Economics, the Open University, Microsoft and Shell. It is the most widely used computer-based learning platform in the world. 

Pros and Cons

Moodle is free to use under the GNU General Public License, and cost would be a big consideration for many schools operating on tight budgets. It is also open source, which means it can be customised in many different ways in order to best fit the needs of the users, and has already been translated into over 120 different languages, a number that continues to rise. Unfortunately, as the majority of people uploading content into Moodle are teachers and lecturers, they are unlikely to have the computer skills necessary for customising the software, which means that the best outcomes may not be achieved. Customer support is also limited, with it mostly being provided via online forums. 

However, when choosing a learning management system, Moodle can be used on any server that operates PHP. It can now even be accessed on mobile devices as long as there is an internet connection, meaning that students can learn, regardless of where they are.