Moodle Administration:

Learning and teaching has been changing dramatically in the last decade. The shift from class-based environments to blended and online settings has been driven by the advent of new ubiquitous and internet-driven technologies such as cell phones, MP3 players, personal digital assistants, digital cameras, games consoles, interactive TV, and so on.

Marc Prensky has coined the terms digital natives (people who have grown up with these technologies) and digital immigrants (people who grew up without them and adapted them later). The problem that has arisen in educational settings is that the immigrants are often teaching the natives! This disconnection causes friction among all participants and now there is a need for technology to close this gap as much as possible.

A plethora of new assisting technologies has been introduced in recent years, which helps to supplement the existing learning and teaching environments. Examples are interactive whiteboards, classroom response/voting systems, rapid e-learning authoring tools, and virtual learning environments. Wikipedia defines a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) as follows:

The following diagram depicts the schematic components of a typical virtual learning environment:

The figure shows the main building blocks of VLE, each of which has its counterpart in non-virtual settings. The key to a good learning experience is good learning resources; the same applies in physical learning environments. Secure and flexible access is granted to learners, teachers, and administrators as well as to other users such as parents, inspectors, visitors, and so on. VLE can also be described as: "a content management system with an educational and pedagogical wrapper".

Moodle is one of the most popular virtual learning environments in this vastly growing market. First of all, let's provide you with a very brief overview of Moodle.

Moodle stands for Modular Object-Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment.

The section about Moodle on its website www.moodle.org also defines to moodle [verb]:

The original version of Moodle was developed by Martin Dougiamas as part of his research on social constructionist pedagogy or, for us mere mortals, learning by doing, communicating, and collaborating. If you wish to learn more about Moodle's underlying pedagogical framework, please refer to http://docs.moodle.org/en/Philosophy.

In a nutshell, Moodle is a web-based software system that facilitates learning and teaching. It is learning-centered and not tool-centered, which appeals to educationalists as well as learners. Moodle is now the most popular open-source virtual learning environment worldwide, and its uptake is growing steadily. Its modularity (remember, that's what the "M" stands for) allows us to configure the system flexibly and also to extend it if we wish to do so.

Before we cover Moodle in more detail, let's have a look at its unique development and business model.

Moodle is open-source software that has been released freely under the GNU Public License. This means that you are allowed to copy, use, and modify Moodle, provided that you agree to: provide the source to others; not modify or remove the original license and copyrights, and apply this same license to any derivative work.

However, the name Moodle is copyrighted which means only authorized companies are allowed to sell related services.

The questions frequently asked are:

Let us shed some light on these two valid questions. At the core is the Moodle Trust, set up by Martin Dougiamas, that manages the Moodle project.

Like so many technologies related to teaching and learning, most VLEs, including Moodle, were initially tailored towards the needs and requirements of academia. While the core educational sector is still the largest consumer in the market, other verticals are now making use of Moodle. This has been reflected in the provision of a more flexible functionality. The main groups of users can be categorized in the following four sectors:

Independent of the sector in which VLEs are deployed, there are three main types of Moodle users:

There are additional types of users who will be able to access your Moodle system. Examples are external examiners, inspectors, parents, visitors, alumni, librarians, and so on. We will come across those user types later on while dealing with roles in Moodle.

A Moodle administrator is basically a VLE administrator who manages a Moodle system. We first look at the job functions, responsibilities, and necessary skill sets in general before understanding any Moodle-specific duties.

Moodle administration essentially covers all the aspects mentioned in previous sections. But since Moodle is very open, flexible, and modular, it provides some additional layers of functionality that other systems lack. These extra options sometimes require further tasks to be carried out. Some examples are:

It is not necessary to have any programming skills to administer Moodle. However, if you wish to change any of the functionalities of VLE, it is necessary that you know PHP, the programming language in which Moodle has been developed. It is further recommended to be familiar with HTML and CSS. However, we won't cover any programming aspects of Moodle in this book.

Along with the tasks that have been mentioned in this introduction, some more will also be covered in great detail in this book.

Moodle is a VLE that is innovative and flexible. It is able to cater to the needs of modern online learners. In this chapter we have provided a brief overview of Moodle per se as well as its development and business model, before describing the sectors in which Moodle is employed and the types of users that are using it.

Administering Moodle is not a straightforward task, which is why more and more organizations have dedicated resources to manage their learning environment. The first task of a Moodle administrator is to install the software, which we will go through step-by-step in the next chapter.