The Moodle LMS / VLE is the world’s top open source learning platform in terms of user base. Having started as a learning platform for the education sector, its use has spread to all industries. It is now a popular training tool for the corporate sector and is developed to be a powerful learning management system (LMS).
Moodle is the most widely used learning platform in the world. There are now over 83,000 registered Moodle installations serving 120 languages, and there are 100 million users of this learning management system across the globe. Not bad for a product that was only created in 2001!
As an open source LMS / VLE, there are no licence fees to pay and anyone with the right skills can work on and improve its functionality.
The term Moodle stands for “Modular Object-Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment” and was developed by Australian Martin Dougiamas to help education professionals create interactive, collaborative online courses.
Originally seen as a tool for the educational environment, this leading elearning software has become increasingly popular for online business training as well, due to the flexibility of the LMS, the zero cost to download and implement (for those with the necessary technical skills), and its constant evolution to meet the ever-changing needs to its users.
Like many of the leading open source software products, Moodle is constantly being enhanced and supported by an enthusiastic and talented community of developers across the world, which develops new plug-ins and functionalities on a regular basis.
In education, a customised Moodle VLE (virtual learning environment) has a number of advantages:
- It saves teachers time in creating and assessing class work
- It reduces costs as there are no licensing fees
- It facilitates pupil, staff and parent engagement by allowing access to learning resources 24 hours a day, and both asynchronous and real time communication, depending on permission levels.
More and more enterprises, public sector organisations and not-for-profits are also using Moodle due to the cost saving benefits, its flexibility to differing and changing training needs, and the every growing list of functionalities to meet modern learning expectations and security requirements.
There is also the fact that there is no vendor lock-in – meaning that even if a 3rd party service provider was to help develop your learning platform, you could leave that provider if needed and someone else could pick up where they left it – with little or no disruption to your staff, services and learners.
Moodle is free to download and install on your own server to work with and implement to meet your needs. For professional services in Moodle design, development, training and support, there are many companies in most major countries that can help. However, Moodle assesses and endorses the credentials of a number of official Moodle Partners. These companies in turn contribute some revenue to Moodle Pty Ltd to fund continued development of the learning management system.
Moodle Partners
If you are looking for professional, expert Moodle services, then an official Moodle Partner should be one of the safest ways to go, as you can be sure that the company has experience of delivering a number of successful LMS projects with this software. There are over 70 worldwide.
Moodle Partner Spotlight – Titus Learning
A certified Moodle Partner for the UK and Hong Kong, Titus have created VLE / LMS solutions for businesses, schools and colleges across the globe. Based in West Yorkshire, UK, they have many clients in the United Kingdom, but also work with many International Schools, in countries that include China, Germany, India, Hong Kong, Serbia and Japan. They have staff who have worked in schools themselves, enabling them to combine technical expertise with a solid understanding of their clients’ needs.
You can read about their Moodle solutions at www.tituslearning.com, including case studies from several of their clients.
Moodle has one numerous awards over the years and is often cited as one of the best learning platforms available.
