In the last month of the year 2019, Huang et al., as cited by Adedoyin & Soykan (2020), discovered a novel corona virus in the city of Wuhan, China. Otherwise known as COVID-19, the rapid spread of this disease resulted to the World Health Organization declaring the world in a state of a pandemic (Adedoyin & Soykan, 2020). Several aspects of daily life have changed drastically since the COVID-19 pandemic, including the educational sector. Many academic institutions shifted to emergency remote online education to facilitate students’ learning in light of the health risks associated with the traditional face-to-face classroom setting (Adedoyin & Soykan, 2020). The high demand for web-based learning subsequently led to the growth in use of computer-mediated educational platforms, particularly Moodle. According to Nagi and Suesawaluk (2008), Moodle was created in 2002, and is an acronym for Modular Object-Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment. Notably, Moodle has been gaining popularity in the past decade even before the pandemic hit. In fact, Green, as cited by Dondorf et. al. (2019), states that Moodle was recorded to be the second most used learning management system in the United States’ higher education market after Blackboard.
In the view of Chourishi et. al. (2012), the fundamental nature of e-learning, particularly Moodle LMS, differs substantially from face-to-face delivery. Therefore, there is a need to conduct research regarding the sudden transition towards online education, and their implications on teaching and learning activities especially during this tumultuous climate. The present paper aims to determine the conduciveness of Moodle, as an interactive information exchange and computer-mediated learning space, to students’ learning amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, the purpose of this paper is to address the benefits and barriers of the Moodle platform in order to assess its effectiveness. Moreover, the analysis of the literature review and findings gathered from secondary sources would be useful and significant to academic institutions looking to integrate the use of Moodle in their curriculum during times of pandemic.
Literature Review
E-learning Platforms
According to Costa et. al, (2012), there are different expressions used to describe e-learning platforms, such as: Virtual Learning Environment (VLE), Learning Management System (LMS), and even Course Management System (CMS). Ultimately, these terminologies refer to the same core idea, and are often used interchangeably by many experts in the field of e-learning. For instance, according to Nagi and Suesawaluk (2008 para. 1), “all those involved in the business of eLearning call Moodle as a Learning Management System (LMS), or Virtual Learning Environment (VLE).” With that being said, the terms VLE and LMS are viewed synonymously to each other, and its interchangeable usage is a noticeable trend that can be observed in discussions concerning e-learning platforms. Thus, for the sake of clarity, Moodle will be referred to as both a VLE and LMS.
As an e-learning platform, VLEs utilize a myriad of technology’s resources in order to facilitate students’ learning. Britain and Liber (1999 p. 3) formally defines VLEs as “learning management software systems that synthesize the functionality of computer-mediated communications software.” Sanches and Hueros, as cited by Costa et al. (2012), further explains that in these systems, students can access courses’ contents in different formats (text, image, sound), as well as interact with teachers and colleagues via message boards, forums, chats, video-conference or other types of communication tools. From this, it is obvious that virtual classrooms offer similar characteristics as a traditional face-to-face classroom setting. Some may even limit VLEs’ design and purpose as simply translating traditional learning materials into digital form. However, O’Neil et al. (2013, p. 18) argue that VLEs are not just “slapping classroom content online.” Rather, the positive resources of technology are used to bring content and experience to learners (O’Neil et al., 2013).
Contrary to popular belief, e-learning and VLEs, such as Moodle, are not a new phenomenon in the educational sector. They have been accompanying academic institutions for some years now, particularly in higher education (Adedoyin & Soykan, 2020; Kopp et al., 2019; Leszczyński et al., 2018). Meaning, even before the dawn of the pandemic, VLEs have been commonly integrated in the tertiary level curriculum, and college students are more than likely familiar with e-learning.
On the other hand, it must be noted that the familiarity with VLEs and e-learning is hardly observed in secondary education students prior to the pandemic. In fact, limited knowledge even exists about how much or for which purposes K-12 students have used devices and technology up until this point. Garcia and Weiss (2020) point out the results from Bettinger and Loeb’s 2017 study on online learning. Based on said results, while students spent extensive time online prior to the pandemic, that time was heavily spent on social activities, browsing or seeking information, playing games, or accessing email (Garcia & Weiss, 2020). It is clear from this observation that information and communications technology is not being maximized to its full potential in learning by students even before the shift towards online education.
A noticeable trend in the space of VLEs is the development of Open Source Course Management Systems, an example of which is Moodle (Petrova, 2005). According to Nagi and Suesawaluk (2008), Moodle is a license free open source software platform. This entails that Moodle may be used, redistributed, or modified according to the requirement of the user completely for free (Nagi & Suesawaluk, 2008). Meaning, academic institutions and teachers may alter the default source code of Moodle to their desired specifications without paying fees to Moodle’s original creator for using their software. Subsequently, this allows educators the benefit of having full control over the features used as well as their own student and teacher data.
According to Boskin (2020), the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown caused a major recession from which global economies are only expected to recover by late 2022, and that is only if a vaccine becomes available in the market. Furthermore, the shutdown of schools, compounded by the associated public health and economic crises, poses complicated challenges to students’ learning. Thus, Moodle’s affordability helps bring VLE, LMS, and CMS technology within the reach of students and teachers with limited technical and financial resources. Especially during the economic decline brought about by the pandemic, Moodle’s license-free software platform eliminates the digital divide between privileged and the disadvantaged students due to its low cost. Its accessibility for all may also be the primary reason for its wide popularity, even before the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Moodle E-learning Platform: Barriers
Struggles with Moodle’s Pedagogical Approach
Pedagogy refers to the “interactions between teachers, students, and the learning environment and the learning tasks” (Murphy, 2008 p. 35). In layman’s terms, pedagogy simply means the method and way of how teachers teach, in theory and in practice. In the context of e-learning, VLEs do not appear to support any particular pedagogical approach (McAvinia, 2016). However, according to McAvinia (2016), the inventor of Moodle states that Moodle employs an explicitly social constructivist pedagogy. The constructivist pedagogy is classified as a learner-centered or student-centered pedagogical approach wherein knowledge is constructed by learners through an active, mental process of development, and learners are the builders and creators of meaning and knowledge (Ozola, 2012).
Some research suggests that while the student-centered approach, which encapsulates constructivism, can be very effective to students’ learning and academic performance, it is still generally difficult to measure consistently (Westbrook et al., 2013). This is because there are very few assessment tools evaluating this specific pedagogical approach, and virtually no assessment tools for constructivist-type VLEs. The said few assessment tools available are also relatively new, so not much considerable research has been done to test its reliability and consistency. One such assessment tool specifically made to measure the student-centered pedagogical approach, excluding constructivist-type VLEs, is the recently developed Measuring and Improving Student-Centered Learning (MISCL) Toolkit (Kaufman et al, 2020).
According to the research report authored by Kaufman et al. (2020), the MISCL Toolkit is easy to use and produces accurate, meaningful results. Additionally, the toolkit users or participants in this preliminary study found that the MISCL Toolkit process is understandable and useful (Kaufman et al, 2020). However, since the assessment tool is relatively new and one of the few that specifically measures student-centered learning in the market, Kaufman et al. (2020) concede that more testing in schools with a variety of different student-centered learning characteristics and experiences is needed. Based on this recommendation, using the MISCL Toolkit to test the effectiveness of Moodle VLE is also logical and necessary in order to provide conclusive evidence on how consistent the results of the MISCL Toolkit are.
Assessment and measuring tools aside, the other issue at hand is that the learner-centered approach is difficult to execute and transition to in general. According to a UNESCO-published book authored by the Global Education Monitoring Report Team (2014), it is often challenging for teachers to shift from teacher-centered pedagogy to learner-centered pedagogy. The sudden transition from the teacher-centered approach of a face-to-face classroom setting only exacerbates the difficulty in adjusting even further. This is because apart from handling the problems induced by the pandemic, both teachers and students now also need to adjust to Moodle’s learner-centered constructivist approach. Subsequently, this may have heavy implications on students’ learning. Ample support and preparation is clearly necessary in order to successfully adapt to Moodle’s student-centered pedagogical approach, which has likely not been accomplished due to the abrupt circumstances most students and teachers find themselves in during this time.
Due to the sudden transition towards emergency remote online learning, digital incompetence and unfamiliarity can be reasonably expected from students. In fact, the results from a recent study by Octaberlina and Muslimin (2020) show that most student participants from their chosen population experienced three primary barriers and difficulties with online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. One of these barriers is unfamiliarity with e-learning, particularly with the use of Moodle and Google Classroom due to little preparation (Octaberlina and Muslimin, 2020). In other words, many new student Moodle users are finding it difficult learning effectively through Moodle due to lack of adequate preparation on how to utilize it properly. Garcia and Weiss (2020) also reference a 2017 study conducted by Bettinger and Loeb, which reveals that online courses are most especially difficult for students who are least prepared. This suggests that digital unfamiliarity and incompetence due to insufficient preparation directly hinders Moodle’s effectiveness, and subsequently impairs students’ learning.
Additionally, evidence on online instruction also emphasizes that teachers need training and support for effective online teaching as well (Garcia & Weiss, 2020). Since online teaching will be clearly done through virtual means, these trainings should also include how to go about using VLEs efficiently, in order to avoid digital incompetence. In particular, this entails that VLEs, such as Moodle, may only be effective to students’ learning only if teachers have received targeted training and support for online instruction.
Furthermore, Adedoyin and Soykan (2020) reference Branch and Dousay’s 2015 study, saying that effective online learning is a product of cautious design and planning of instruction. From this, it can be said that the lack of sufficient planning and preparation only makes online learning during the pandemic ineffective to students’ learning. In fact, Adedoyin and Soykan (2020) also cite Bozkurt and Sharma, Hodges et al., and Vlachopoulus, arguing that “the absence of the cautious design and development process in the migration process gave birth to the rejection of the contemporary online education experience during this pandemic” (pp. 2-3). This quotation emphasizes that there is a need for due preparation and familiarization with the instructional design of VLEs, particularly those with no prior experience with Moodle, in order to ensure its effectiveness in students’ learning.
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