2008 Woodie Awards
Blackboard moves out, Moodle moves in
Catherine Housholder
Issue date: 9/21/06 Section: News
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Figuring out how to manipulate Moodle, Smith's oddly-named new course management system, tops the homework agenda for returning students and faculty.
Information Technology Services (ITS) introduced the online pedagogical tool - which replaces its competitor Blackboard - to students in September as a technological improvement as well as a financial investment. According to ITS, Smith saves tens of thousands of dollars annually by switching to Moodle, which is used for 400 courses at Smith.
Like Blackboard, Moodle allows professors to post assignments, readings, videos and sound clips online for their students. The system also permits students to send in homework to their professors, discuss course material with in classmates online and check their grades.
Almost all students and nearly 200 faculty members are learning how to operate the system. New users' reactions range from frustration to satisfaction to confusion. The majority agree that Moodle is user-friendly.
Nai Tai '07 uses Moodle every day for all of her classes, including Global Climate Change, American Government and Yoga. She prefers Moodle to Blackboard.
"Blackboard didn't show as much information as Moodle does," Tai said. "Moodle shows more details."
Bridget Cullen '08 said, for her, Moodle is the same as Blackboard. She has had no problems with Moodle, but some students and professors experienced major program glitches earlier this year. Moodle is not compatible with some web browsers such as Safari and old versions of Internet Explorer, although it works well with Firefox. Professor Jay Garfield uses Moodle in the same way he used Blackboard, and he "depends completely" on the system for his Buddhist philosophy and Logic 100 courses.
"We've had some internal hiccups with Moodle," Garfield said. In the beginning of the school year his entire Logic 100 class was unexpectedly thrown off of Moodle, and disenrolled from the course. Garfield dismissed these problems as minor "annoyances" and added that he believes the switch to Moodle was a wise move, since it has a few better features than Blackboard and is saving Smith money. Professor Jim Henle, who teaches Logic 100 with Garfield, is more cautious. He believes it's just too soon to tell if Moodle is a superior system.
Information Technology Services (ITS) introduced the online pedagogical tool - which replaces its competitor Blackboard - to students in September as a technological improvement as well as a financial investment. According to ITS, Smith saves tens of thousands of dollars annually by switching to Moodle, which is used for 400 courses at Smith.
Like Blackboard, Moodle allows professors to post assignments, readings, videos and sound clips online for their students. The system also permits students to send in homework to their professors, discuss course material with in classmates online and check their grades.
Almost all students and nearly 200 faculty members are learning how to operate the system. New users' reactions range from frustration to satisfaction to confusion. The majority agree that Moodle is user-friendly.
Nai Tai '07 uses Moodle every day for all of her classes, including Global Climate Change, American Government and Yoga. She prefers Moodle to Blackboard.
"Blackboard didn't show as much information as Moodle does," Tai said. "Moodle shows more details."
Bridget Cullen '08 said, for her, Moodle is the same as Blackboard. She has had no problems with Moodle, but some students and professors experienced major program glitches earlier this year. Moodle is not compatible with some web browsers such as Safari and old versions of Internet Explorer, although it works well with Firefox. Professor Jay Garfield uses Moodle in the same way he used Blackboard, and he "depends completely" on the system for his Buddhist philosophy and Logic 100 courses.
"We've had some internal hiccups with Moodle," Garfield said. In the beginning of the school year his entire Logic 100 class was unexpectedly thrown off of Moodle, and disenrolled from the course. Garfield dismissed these problems as minor "annoyances" and added that he believes the switch to Moodle was a wise move, since it has a few better features than Blackboard and is saving Smith money. Professor Jim Henle, who teaches Logic 100 with Garfield, is more cautious. He believes it's just too soon to tell if Moodle is a superior system.
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