What is ?

 
The Comprehensive Moodle
Learning Management System
(LMS) Guide
 Contents
I. What is Moodle?..........................................................................................3
II. Why is Moodle the World’s Leading Learning Management System?........4
III. Moodle is Open Source: What does this mean and why is it important?...5
IV. Open-Source Learning for Various Industries and Needs.........................7

a. Moodle for Education

b. Moodle for Workplace Learning

V. Moodle Mobile: Learning on the Go...........................................................9

VI. Moodle Hosting Options & Best Practices...............................................10

a. Self-Hosted Moodle
b. Managed Moodle/Cloud Hosting

c. Self-Hosted vs. Managed Moodle Services

VII. Honorable Mention: Totara....................................................................15

VIII. About eThink Education........................................................................16

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 What is ?
Moodle stands for Modular Object-Oriented Dynamic Learning
Environment. Founded and developed by Martin Dougiamas in 2002,
Moodle was designed to provide educators, administrators, and learners with
an open, robust, secure and free platform to create and deliver personalized
learning environments. Moodle is a user-friendly Learning Management
System (LMS) that supports learning and training needs for a wide range of
institutions and organizations across the globe.

Today, Moodle is the most widely used Learning Management System in the
world, with well over 100,000 registered implementations worldwide
supporting over 150 million learners. Moodle’s open source project is
managed by a dedicated team at Moodle HQ with a head office in Perth,
Australia and satellite offices around the world. Moodle’s modular nature and
inherent flexibility make it an ideal platform for both academic and enterprise
level applications of any size.

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 Why is Moodle the World's Most
Popular Learning Platform?
Moodle delivers a powerful set of learner-centric tools and collaborative
learning environments that empower both teaching and learning. Because of
its flexibility and scalability, Moodle has been adapted for use across
education, business, non-profit, government, and many other community
systems of all sizes.

Freely available for all users, Moodle can be self-hosted (if you have the time,
ambition, and talent) or you can trust an experienced Moodle provider to
provide top-notch hosting and support for your Moodle environment.

Designed with a simple and flexible user interface and well-documented

resources, Moodle can be easy for educators and learners to use. Moodle is
web-based and features a mobile-compatible interface, making it accessible
from anywhere in the world across different web browsers or devices. Moodle
has been translated into more than 120 languages and is designed to comply
with open and accessibility standards.

Additionally, Moodle’s modular and interoperable design allows developers to

build plugins that can integrate external applications to enhance system
capabilities and extend what is possible with the core Moodle product. There
are more than 1,400 plugins in the Moodle plugins directory that are freely
available for the Moodle community
to use, and Moodle’s open code
base encourages users to create
their own as needed to share with
the open-source community at large.

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 Moodle is Open-Source:
What does this mean and why is it important?
Open source refers to the underlying technology that Moodle is built on,
primarily meaning that the software, or Moodle code, is freely available to
download, use, customize, redistribute and modify.

As an open source project, Moodle is a collaborative effort that is supported

by a strong global community, including the Moodle HQ team as well as
developers and users around the world.

The advantages of open source…

Free. Open-source code is freely available with no license fee. Instead,

those funds can be allocated to service and support for your LMS. When
you are only paying for service, you ensure the highest level of support
possible.
No vendor lock. Closed-source solutions often make the customer
dependent on a vendor for products and service. With closed source, if
your level of service deteriorates, you have no other options for support.
Only that closed-source company can maintain the proprietary product.
With an open-source LMS, you have the freedom to not only customize
your solution to meet your needs, but you can easily take your code (which
you own, not the vendor) and move to another vendor if you aren’t getting
the level of support you require.
Security. It’s a common misconception that open-source means less
security. On the contrary, open and visible code allows the open-source
community to find and note any security issues. This means security
glitches are recognized much faster and patches are turned around almost
immediately. So really, the more eyes on the code, the better!

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 Customization. As mentioned above, open source offers users complete
flexibility to create a custom, tailor-made eLearning platform to meet a
specific organization or institution’s needs.
Innovation. Open-source software provides the flexibility needed to
customize and adapt to meet changing learning needs, allowing
administrators to stay on the cutting edge of the latest technologies and
best practices to effectively meet eLearning goals.
Scalable. As institutions or organizations grow and scale, it’s important
that your LMS can grow with you and adapt to meet evolving needs. Open-
source allows you to easily scale your online education and training
programs.
Future-Proof. The ability to scale, customize and innovate means that
you’re also able to future-proof your LMS investment by creating an
eLearning solution that can adapt to changing needs. Additionally, as open
source is modular in nature, you have the ability to integrate your LMS with
complimentary tools, technologies, and solutions in the market to create a
future-proof and interoperable eLearning ecosystem. In this respect, open
source protects not only your LMS but your entire learning infrastructure.

Open-source platforms give learning professionals full access to their Moodle

site’s code, giving them the freedom to customize the look and feel of their
site and incorporate branded content, innovative plugins, third-party tools,
and eLearning best practices into their learning strategy to create a custom
learning solution tailored to meeting their specific learning needs.

Learn how you can Future-Proof Your eLearning Ecosystem

with Open Source in this whitepaper.

Download

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 Open-Source Learning for Various
Industries and Needs
Some people think of Moodle as solely a K12 or Higher Education LMS, but
this is not true. Moodle functions support and track learning of all types. Basic
Moodle functionality includes features that can be used for learning in any
industry such as discussion forums, chat rooms, wikis, quizzes, assignments,
gamification and much more. Moodle’s robust functionality and flexibility lends
itself incredibly well to meeting a variety of learning needs for organizations
across all industries and sizes, from Education to Government, Healthcare,
Nonprofit, Associations and more.

Moodle for Education

As technology’s role in society as a whole continues to evolve, a flexible
Learning Management System is critical to meeting the needs of today’s modern
learner. Moodle provides a central learning hub to connect eLearning tools and
simplify the teaching and learning process.

With its functionality and plugin capabilities, Moodle offers an engaging and
effective eLearning experience for students of all ages. Moodle allows for unique
learning methods such as gamification,
gamification competency-based education,
education mobile
learning, accessible gradebooks,
learning gradebooks interactive online classrooms, and much more.

Additionally, due to its inherent flexibility and easy-to-use interface, Moodle can
be used to reach a wide range of needs. In fact, many learners that are
introduced to Moodle in primary, secondary, and higher education find
themselves using Moodle again later in life when they enter the workforce,
which we’ll explore in the next section. That said, Moodle has the added benefit
of providing easy adaption for both instructors and learners who may have
experienced the platform elsewhere previously.

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 Moodle for Workplace Learning
In today’s fast-paced work environments, providing a streamlined onboarding
process and effective continuing education is integral to a good business
strategy. Well-trained employees help move businesses forward toward meeting
company goals and objectives. eLearning ensures employees are prepared by
facilitating collaboration and providing personnel with anywhere, anytime
access to the educational resources they need to excel in their positions.

Moodle provides a flexible learning solution to help

educate and empower employees.

Use cases for Moodle in the workplace include:

Compliance & Workplace Safety

Competency-Based Training
Role-Based Employee Onboarding
Product & Service Launches
Communities of Practice / Culture of Learning
Onboarding
Continuous Education / Professional Development
Certification Programs
Hiring & Retainment
Internal/Upward Mobility
eCommerce
Extended Enterprise Training

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 Moodle Mobile:
Learning on the Go
Moodle also allows for remote learning and easy access to courses and
eLearning content anywhere, anytime, and even when offline through the
Moodle Mobile app (which is available for both core Moodle and Moodle
Workplace).

Available for both Apple iOS and Android-based devices, Moodle Mobile
allows learners to access course content; upload images, videos, and other
files; receive notifications; send messages to fellow classmates and
educators; attempt quizzes; participate in forums and much much more all
from their mobile devices.

With Moodle’s mobile capability, learners can easily access their learning
content whenever they need it.

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 Moodle Hosting Options
& Best Practices
Because the Moodle code is freely available, Moodle offers multiple hosting
options to choose from, including the ability to self-host or work with a Moodle
provider.

Self-Hosted Moodle
Self-hosting Moodle means your team completely owns and manages your
site’s code. You have complete control over every aspect of the LMS, from
implementation to design to the themes and plugins you decide to install.

While this sounds like the most affordable and convenient way to host your
LMS, it is typically not the best method when you lack bandwidth or
expertise. Often, it takes extended resources to not only support and manage
such a complex yet powerful solution, but ensure it meets learning needs,
reflects your organization, or performs the way you want it to. Many
organizations who self-host Moodle have a team of well-compensated experts
dedicated to supporting the platform.

The decision to self-host should not be made lightly. For most users, Moodle
will become an enterprise level application with hundreds of users depending
on its daily availability to complete their tasks. Without internal expertise
capable of maintaining, upgrading, and supporting end users, self hosting can
quickly become an overwhelming task.

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 Managed Moodle/Cloud Hosting
As mentioned, managing Moodle and utilizing its robust functionality is not
something every L&D team has the time or expertise to take on. Many seek
additional help through cloud-hosting providers to ease the burden of the LMS.

With a Moodle provider, you’re able to spend less time focusing on the
management of your system, and more on providing engaging eLearning to
your constituents.

Self-Hosted vs. Managed Moodle Services

1. Dollars and Sense. Self-hosting is free; however, managed Moodle services
typically save in terms of staff and productivity. Self-hosting requires
tremendous in-house expertise and manpower (and hours) to maintain your
Moodle site. A Moodle provider can alleviate the workload by becoming the
extension of your IT team responsible for your LMS maintenance, so that your
administrators can focus less on maintenance and more on delivering engaging
eLearning to end users.

2. Data Security. Organizations that self-host often house the data that Moodle
produces in their own data centers. This includes intellectual property, private
student data, and even medical records. Putting this data “on the cloud” can
seem like too much of a risk. However,
working with a Moodle provider gives
you added security, as your host will
have their own security measures in
place around servers to ensure
maximum uptime and total LMS and
data protection. Additionally, studies
have reported that cloud hosting is, in
fact, more secure than self-hosting.

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 3. Scaling Infrastructure. An experienced provider can assist with the
adjustments and improvements necessary for your LMS to scale as your
organization grows and evolves.

4. Customization and Consultation. When partnered with an expert, you get

recommendations on the best solutions to meet your specific eLearning needs.
Each organization is different, which means that every LMS needs to be
configured with an organization’s unique end goals in mind.

5. Integrations. Organizations that self-host Moodle often integrate with other

campus systems such as Student Information Systems (SIS), ERPs, CRMs, and
other self-hosted products such as Big Blue Button, Kaltura, etc. A Moodle
provider can help you integrate your LMS with these systems to provide a
seamless flow of information between your most important systems.

6. Updates and Backups. Self-hosted Moodle users hold the responsibility of

scheduling, planning, and testing their Moodle site updates. Many institutions
also have to plan upgrades around their busy academic calendar. A hosting
partner plans updates according to an organization’s schedule, researches the
new features, and thoroughly tests new versions, enabling learning
professionals to instead concentrate on exploring how the new version will
improve teaching and learning methods and the user experience. Additionally,
organizations can be assured that backups are taken regularly and are
accessible when needed.

7. Staying Up To Date. Working with a Moodle provider allows you to not only
stay current on product versions by managing upgrades, but makes it easier for
you to stay on top of the newest trends, technologies, security updates, and
innovation in the eLearning market. Experts in Moodle and eLearning, a hosting
partner can help you navigate the overwhelming process of managing your LMS
while also staying up to date on the latest technologies and best practices. With
that in mind, your Moodle provider help you to create a custom LMS and provide
recommendations on how to build out your extended learning ecosystem.

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 Honorable Mention:
Originally built off of the open-source Moodle platform, Totara is an
alternative open-source platform that is specifically tailored for meeting
corporate learning needs. Used by over 11 million learners worldwide across
more than 1,400 organizations, Totara Learn is the leading open enterprise
solution and is uniquely suited for corporate eLearning initiatives including
employee onboarding, continued training, regulatory certifications,
succession planning, extended enterprise, and more.

Totara Learn is a flexible LMS solution that enables organizations to deliver

learning effectively through individual learning plans which reflect your
employees’ roles, training needs, and objectives. Totara provides a
functionality-rich learning platform which can be implemented quickly and at
a fraction of the cost of proprietary solutions.

To learn more about Totara, check out

the Comprehensive Totara LMS Guide below.

View Guide

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 About eThink Education
eThink Education provides a fully-managed eLearning solution including
implementation, cloud hosting, integration, consultation, and management
services for open-source Moodle and Totara. We are the largest Moodle
provider in the world, a Platinum Totara Partner, and the 2018 Global Totara
Partner of the Year. We do all of the heavy lifting for your LMS at the highest
possible level of service.

Managed by experts, eThink’s total

solution provides a dynamic and
customizable platform to meet specific
institutional and organizational needs.

With clients in various industries

including Healthcare, Education,
Government, Corporate, eThink can
help all types of organizations to maximize the effectiveness of their
eLearning programs for improved business outcomes. eThink also offers
LMS and eLearning trainings through eThink Academy, as well as custom
content solutions.

Moodle by eThink Benefits:

Fully-Managed LMS
Not every organization’s IT team has the extra bandwidth to
support their digital training and compliance platform. But
with eThink as your Moodle provider, we do all the heavy
lifting! We offer support and services for every aspect of the
LMS including implementation, design, hosting,
management, and customization.

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 A Customized eLearning Platform
eThink takes a consultative approach to help you design a
functional and effective digital learning platform based on
your organization’s specific goals. Our extensive library of
eLearning partners helps us choose from a wide range of
solutions from content creation to reporting and analytics.

Unlimited Expertise & LMS Support

Whether you’re troubleshooting or just need to do some
Moodle brainstorming, our team is able to provide a
thoughtful human response, on average, to support inquiries
in just under an hour. We’re there to ensure a painless LMS
experience as well as increased eLearning success!

Interested in learning more about Moodle?

Speak with one of our experts!

Request a Demo

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