Abstract :
Moodle is an open source software of learning management system to enable distance learning system for individuals and organizations, especially students around the world for purpose of using Moodle utilized to create private websites to enable online courses for students and trainers to obtain objectives of learning environments. Fundamental structure within Moodle is ordered for courses such as pages and areas to provides and help teachers to introduce learning resources as lessons and other activities for teaching students, trainers and may share with other teachers. Moodle platform is used in a large number of stakeholders educators among students and teachers. Moodle platform of open source adopted as a learning management system to use and implement an idea of distance learning management system in the worldwide.
Keywords: open source, distance learning systems, private websites, learning resources, courses.
1. Introduction:
Moodle is a free platform of an open-source learning management system to provide an environment of integrated learning system for stakeholders such as students, trainers, universities and any educational institutions etc.
Moodle was developed to allow educational institutions and organizations to create online education courses and open activities training. In addition, since 2002 when Moodle appeared has been improved day by day according to meet life demands and it is known as virtual E-learning tool enables widely use in many fields of environments as training, education, and improvements in business with integrating system and secured.
Moodle is designed by PHP web server language, a database managed by MYSQL, Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle, Postare SQL, and Maria DB as well as file store upload.
Figure 1: website page of Moodle
1.1 Literature Review:
The idea of this paper concentrate on the Moodle learning management system that related to distance learning management system of open source platform. The study focuses on Previous studies to collect information such as papers, articles, and websites which were issued in a period of time from 2014 to 2018 that was written about Moodle is the best open-source platform learning for distance E-learning management system in order to understand and know the benefits and features of Moodle open source platform.
1.2 The History of Moodle Learning Management System:
Moodle was an idea of distance learning that created and grown up by Martin Dougiamas in the western of Australian desert in the 1970s. when he was young at school to build an internet based on platform learning. He continues his studying in1999 at Curtin University in Ph.D. field research in order to help educators to create online courses and shared cooperation. In continuing development in20 Aug 2002 was released the first version of Moodle platform open source of learning management system called MV1.0 by was designed by Moodle HQ company. Which has supported by different moodle partners services companies around the world for purpose of supporting developers of moodle?
Development Moodle platform is helped open source programmers to work together. In 2003 moodle.com provides host services, where more than 1,077,969 users on the website from different languages in 212countries in the world with over 50 moodle partners.
Moodle developed to be announced for moodle cloud as a free hosted in 2015 and improved other feature of user experience UX and boost feature. In 2017 moodle become more and more popular whereas more than 100,000,000 users used Moodle. In 2018 moodle is the best platform open source of learning management system in the world where people reached to 142,072,969 users use Moodle platform.
1.3 The Aim of the study:
The main objective of moodle to provide a distance of learning over the internet through platform open source learning management system tool to create environmental learning for educators, learners on an integrated and secure system to use online learning and training. Moodle is the most popular platform tool of open source software designed to provide education for administrators and students. Furthermore, to help institutions learning to make online courses and can share resources of education and categories courses among learners, students, and even instructors.
2. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY.
In this part of the study is to illustrate the main points of research in this paper about Moodle learning system that world is the best open-source platform. The study collected data in such a way that let clearly conclusions to identify what is Moodle Learning Management system. In this section follows and conducting Statistics use, Moodle Partners, Features, Examples of Platforms, Ways to use it, Advantages, Disadvantages, and Conclusion.
2.1 Statistics of using Moodle in Learning Management System:
Table 1: Moodle Statistics
Items Numbers
Registered sites 107,112
Countries 229
Courses 17,188,114
Users 145,031,293
Enrolments 670,976,707
Forum posts 311,525,403
Resources 151,353,025
Quiz questions 1,242,487,387
2.1.1 Top 10 Countries by registrations in Moodle Learning Management System:
Table 2: Top 10 from registered sites in 229 countries
Country Registrations
The United States 10,088
Spain 8,521
Brazil 5,339
Mexico 5,002
The United Kingdom 3,495
Germany 3,341
Colombia 2,976
Italy 2,911
India 2,573
France 2,389
2.1.2 Moodle used by Versions:
There is a difference in use between each version, the most popular use was 3.5 and the medium of use was 3.4 and the lowest was 2.0.
Figure 2.1.2: Moodle Versions used.
2.2 Moodle Partners services providers:
Moodle provides these services to ensure that customers get the best benefits of high-quality online environment learning for organizations and schools, usually moodle partners are represented in education technology companies which have experience of working with Moodle projects. There are 80 Partners from 40 countries certified by Moodle HQ around the world. They dedicate effort to provide services and solutions to every place and carry a badge of Moodle Partners services providers.
2.3 Most Popular Features of Moodle Learning Management System:
1- True Open Source:
Moodle is an open source platform program which utilized by learning institutions and organizations to provide teaching and training over the internet for educators and students.
Moodle has the possibility to extend services of online learning to achieve a verity kind of educations such as exams, quizzes and environment of education etc. all those things make moodle is the best open source software platform.
2- Powerful, flexible and collaborative learning:
Moodle provides many important types of communication learning between students and their teachers as messages, plugs, and chats, moodle enables an instant messaging service to communicate and share individual and as groups among teachers, learners, and students. That is easy for the teacher to send as one or group of students and allows to access resources of courses, also they can discuss on the internet.
3- Collaborative Learning:
Moodle is flexible and collaborative learners environment used to allow teachers, learners, and students to be in contact and interactive. Whereas they can use forums post which make better discussion and feedback between students and instructors. They can work together on documents utilizing Etherpad life tool and google document.
4- Accurate Grading:
Moodle provides a grading feature to evaluate the tasks and release grade marks for students and educators. As well they can check for feedback of teacher about the grades when are released in Moodle.
5- Easy Course Editing:
Moodle allows editing materials or courses as rename and moves the course to help learners to learn easily.
6- Safe and Secure:
Moodle provides high-quality security of platform learning to make courses and learning resources are secured and saved to create a secured learning environment for educators, learners, and education institutions.
2.4 Examples of Platforms for open-source Learning Management System:
1- Moodle.
Moodle is a free platform open source learning management system to allow organizations and people to benefit from online distance learning to rise efficiency learning of people community.
2- ATutor.
Is a tool of open learning management system provides verity features such as emails, notifications, backup, file storage, and analytic It is easy to use and user-friendly in the worldwide learning management system?
3- Eliademy.
This open source platform allows educators to use e-learning for free except that a few fees for special excellent version. Includes courses guide, e-learning assessment and a mobile Android application for learners with share and downloads courses.
4- Forma LMS.
This open source LMS is appropriate for training programs of companies that offer online advice and tips to benefit of open source tool also can provide learning to virtual classroom management tool and competency management support.
5- Dokeos.
It is open source e-learning provides different features of e-learning courses authoring tools which used to build fast e-learning, user interface easy to use and intuitive. Dokeos is free to use up to 5 people.
6- ILIAS.
It is an open source learning management system which is scorn 1.2 and scorn 2004 compliant used as a cooperative platform which allow teams to share resources and communicate with each other from one place. It is free for developers and e-learning for institutions.
7- Opigno.
As Opigno open source LMS on Drupal that provides to create virtual training and merge e-commerce using one tool. Also can provide ways to communicate such as messages, a chat that makes collaboration tool.
8- OpenOLAT.
Is one of the open source platforms e-learning systems which can easy to add users and groups to courses, improve contents e-learning courses and can test e-learning course on a verity of browsers to ensure if it is compatible.
2.5 Ways to use the Moodle Learning Management System:
1- Moodle used in education.
– Used in education K-10 school.
Moodle allows creating an environment of combined learning for traditional classroom over the internet for young students which makes young learners to learn basics skills of the computer such a typing, files, video and sending emails.
– With moodle can blend games into learning courses which called gamification in Moodle. It is educational games that encourage students to collaborative.
– Grading tasks in Moodle are multimedia elements into courses as video and audio which allows students to open minds to learn in different techniques of education.
– Moodle used in higher education.
Moodle in higher education allows students and teachers to share ideas and discuss their lessons after classes. And also students can accessible share resources of courses contains lectures such as videos and articles to achieve homework.
Moodle is compatible with all digital devices as tablets and smartphones which help students to communicate faster with each other.
2- Moodle used in business.
– Moodle offers onboard new hires for companies when someone has worked for different companies moodle can organize onboarding for managers and attractive for new hires.
– Moodle provides training of competency to the leaders, outcomes moodle implementing a process to determine competencies are related to a series of numbers to set a level of realization competency.
– Moodle provides safety training of workplace.
That allows seeing which training courses completed and which has not finished. And can add resources of courses as video and debate questions to complete courses training of safety and danger at any time.
– Moodle has the ability to create interactive courses online for educators. With numerous modules for learning activities that allow learners to have many tools of learning actual time and at their own time. Moodle provides tools to create e-learning programs for self strategies and mixed learning strategies.
– Moodle makes easy to teach trainers and allow access products knowledge for each team work only.
Moodle allows users to create accounts to access courses that provides easily training clients and business partners at the lower cost.
– Moodle help candidates to create moodle accounts for uploading resumes and competency estimates which assists constructor of a decision to see profiles of a candidate to check interview application.
3- Moodle used in healthcare.
Moodle provides mixed learning for training to help healthcare organizations to take courses to improve health personnel at the hospital which has an effect on the patient result.
Courses are available online simulations learning, material and in classroom teaching.
Moodle provides Communities of Practice and Communities of Expertise to allow and open minds of doctors to share health knowledge instead of reading a book or an article which take a long time to understand it, compliance training is important for doctors and nurses before starting to work at hospitals.
With moodle allows compliance training for healthcare workers as doctors and nurses can log in to compliance training and recertification.
4- Moodle is used in Profits and Non-Profits Organization
2.6 Advantages of Moodle learning management system:
There are a variety of advantages of Moodle open source platform that provides distance E-learning management system in the following steps:
1-open source platform.
Moodle is an open-source platform that developers can be accessible to the source code of moodle platform and update it in order to achieve their goals and then can publish to the public educators as a free version. It can be easy to use for teachers and trainers for profit or Non-profit organization of education. Also, teachers and students can easily create courses online to learn.
Institutions of education whereas commercial or non-commercial have rights and freedom to update and edit a version of Moodle to meet their needs demands in learning such as run programs and share them with low cost efficient.
2- Cost Effective.
Moodle is the popular platform of learning management system as it is free to use. There is no license agreement to pay for Moodle open source. People can use software of open source to add and update the source code for purpose of developing their needs in learning and share them for free.
3- Easy to Customize.
Moodle learning management system helps customers to make customization to meet the demands of a company and trade market. Moodle partners will guide them on how to organize all that things to be customized in Moodle.
4- Offline Access.
Offline means that learners can access courses and download them on their computers to be used later on as access offline to rectify some problems such as internet connection, especially in the area of developing. With Moodle easy to get a feature of access courses offline.
Moodle as any modern technology has advantages and disadvantages when transferring courses online. One of the best advantages of Moodle is that used in school as a tool for learning. In addition, Moodle can be used in business companies as a training tool to raise the efficiency of employees. That can be a benefit of the structural design of moodle to move to navigate among different parts and review courses. What is more, moodle platform allows resources to be available to students in classes. And make easy to communicate teachers and students together through messaging, chat and blogs.
2.7 Disadvantages of Moodle learning management system:
Moodle may not easy using for new students, many students think that hard to use Moodle platform for the first time and it is not fixable because they prefer to learn face to face interaction as they live with it, that Moodle does not provide it. Moreover, other disadvantages of moodle that some educators and students may be suffering from a deficiency in learning technology and knowledge of computer to adopt utilizing modern technologies for instance distance learning over the internet. Ways to communicate students with their teachers is limited in chat which do not effort more than 10 students.
Moodle platform does not allow to post all courses that students enjoy to learn and students are waiting for teachers for a long time to respond to their questions on an email that related to the platform. The main point of Disadvantages of Moodle are:
1- Moodle interface is not easy for new users.
2-There is no list available of completed courses for students and teachers.
3-There is no list available of recorded courses that student has completed.
3. Conclusion:
Moodle is the most popular free platform of the open-source learning management system to create private websites and online courses for educators, students and for private or public learning institutions to achieve cooperative learning goals to make our world better. According to Moodle is website statistics in 2018 is reached to 142,106,528 registered users around the world.
4. References:
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