Introduction to Moodle
A quick what it is, might be, can be and isn't
What is Moodle?
Well it's not a type of cross-bred dog
Moodle is an Open Source (that means free to use) Course Management System (CMS). Also known as a Learning Management System (LMS) or a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) or e-learning platform (sorry no TLA). It has become very popular around the world and is growing in New Zealand as a tool for creating online dynamic websites for use by educators to organise courses and content for students. Moodle on Wikipedia
How popular is Moodle?
Available in 61 languages (including Te Reo Maori), at May 2009 Moodle was being used in 211 countries by 1,890,198 teachers to organise 3,004,330 courses to 21,879,549 enrolled students. So it's very popular.
OK, tell me a little more
Moodle was born from a PhD by Martin Dougiamas from Curtin University, Australia. The word Moodle is an acronym for Modular Object-Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment. Since 2005 New Zealand educators and IT staff have been early adopters of Moodle, using it to create online courses with opportunities for rich student interaction.
That's enough, where can I try Moodle?
OK. Go for it. Here's a Moodle demonstration site for you to play with so you can explore example courses which demonstrate some of the features.
