What is Moodle? How to use Moodle in College and University?

Definition of Moodle and its Features

Moodle, or Modular Object-Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment, is a learning platform designed to offer learners, educators and administrators robustness and security, as well as an integrated system that aims to develop a personalised environment for learning (Dougiamas, 2004). This learning platform is built to make learners or educators learn globally. People from all over the world trust Moodle. This is so because it helps in powering millions of learning environments worldwide. Organisations and institutions, whether small or large, such as the London School of Economics, Microsoft, Open University, Shell and the State University of New York, trust Moodle. Around 213 million, or more than that in both enterprise and academic level usage, is the reach of Moodle, making it the most used platform for learning. It is designed in a way to encourage learning as well as teaching. It also delivers a cogent set of learner-centric tools and a collaborative environment for learning, ultimately enhancing teaching and learning (Dougiamas, 2004). This platform is easy to use. This platform has a simple interconnection between them; drag-and-drop characteristics, well-documented resources and continuous usable improvements help Moodle become an easy platform for usage and learning. General Public License (GNU) offers Moodle as a free, open-source software. Individuals can extend, modify and adapt this open-source software for commercial and non-commercial reports or projects without paying any licensing charge. They can also take advantMoodle’s of the flexibility, cost-effectiveness and other b Moodle. As it is offered as open-source software, it is continually reviewing and improving the evolving requirements as requested by the users (Athaya et al., 2021). This learning platform also has the feature of a multilingual facility which assures the users that there will be no hurdle or barrier in learning if the users want to learn in different languages. The community of this learning platform translates it into over 120 languages and continues to count more which helps the users easily confine their site with a lot of support, community discussions and resources available in different languages. It offers its users one of the most adaptable and flexible tools set-ups, encouraging them to have hybrid learning and online courses (Athaya et al., 2021). It can be configured by turning its main characteristics on and off and combining everything effortlessly required for a course employing all its built-in features. As an open-source, it can be accustomed in some manner and specialised to the needs of individuals. The design and set-up of its module enable its developers to develop plugins and, thus, combine external applications to get certain functions. The learning platform of Moodle is scalable to a little number of students to hundreds of thousands of users. It encourages the requirement of large entities as well as small classes. As it is scalable and flexible, it has acclimated for usage in different contexts such as business, government, community, non-profit and education (Gamage et al., 2022). It is committed to protecting the security of data, security controls and user privacy, and for this reason, it is updated continuously and, thus, carried out in the developmental procedure of Moodle and the software is shielded in opposition of misuse, loss of data and uncertified data. It can be utilised easily on a secure server or private cloud to control it completely. As it is based on the web, it can be accessible to everyone from any place worldwide. It also provides its users with default cross-browser compatibility and mobile-default interface, making it easy to access various browsers and devices (Gamage et al., 2022). The documents, user forums and resources are available on Moodle for free and in multiple languages worldwide.

Usage of Moodle in Universities and Colleges

Digital conversion has led to a change in the life of humans in almost every aspect of activity and business. The life of humans changed a lot at the time of the epidemic, which indicated the revolutionary modifications in the practices of humans and the technology-driven world. One of the most important, as well as the largest change, came in education (Liu, 2013). The overall education system is exploring novel methods and techniques to assure the trustworthiness and quality of the users. As of today, many platforms, whether started by communities of open-source or by proprietary vendors, are developing different propositions in online education platforms. Moreover, the complexity is in figuring out the appropriate answer and the accurate combination of methodologies required to meet the needs of the entities (Liu, 2013). A serious complexity in online assessment is averting misdeeds.

Online Education in Contemporary and Non-contemporary Modes

Different online platforms offer contemporary education and learning, which is very common. However, many things could be improved in identifying it to the structured face-to-face framework concerning efficiency and quality. The problems in establishing a bond with the learners, assuring the participation of effective students and controlling activity management are the main problems. In addition, technical connectivity problems in real as well as spurious demands are some of the accustomed excuses from the students. Although, engaging students via a pedagogical concept can help simplify the barriers to the greater possible degree and will not serve as a magic bullet.
Non-contemporary mode of online education effectively makes the learning process more flexible and adaptable and takes its course of time. The efficacy of the non-contemporary mode must be assured by handling and controlling the learning process with the help of a standardised management system of learning. The course’s curriculum must be presented using an accurate pedagogical approach to make learners more self-determined and interested in absorbing.

Combined Modes

An amicable mixture of online and face-to-face methods of online education continues to be an efficient way in the present and the future of higher education in universities and colleges. The prominence of NEP 2020 enhances students’ self-determination and cross-curricular mobility at a higher level (Feng, 2018). This shows the acknowledgement of the development of flexibility and liberty in the students’ academic courses and engaging in industrial activities. The blended online education framework is a proficient model for overcoming the circumstances.

Framework of TPACK

Education in the modern period commands to incorporate the content of the subject with accurate technological as well as pedagogical advancements to boost the learning and understanding of the results of learning of the students. Thus, the course curriculum is required to be articulated as TPACK, Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge. In this framework, the space of the course curriculum consists of 3 important elements (Esnaola-Arribillaga and Bezanilla, 2020). These are –

• Knowledge of Pedagogy
• Knowledge of Technology
• Knowledge of Content

All these course curriculum space delivers support in the learning and teaching system. All three elements are interconnected, and all the interrelated spaces indicate the resource for learning to ease the learning process. The common convergence of all three elements of the framework of TPACK eases the highest efficacy in the learning space. Advancement of course curriculum into an accurate framework of TPACK will be operated as one of the prominent learning expertise for the educators or the scholars.

Perspective of Pedagogy

From the point of view of Pedagogy, a Moodle platform plays the role of a significant platform developed and customised for the learning of groups and individuals. The word, Pedagogy, details the way of teaching someone. One of the most significant things a learner can do is to explain the content in a very understandable and approachable manner to the students (Jackson, 2017). This can also be helpful if a learner requires expertise for learning. In most conditions, the strategies and the procedures of the teaching-learning atmosphere are adopted from the roots of theories of learning. The study of Social Constructivism advises that empirical operations are the results of social interchange. Therefore, collaborative as well as cooperative methods of learning come up with more to encourage productive learning among the students. Depending on social constructivism, different resources and extra-curricular activities in this online learning platform are applied efficiently to improve the active learning environment.

Activities and Resources

Activities

An activity in this online learning platform instructs a student on what he is expected to do. Usually, this function in Moodle is interesting and interactive as it has the presence of both the teachers and the students. A few activities of Moodle are discussed –

• Assignments – Assignments are given to students by their teachers. These assignments can be done online as well as offline and can be uploaded. Students get scores after the teachers grade their students by checking on the work done by them and by giving comments on their work.
• Glossary – Students develop a definition list which is used continuously in the course as a means of the resource.
• Quiz – Teachers take quizzes in online examinations where each student receives a different set of questions. These quizzes are set up so that they are evaluated automatically and provide the student with relevant comments and feedback based on their questions.
• Databases – Databases can be created by the students cooperatively by gathering relevant data and information.
• Chat – The chat feature permits students to communicate or interact with the teachers or among themselves to solve their problems instantaneously.
• Feedback – This feature can help teachers to gather feedback from the conducted survey of the students regarding the course.
• Forum – There are various kinds of forums, such as discussion forums, peer evaluation forums and research forums. Generally, these forums permit the teachers and students to have non-contemporary discussions using various thoughts.
• Lesson – This form of activity provides teachers with a flexible method so that they can introduce and explain the content before the students in an understandable manner to assess the understanding and learning of the students. Depending on the student’s responses, they may present the content using various activities or resources that will help enhance the students’ learning. H5P activity permits teachers to develop interesting content of HTML5, which is to be developed utilising the format of H5P and employed within the curriculum of the course.
• Workshop – This activity eases the reassessment process. In this activity, students are asked to submit their work, which is evaluated and reviewed by the co-student in the case of the scoring system as placed by the teacher.
• Wiki – This activity permits the members enrolled in a course to edit and develop a group of web pages specific to subjects in a cooperative Wikipedia manner.
• External Tools – LTI or Learning Tool Interoperability is the standard that permits the tools of learning of a single webpage to be utilised across different webpages. If these types of tools are accessible, then they must be utilised. If not, other tools linked with the course’s curriculum can be utilised to boost the operations of Moodle.

Resources

It is an unchanged or a piece of stable information in the course’s curriculum, utilised to present content that could be more interesting. Some different types of resources are –

• Web page – A webpage is inside the course of the Moodle. This is considered functional when the information must be viewed on only one scrollable page.
• Label – Smaller text components can be utilised to correctly organise materials or tasks on the course’s main page.
  File – This may be any folder on your system or one already submitted to the Moodle website. Files can be handy for delivering thorough course resources while keeping the course page manageable. You may encourage students to review the documents by doing other tasks contingent on them, such as passing a relevant quiz.
• Book – The book constitutes a multi-page document with major chapters and subsections designed like a book. By eliminating several connections to similar subjects, using books makes the course’s site’s homepage tidy. Ensure that material is accessed sequentially and without misunderstanding.
• Embedded Video – Videos can help keep the course fascinating. However, movies are large and might take sufficient broadband to raise the hosting fees. As a result, it is preferable to store the videos on a handy video hosting site that includes YouTube and incorporate them onto the instructional pages as needed. Without infringing the copyright conditions, videos from experts in the field or topic-related reports may also be incorporated into the course material.
• Content Package – These are repeatable e-learning resources based on technological specifications. Whenever such bundled learning content becomes accessible, it might be added to a Moodle programme. One could utilise these tools to combine and export work from one Moodle programme to another.
• Folder – Moodle folders are comparable to files in various other programmes. They serve as storage for additional documents and directories. The folder enables the organisation of similar content, allowing data to be formatted as needed and then made accessible by just one button on the course’s main page.

Activities in the form of Assessments

Assessments are contemplated as a mechanism that facilitates learning (Barge and Londhe, 2014). Giving different assessment activities to students or learners will augment the learning process. Further, in a wider sense, assessments are amalgamated into the learning process at 3 different levels. They are assessment as learning, assessment for learning and assessment of learning. This online platform gives the option to transform the activities in the form of assessments in numerous ways, ultimately boosting the learning expertise of the learners and educators.

Assessment for Learning

Assessments are considered an important master plan of learning. Benchmark assessments are provided to students through educative assessments to engage them in their learning process (Barge and Londhe, 2014). Yet another advanced alternative is peer review, which requires students to evaluate their classmates’ assignments. This might be accomplished by giving students a set of pre-determined requirements or assessment guidelines. When students use guidelines to evaluate their classmates` work, they better understand the topic and its higher-level application. This will encourage kids to pursue more advanced education. Moodle includes several tools and tasks, such as seminars and forums, that might be utilised efficiently.

Final Assessments

This relates to the cumulative evaluation, which is done through midterm and final exams. This evaluation indicates how far the students have progressed in the subject matter or to what degree the course objectives are met. Many tools in Moodle, such as quizzes, might be utilised as a method for final evaluation (Barge and Londhe, 2014).

Feedback Collection

Interim and final comments might be gathered using log reports available for downloading through Moodle. The outcomes and evaluation data from numerous activities might be transferred to various analytical applications to provide an understanding of how well the student performed. Based on this input, suitable corrective programmes and curricular enhancements might be offered. Certainly, the correct deployment of a Moodle-based Learning management system fitted with the appropriate pedagogical approach will significantly assist in creating an improved platform that will breathe new life into the education system (Barge and Londhe, 2014). A learning environment incorporating a harmonic combination of traditional and digital modes will convert the framework into an environment of intellectual experience. Moodle, a free platform based on sound pedagogical principles, will play a part in transforming the appearance of higher learning.

Conclusion

This part shows the overall summary. Moodle is a learning platform meant to provide learners, educators, and administrators with robustness and security and an integrated system that attempts to provide a customised learning environment. Nobody can expand, change, and adapt this open-source software for commercial or non-commercial reports or projects without a licencing fee. This learning platform’s community has translated it into over 120 languages and is still growing, allowing users to easily create their site with a lot of support, community conversations, and materials available in multiple languages. The architecture and set-up of its module allow its developers to create plugins and integrate additional apps to achieve certain functionality. It also offers its users default cross-browser compatibility and a mobile-default interface, making accessing different browsers and devices simple.

The education system is looking into new ways and approaches to ensure the reliability and quality of its users. Furthermore, complexity determines the proper solution and the precise combination of approaches necessary to suit the organisation’s objectives. The primary issues are building a link with the learners, ensuring effective student engagement, and managing activity management. The efficacy of the non-contemporary mode must be ensured by regulating and controlling the learning process using a standardised learning management system. An agreeable combination of continuous online and face-to-face online education techniques remains effective in the present and future of higher education in universities and colleges. Education in the present day requires incorporating topic content with precise technology and pedagogical developments to improve students’ learning and knowledge of their learning outcomes. The advancement of the course curriculum into an accurate framework of TPACK will be used as one of the significant learning competencies for educators or academics.

References

• Athaya, H., Nadir, R.D.A., Indra Sensuse, D., Kautsarina, K. and Suryono, R.R., 2021, September. Moodle Implementation for E-Learning: A Systematic Review. In 6th International Conference on Sustainable Information Engineering and Technology 2021 (pp. 106-112).
• Barge, P. and Londhe, B.R., 2014. From teaching, learning to assessment: Moodle experience at B’school in India. Procedia Economics and Finance, 11, pp.857-865.
• Dougiamas, M., 2004. Moodle. Retrieved online, 27(02), p.2004.
• Esnaola-Arribillaga, I. and Bezanilla, M.J., 2020. Levels of Moodle use to support university face-to-face teaching. IEEE Revista Iberoamericana de Tecnologias Del Aprendizaje, 15(3), pp.129-137.
• Feng, S., 2018. Applied research on college sports blended learning based on Moodle platform. Educational Sciences: Theory & Practice, 18(5).
• Gamage, S.H., Ayres, J.R. and Behrend, M.B., 2022. A systematic review of trends in using Moodle for teaching and learning. International Journal of STEM Education, 9(1), pp.1-24.
• Jackson, E.A., 2017. Impact of MOODLE platform on the pedagogy of students and staff: Cross-curricular comparison. Education and Information Technologies, 22(1), pp.177-193.
• Liu, J., 2013. E-learning in the English classroom: Investigating factors impacting on ESL (English as Second Language) college students’ acceptance and use of the Modular Object-Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment (Moodle) (Doctoral dissertation, Iowa State University).

Author Bio: Mark Edmonds is an esteemed professional at Academic Assignments, a leading provider of top-quality assignment writing services at affordable prices. With a passion for education, Mark brings extensive knowledge of utilizing Moodle in college and university settings to enhance learning experiences.