What is Moodle?

Moodle is a web-based software package that allows you to create an environment in which an educational program can be delivered. What does that mean? Moodle allows you to create course environments where all sorts of education can take place. Moodle is now the most widely used online learning software package with over 49,000 registered Moodle sites as of the first quarter of 2010. It is used by private and public educational institutions ranging from kindergartens to universities as well as by a wide range of businesses, non-profit organizations, governmental bodies, and healthcare facilities for virtually every training and educational program imaginable.

A VLE, LMS, and CMS

There are a multitude of acronyms out there today that claim Moodle as a member of their 'group'. Moodle is categorized as a VLE (Virtual Learning Environment) or LMS (Learning Management System) due to its focus on learning and education. Additionally, Moodle is described to be a CMS (Course Management System), an LCMS (Learning Content Management System), and sometimes even a CMS (Content Management System).

Each of these categories of systems has its own unique and defining characteristics but for most of them, there are arguably more similarities than differences. Each is a software package that is installed on a server and set up to be accessed via the Internet or, in some business settings, through an intranet (an in-house network). The majority of them are designed to allow for the creation and maintenance of online learning environments. Two of the most widely used categories of systems that are used to describe Moodle, LMSs, and VLEs, are often used interchangeably, although the term LMS is generally used to describe a system of wider scope that includes the ability to perform administrative tasks involved in education such as reporting, documenting, and analyzing. Moodle's flexibility, in terms of how it can be set up and maintained, is one of the main reasons for its inclusion in virtually every category of online learning software package. In this sense, Moodle is similar to a chameleon that is capable of 'changing its color', or shifting its focus, in order to meet the needs of each institution and user.