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Chapter III

Learning Management System (LMS) - MOODLE

Potential, Merits and Scope

3.1 Background and Introduction

Over the past few decades, information technology has come to permeate

nearly all aspects of human life. The information technologies, comprising

computers and their peripherals, computer software, the Internet, mobile

phones and electronic multimedia, are becoming part of our daily existence at

an ever-increasing rate (Anderson, 2010).The computer and Information

Communications Technology (ICT) have undoubtedly changed our daily lives

to make communication swifter and easier. In this much-hyped 21st century

instructional methods and pedagogy are also undergoing swift changes. This

reality also informs the need to integrate information technology into curricula

for the various subject areas. In the wake of use of ICT in education, the

concept of the traditional classroom, with four walls, has been extended and

ramified. The computer has had multiplier effect on teaching and learning

(Guha & Maji, 2008). Added to this, the recent increases in computing power

of affordable personal computers, laptops, i-pads and mobiles have resulted in

an increase in the development and use of various forms of computer-

delivered instruction. Understanding the effects of this instruction on learning

is important to any future implementations of computers in education.

There is research evidence that modern ICT based innovative practices like E-

Learning, online learning or learning via the internet, can easily make the

teaching process more exploratory by using multi tasking, such as quizzes,

puzzles, group discussions, role plays, etc. (ITFP, 2001; Marshall, 2002;

Agondini, Dynarski, Honey,& Levin, 2003; Trinkle, 2005;UNESCO, 2010).

Students are heavily immersed in Web 2.0 technologies (i.e. blogs, twitter,

podcasts, wikis, social network sites, virtual worlds, video sharing, photo

sharing, etc.). They are crafting on-line lives that seamlessly mend with their

off-line world. Indeed, the internet is playing an increasingly important role in

61

Web 2.0 tools, drawing upon their ability to assist in creating, collaborating on

and sharing content (Munoz & Towner, 2012).

Education and Learning especially amongst our youth is essential in

maintaining competitiveness. In their study, Geoff and Walker (2002) have

stated that one of the aims of university education is to help students develop

higher-order thinking skills to prepare them to deal with the increasingly

complex real world problems. To bridge the gap between theoretical

knowledge derived from formal instruction and real life application, instructors

attempt to capitalize on the capabilities of technological tools to complement

the pedagogical approaches. The last decade witnessed a dramatic increase in

technology incorporated into tertiary education to prepare students for the

sophistication of the digital economy. This means that the stake holders in

education and the Information Technology (IT) industry also need to make a

-

-

make the process of learning more effective. Given the demand for online

learning, the plethora of online technologies to incorporate into teaching, the

budgetary problems, and the opportunities for innovation, it is argued that

learning environments are facing a "perfect e-storm" (Bonk, 2001).

Navigating education requires an understanding of the current state and the

future direction of ICT in teaching and learning.

The Government of India is keen to use the technological resources in helping

its mission to make Higher Education accessible to all deserving students. In

this regard, it has launched its National Mission on Education through

Information and Communication Technology (NMEICT) to provide

connectivity, valuable content and low cost computing devices to all the

Institutions of higher learning in the country. Another significant step in this

direction is the National Video Server of the National Programme on

Technology Enhanced Learning (NPTEL) that would make the entire NPTEL

content available to students across Universities and Colleges online (TEL,

2012). The digital resource development and utilizing the digital resource into

quality certified programmes and courses need to be fully exploited by the

universities.

The effective integration of ICTs into the educational system is a complex

multifaceted process that involves not just technology but also curriculum and

pedagogy, institutional readiness, teacher competencies, long-term financing

etc. Learning Management Systems (LMS) is changing the way students are

getting educated nowadays. Emergence of the Internet has facilitated growth

of Learning Management Systems. This new paradigm has become a critical

62

component in the mission of academic institutions, which includes imparting

best education to their students, extending the learning process beyond the

classroom, improving measurable student success, attracting talented

students to the institute and improving its overall image.

The University of Melbourne, Australia has a well-defined framework that

describes the essential elements of any LMS that the university adopts on its

campus. The framework describes various academic purposes provided by an

-based learning like provision of

administrative and procedural information, provision of information and

independent learning and study, access to

features that encourage and facilitate collaborative learning and provision of

interactive tools for assessment and feedback (Harris & Jones, 2007).

An LMS should enable the management, delivery and tracking of learning

content for teachers/instructors and registered students, and should integrate

these activities with supervisory tasks that automate and streamline the

collaborative learning community by means of multiple learning modes

including self-paced coursework (web-based seminars and classes,

downloaded material, CD-ROMs, and videos), scheduled classes (live

instruction in classroom settings and online), and group learning (online

forums and chats). A robust LMS should have architecture capable of

supporting and modifying all of these functional requirements depending on

and controlling (Hewagamage & Batpurev, 2007).

In addition, an LMS continues well beyond the classroom through emails,

discussion groups, student teacher question and answer sessions, the

transfer and posting of administrative information, and course content (Kim &

Lee, 2007).

This chapter begins by an introduction to Learning Management System and

explores the potential of LMS as an ICT tool for learning. It also discusses the

current scenario on different LMS available, both proprietary and open source.

The section 3.3 focuses on Moodle as an Open Source LMS, its advantages

and features that make it the most popular LMS. The last section provides the

potential and scope that an LMS like Moodle offers.

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3.2 Learning Management System (LMS)

E-Learning is becoming an important part of university learning management

systems. Some educational centers are using E-Learning to enhance their

traditional learning system while others have created alternative models

based on virtual learning and are using it as a new learning method (Itmazi &

Megias, 2005). Integration of ICTs into teaching and learning has accelerated

in the past decade; this has been driven by both pedagogical goals and the

need for enhanced flexibility of content delivery and engagement with course

materials. The broad number of ICT resources now readily available within

Higher Education Institutions (HEI) presents numerous pedagogical

advantages to both educators and learners. For instance, educators have

access to a variety of tools that can assist in the design and delivery of

learner-centred courses, and students have greater access to more flexible

options for engaging with peers and instructors. The high level of adoption of

ICTs is well documented, with current LMSs ranking in the top 10 technologies

for higher education (Yanosky, Harris, & Zastrocky, (2004). Currently, most

LMSs are web-based platforms that bring together tools and materials to

support learning, including: content files and multi-media resources relevant

to the course of study; assessment tools that may permit students to

complete online quizzes or submit assignments; communication tools such as

mail, chat and asynchronous discussion forums; course administration tools

that allow instructors to record and store grades, make announcements and

display course

to review grades and track their progress (Macfadyen & Dawson, 2010).

It is obvious that emphasis on ICT is a crying need as it acts as a multiplier

for capacity building efforts of educational institutions without compromising

the quality. In India, the content portion of the NMEICT is that the mission

would have an ambitious vision of catering to the learning needs of more than

50 crore Indians (working population) and of providing a one stop solution to

all the requirements of the learning community (Sakshat, 2013).

A Learning Management System (or LMS) is a software package that enables

the management and delivery of online content to learners. Most LMSs are

web-based to facilitate "anytime, anyplace, any pace" access to learning

content and administration (Coates, 2005). LMS can also be defined as a

software application or Web-based technology used to plan, implement, and

assess a specific learning process (Dougiamas & Taylor, 2003). In his paper

Hall, (2003) defines LMS as software that automates the administration of

training events. The LMS registers users, tracks courses in a catalogue, and

records data from learners, it also provides reports to management. The LMS

64

is typically designed to handle courses by multiple publishers and multiple

providers.

The most recommended categories of requirements for LMS systems

developed for an academic environment is: course content management,

evaluation and communication. The requirements in these categories are the

most basic functions of an LMS system and useful for handling the content,

further improving the course with information from evaluations of existing

courses and making the student feel more involved by improving

communication. First is how the system manages the courses and content

within them, which can be improved by adding file sharing between the users,

course object repositories to support course object reuse and digital libraries

to share course content and information between users and other systems.

Second is how the system supports course evaluation and the results of

them which can be improved by implementing dedicated course evaluation

tools and tools to improve the analysis of the results. Lastly is how the system

supports communication between the users, which can be improved by

adding communication tools such as chat, forums and internal messages

systems. These technologies have the largest potential to improve the

outcome of the course and they are also easy to implement into an LMS

system. The number of systems that supported the communication

requirements showed that communication within the LMS is a high priority for

the developers and that the new concepts which improve the social aspects of

LMS are important to develop (Faxen, 2011).

3.2.1 LMS as an ICT tool to aid the teaching-learning process

Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) which include radio and

television, as well as newer digital technologies such as computers and the

Internet have been touted as potentially powerful enabling tools for

educational change and reform. The term, ICT refers to forms of technologies

that are used to create, store, share or transmit, exchange information. This

broad definition of ICT includes such technologies as: radio, television, video,

DVD, telephone (both fixed line and mobile phones), satellite systems,

computer and network hardware and software; as well as the equipment and

services associated with these technologies, such as videoconferencing and

electronic mail (UNESCO, 2002; Anderson, 2010).When used appropriately,

different ICTs are said to help expand access to education, strengthen the

relevance of education to the increasingly digital workplace, and raise

educational quality by, among others, helping make teaching and learning into

65

an engaging, active process connected to real life (Haddad, Jurich, & Drexler,

2002). And yet, do these educational technologies and the content that they

provide result in learning? Extensive research into learning with technology

provides conclusive evidence that people can, and do, learn from educational

technologies. ICT-enhanced learning provides a platform for student inquiry,

analysis and construction of new information. Learners therefore learn as they

do and, whenever appropriate, work on real life problems in-depth, making

way, and in contrast to memorization-based or rote learning, ICT enhanced

learning promotes increased learner engagement. ICT-enhanced learning is

-in-

they need to learn it (Agondini, Dynarski, Honey, & Levin, 2003).

Typically an LMS allows for learner registration, delivery of learning activities,

and learner assessment in an online environment. More comprehensive LMSs

often include tools such as competency management, skills-gap analysis,

succession planning, certifications, and resource allocation (venues, rooms,

textbooks, instructors, etc.). LMSs are based on a variety of development

platforms, from Java EE based architectures to Microsoft .NET, and usually

employ the use of a robust database back-end. While most systems are

commercially developed and frequently have non-free licenses or restrict

access to their source code, free and open-source models do exist. Other than

the most simple, basic functionality, all LMSs cater to, and focus on different

educational, administrative, and deployment requirements. Open source and

Web-based LMS software solutions are growing fast in the education and

business world (Antonenko, Toy, & Niederhauser, 2005).

computer-supported

environment is to become more student-centered then there is a necessary

shift of responsibility for learning away from the teacher and toward the

student. Students need to become more self-directing and motivating and

thus take more responsibility for their own learning. This is not to say that the

teacher has no responsibility. The teacher needs to provide a structure within

which students can learn and this structure need not be rigid, but can be

flexible (since technology is user-friendly).This includes providing tasks,

asking questions, providing resources, and setting ground rules.

For many institutions across the globe, the Learning Management System, or

LMS, is the most significant enterprise system for teaching and learning. The

LMS is the means by which course information is distributed to students.

Extensive studies on the use of LMS in European countries done by Paulsen,

Keegan, Dias, Paulo, Pimenta, Fritsch, Foller, Micincova, & Oslen, (2002)

66

present major extensive findings on the growing use of LMS on campuses

across Europe. The study was from a meta-analysis of six regional analyses

conducted within the framework of the European Commission Web-edu

project. Data was collected from in-depth interviews with 113 European

experts, usually the e-learning systems managers in the institutions, in

17countries. The analyses of the interviews revealed as many as 52 different

commercial and 35 self-developed LMS systems. The article presents the data

from these interviews and includes a series of far-reaching conclusions from

the study. Studies have also been reported about the growing use of LMS on

campuses in South Africa, New Zealand, Australia and Asia (Govender &

Govender, 2009; Corich, 2005; Rahman, Ghazali, & Ismail, 2011).

3.2.2 Pedagogical support for the use of LMS

Research would suggest that e learning has some way to go before it could

be said to be able to fully duplicate the experience of well conducted face to

face learning (Johnson, Aragon, Shaik, & Palma-Rivas, 2000). For learners

who through choice or circumstances prefer to participate in blended delivery

or distance learning, e-learning offers a viable alternative. This attempt to

provide a pedagogical foundation as a prerequisite for successful e-Learning

implementation has clearly changed the emphasis from merely managing the

logistics of electronically delivering e-Learning content, to managing e-

Learning content.

The constructivist theory on education has been credited to Piaget, Jean

(1975), who suggested that knowledge is actively constructed by the learner,

not passively received from the environment. Social constructivism, an

extension to constructivism, has ideas that can be traced back to Vygotsky,

(1978). It focuses on the roles that society plays in the development of an

individual. The social world of a learner includes teachers, friends, students,

administrators, and participants in all forms of activity. Teaching strategies

using social constructivism include negotiating meanings with students, class

discussion, small-group collaboration, and valuing meaningful activity over

correct answers. A constructivist perspective views learners as actively

engaged in making meaning, and requires that teaching looks for what

students can analyse, investigate, collaborate, share, build and generate

based on what they already know, rather than what facts, skills, and

processes they can parrot (Dougiamas & Taylor, 2003).

If LMS are to be used in support of learning, they should provide opportunities

for learners to interact with instructors and fellow students, and allow learners

67

to share ideas, build concepts based on existing knowledge, reflect on

experiences and construct knowledge. An LMS like Moodle provides

collaborative tools like email, chat, discussion forums, virtual classrooms and

reflective journaling features that assist students as they construct

knowledge.

The aim is to create learning environments centered on students as learners

and a belief that they learn more from what they do and think about rather

than from what they are told. If the aim is to offer new learning opportunities,

or to improve the way in which current learning activities are implemented,

then the overall effectiveness of learning environments is of paramount

concern, not whether they are more effective with or without computers. It is

important that the ever changing nature of computer-based technology not

overshadow the enduring nature of learning and the solid and ever increasing

base of knowledge about learning. This knowledge is not superseded by new

technologies; rather, it can inform the use of new technologies when applied

to learning. Therefore, in implementing computer support for learning it is

necessary to start by deciding what a student, teacher or school wants to

achieve. To achieve these outcomes, teachers can then rely on long traditions

of educational theory, their own experience and knowledge of the educational

situation (e.g., student attributes) to make decisions about what the learning

environment should look like, and what inputs into the learning process are

required. Finally, teachers can identify what problems are associated with

providing these environments and inputs, and tailor computer and other

support to provide solutions. In essence, the judgement of teachers and their

support structures are relied upon to choose appropriate strategies. This

approach ends with decisions concerning computer support rather than

starting with such decision (Corich, 2005).

Several research studies have covered effective pedagogical strategies for

online teaching. Partlow & Gibbs (2003) found in a Delphi study of experts in

instructional technology and constructivism that online courses designed from

constructivist principles should be relevant, interactive, project-based, and

collaborative, while providing learners with some choice or control over their

learning. Additionally, Keeton (2004) investigated effective online instructional

practices based on a framework of effective teaching practices in face-to-face

instruction in higher education. In this study, Keeton interviewed faculty in

postsecondary institutions, who rated the effectiveness of online instructional

strategies. These instructors gave higher ratings to online instructional

strategies that "create an environment that supports and encourages inquiry,"

"broaden the learner's experience of the subject matter," and "elicit active

and critical reflection by learners on their growing experience base."

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3.2.3 Learning support provided by LMS that aid the teaching-

learning process

Typically, LMS provides an instructor with a way to create and deliver content,

monitor student participation, and assess student performance. A learning

management system may also provide students with the ability to use

interactive features such as threaded discussions, video conferencing, and

discussion forums. The Advanced Distance Learning group, sponsored by the

United States Department of Defense, has created a set of specifications

called Shareable Content Object Reference Model (SCORM) to encourage the

standardization of learning management systems (DOEACC, 2006).

An LMS is a technology used to plan, implement, and assess a learning

process. Broadly we can classify the stakeholders of the LMS into Learner,

Instructor, Course Designer and Administrator. The Learner needs to register

for the various courses, learn from the required learning material provided by

the LMS, undergo tests and practicals, complete assignments, etc. LMS

provides an Instructor with a way to deliver content, monitor student

participation, and assesses student performance. In order to do this an

Instructor need to organize or plan a course based on prescribed syllabus and

he/she has to establish a course calendar to monitor student progress. LMS

provides Course Designer with a way to create course content by supporting

various content creation facilities. LMS may also provide learners with the

ability to use interactive features such as threaded discussions, audio/video

conferencing and discussion forums. Administrator is considered to be the

super user of the LMS, who has the privileges for user/group management,

server management, etc. (Vishal, 2003).

According to Schar and Krueger (2000), an LMS must be capable of handling

various delivery modes and automate the cumbersome process of learner

enrollment, registration, records, transcripts, schedules and reports, and it

must incorporate evaluation, assessment and testing capabilities.

Furthermore, LMS should support a collaborative learning community, offering

multiple modes of learning - from self-paced coursework (Web-based

seminars and classes, downloadable, CD-ROM and video content) to

scheduled classes (live instruction in classroom settings or online) to group

learning (online forums and chats). In its ability to integrate, organize and

standardize learning across broad organizational requirements, the LMS model

has been compared favorably to enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions,

whi -office into a seamlessly functioning whole.

69

An assessment engine with built-in testing and evaluation capabilities is

critical to monitoring, tracking and rating e-learning initiatives. The system

should support time limits for self-administered tests, limit the number of

attempts allowed and impose a time delay between attempts. By tracking the

learning process, learning officers and management can evaluate the

effectiveness of the courses and accurately gauge the knowledge and skill

levels of their workforce (Hall, 2003).

Carbone, Mehta, Powers & Strahl (2005) in their paper have defined each of

the functional considerations, features of the LMS system and have grouped

under the appropriate considerations like ease of use, diverse educational

tools, Implement ability, Administration Tools/Course Delivery Tools,

Supportability and Foreign Language Capabilities.

Besides, COL (2004) and Bradley, Carter, Fitzsimons, Graham, Hurlbut,

Marshall, Penney, Quarles, Rafferty, Shellhase, Steinberg, Stone, Tuttle, &

Duzer, (2007) in their studies too have identified and listed criteria for

evaluation tools and user guide components like Course Monitoring and

Assessment Design that an LMS needs to have in order to enhance the

teaching-learning process. They have also identified community learning or

collaboration component criteria that support communication and some

Productivity tools like Calendar, Bookmarks, Search, etc.

Learning Management System provides an integrated platform for content,

delivery, and management of learning, as well as accessibility by a range of

users that may include learners, content creators, and administrators. An LMS

acts as the central component of an enterprise e-learning implementation.

Learning Management Systems have been widely adopted by institutions and

instructional designers in order to fulfill certain needs and requirements in a

field of ever increasing demands for effective, fast and pedagogically correct

education and training. LMS that are in use today are either commercial

products such as WebCT, Blackboard, Intralearn, open-source projects such

as customized software systems that serve the instructional purposes of

particular organizations (Avgeriou, Papasalouros, Retalis, & Skordalakis,

2003).

3.2.4 Current Scenario regarding LMSs

Most educational centers (e.g. Universities, institutes, colleges) are adopting

some kind of E-Learning tool as an integral part of their learning systems, to

70

enhance their traditional learning system or to create alternative models

based on virtual learning.

An important resource for these E-Learning solutions is the E-Learning

platform. Therefore, those E-Learning centers have to choose the best

package of LMS suitable to their needs, because there are dozens of packages

with diverse features some of which are commercial software, while others are

Open Source Software (OSS). In their paper Itmazi & Megias, (2005) have

shown that the E-Learning sector needs to undertake more comprehensive

and serious studies about LMS comparison and evaluation, due to rapid

changes, substantial changes in each new version of the same package, and

because of the fact that most of the 58 studies published in this survey are

partial, incomplete and some of the LMS are already out of date.

Whereas early LMS adopters focused on discrete e-learning projects that were

limited in scope and required a lot of expensive customization, the trend

today is toward consolidation and providing a single, common infrastructure to

manage learning and training initiatives across the organization. As the LMS

market evolves, it is facing these major challenges.

The Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) is the overall

standards accreditation body that is responsible for learning object metadata

standards. These include a set of standards based on specifications called

SCORM (Sharable Content Object Reference Model), which are influenced by

industry groups such as IMS Global Learning Consortium which is a global,

nonprofit, member organization that strives to enable the growth and impact

of learning technology in the education and corporate sectors worldwide and

AICC standards that apply to the development, delivery, and evaluation of

training courses that are delivered via technology. The Aviation Industry CBT

(computer-based training) Committee (AICC) is an international association of

technology-based training professionals that develop training guidelines for

the aviation industry. In simple terms, these industry-standard groups are

creating technical specifications to enable and support a unified, standardized

content model for Web-based learning (DOEACC, 2006).

There are features and capabilities that become increasingly important as e-

leaning usage grows. From an operational point of view, the LMS and its key

components - content management, user administration and system

administration - should be 100 percent Web-deployable, requiring no

additional client applications. As with any enterprise application, the more the

software is customized, the harder it is to maintain, upgrade and expand. In

the past, a lot of companies over-engineered their e-learning solutions,

spending a lot of money on consulting and customizing their applications.

71

Because the pedagogical and business models for online learning were still in

their infancy (and evolving rapidly) and the educational goals and targets

-

flexibility and scale. This leads to a second important consideration. Choose

an LMS built on an open architecture that supports the emerging learning

standards, which go by the acronyms IMS, AICC and SCORM (Hall, 2003).

The various LMS available in the market can be categorized into proprietary

and open source software (OSS). WebCT and Blackboard have been the

pioneers in LMS. But like most proprietary software that are costly initially,

they also proved to be expensive in the long run (Antonenko, Toy, &

Niederhauser, 2005; Itmazi & Megias, 2005; Stewart, Briton, Gismondi,

Heller, Kennepohl, McGreal, & Nelson, 2007). Hence moving to an LMS that is

free and open source is a good alternative. Also the easy to install, use and

the wide support that is given by the open source community is another

reason why the market for OSS LMS has many takers especially in academics.

Hall, (2003) has suggested that license is the most crucial parameter in

selecting a LMS. Most of the LMS providers offer their services based on

unique or aggregate license. What it means for an organization is that every

student would be given unique ID and that would limit the number of courses

that could be offered. It is here that the Open Source Software is gaining

ground and these access projects are receiving attention in the classroom as

well.

Blackboard or WebCT Learning Management System (now owned by

Blackboard) is an online proprietary virtual learning environment system.

While WebCT has been criticized as being difficult to use, the criticism partly

reflected the flexibility of the system. It still suffers from being more flexible

but less easy to use than some of its competitors (Twakyondo & Munaku,

2012).

Sakai is also another OSS LMS that began in 2004, with a grant from the

Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Five founding institutions merged elements of

their existing home-brew course management systems, the largest

contribution coming from University of Michigan followed by Indiana

University, MIT, Stanford University and the Open Knowledge Initiative. Big

business moved in during 2005 as IBM, Sun and Unisys all came on board.

The Foundation is a non-

development and community to ensure its long term interests are served.

Strategy is formulated by a Board of Directors elected by the Sakai Partners

and the Foundation employs a small team who manages day to day business

and provides project management, quality assurance, release planning and

72

conference organising. Sakai is an LMS that is Java-based and has a service

oriented application (Sakai, 2013). Sakai however needs to start creating

documentation that clearly spells out what the systems can do and how to do

it in language that even a new LMS users can fathom. Sakai is a tool designed

d has

done little to create a sense of community with class members. As a prime

example, in the discussion feature there is no way to track previously read

then squint to read the date posted to guess what is the post about going

through hundreds of posts to scroll through. As a result many users of Sakai

actually set up a Yahoo! Group to facilitate communication needs. Sakai is

'still working' toward this basic enterprise functionality.

Hence from above discussion we can see that the LMS have matured

significantly over the last fifteen years. The increasing sophistication and

improvement in user features of these systems has lead to an explosion in the

number of institutions using LMS to deliver blended learning and distance

education courses. The early adopters of e-learning were attracted by the

ease of use and functionality of systems like Blackboard and WebCT, and as a

result they are now the most dominant LMS in use among tertiary educators.

While Blackboard and WebCT are feature rich, they come with a hefty price

tag, and as such, many smaller institutions have struggled to justify the

expenditure required to provide the LMS needed to support e-learning. The

open source community has come up with a number of more affordable

alternatives and systems such as ATutor, Claroline, and Moodle now provide

many of the features that have made Blackboard and WebCT so popular

(Corich, 2005).

A study done by Faxen, (2011) explored some popular LMS both proprietary

and OSS. The LMSs short-listed in the survey done by this study, show

significant differences in their design, architecture and implementation.

Regardless of the fact that they share a common underlying framework, the

impact of the differences is important. The table below (Table 3.1) is a

summary of the results from this survey and highlights the most commonly

supported requirements among the LMS systems in the survey. The top row is

the requirements specified in And the left column is the

name of the LMS system. The primary differentiating advantages of Moodle

are its System Architecture and Community Support. On the overall

evaluation, Moodle shows a clear advantage, particularly in criteria that is

critical to the long-term viability of the system.

73

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75

3.3 MOODLE as an LMS

Modular Object Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment (MOODLE) is a

Learning Management System (LMS) - a free, Open Source Software package

designed using sound pedagogical principles, to help educators create

effective quality courses and students learn. Martin Dougiamas since 2000 has

been the Founder and Lead Developer of Moodle. He decided to create his own

online learning environment in the open source format and allow the open

source community to help develop and refine his ideas. One advantage of the

open source format is that it enables users to download a variety of learning

modules that fit their needs. Educators can add email, discussion boards, live

chats, online quizzes, and a variety of other modules that differentiate their

system from commercially available content management systems. Another

advantage of open source systems is that users can add new features and

enhancements that are available to all users at no additional cost (Moodle,

2013).

Moodle was designed to support those who are interested in developing

constructivist, student-centered learning environments (Dougiamas & Taylor,

2003). Moodle is a learning management system that has adopted a social

constructivist theor based on the idea that people

learn best when they are engaged in a social process of constructing

Moodle whose design and development is guided by social constructionist

pedagogy, is based on four concepts: Constructivism points to the view that

learning is an active process in which learners construct new knowledge based

on their current/past knowledge as they interact with their environment.

Constructionism refers to the concept that learning is particularly effective

when constructing something for others to experience. Social constructivism

extends the ideas of constructivism by the social aspects that arise when

working in groups. Connected and separated behavior deals with the

motivation of students within a discussion. While separated behaviour in

ideas, connected behaviour refers to the aim of understanding other points of

view and accepting subjectivity (Dougiamas, 2007).

Antonenko, Toy, & Niederhauser, (2005) conducted an analysis of Moodle

using a framework developed by Hannafin & Land, 1997 and found that

are rooted in five

core foundations: psychological, pedagogical, technological, cultural, and

76

The Figure 3.1 shows the five components of the core foundations of a

student-centered learning environment.

FIGURE 3.1: INTERSECTIONS AMONG FOUNDATIONS AND ASSUMPTIONS IN

THE DESIGN OF LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS. THE FIVE CORE

FOUNDATIONS OF STUDENT-CENTERED LEARNING

ENVIRONMENTS (Hannafin & Land, 1997).

By breaking down these five foundations and looking at the various

components of Moodle, Antonenko, Toy & Niederhauser, (2005) were able to

determine that it does provide a constructivist learning environment. Their

findings concluded that it is possible to promote the design of a Moodle that

integrates general principles of constructivist learning and provides an online

learning context that supports student-centered pedagogy. The key to

promoting this type of approach is having teachers who know how to create

such an environment ((Dougiamas & Taylor, 2003).

77

3.3.1 Benefits of Moodle as an LMS

MOODLE was designed to support and promote users interested in developing

constructivist, student-centered learning environments (Dougiamas & Taylor,

2003). Moodle is also known as Virtual Learning Environment (VLE).

Moodle is an LMS that uses a LAMP (Linux, Apache, PhP, MySQL) based

protocol. In Moodle documentation and help is provided at every stage.

Documentation and installation for Moodle are vastly superior to alternatives,

and Moodle works on virtually any system. Given that which has actually been

supported in Moodle since for some time (since its first release,) that is yet

another reason to choose Moodle for large scale deployments (UNESCO,

2010; Alvarez, 2010).

ownership is shared. Moodle-LMS has the following major elements that are

typical of any LMS and aid the teaching-learning process thereby engaging

teachers and students. The five elements are:

(a) The courseware-launching component sequences instructional activities

for a student and provides the interface for student access to activities. (This

(b) The course-development component enables a course administrator to

specify the content of the course in terms of lessons and the sequence of

these lessons.

(c) The roster operations component registers the student and enrolls him /

her in courses.

(d) The assignment management component assigns the lessons to the

student and records the student performance data.

(e) The data collection component provides for the automated collection

and management of data like forum postings, glossary entries, folders that

contain module wise lecture resources, etc. (Gajewski, 2005).

As an LMS, Moodle has three main functions: an authoring tool, an

administrative tool, and a means of communication (Peter, 2004). As an

authoring tool, Moodle is designed to assist the nonprogrammer teacher to

create various online tasks via a web browser. This authoring function can

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include the creation of quizzes, the setting up of bulletin boards, the

construction of directories from which students can download handouts, the

embedding of sound and image files, and many other authoring tasks.

Accordingly, teachers use Moodle to create the content of online courses that

are in turn administered by Moodle. The activity modules and resources alone

make Moodle an invaluable addition to the repertoire of the online teacher.

With only these authoring functions Moodle would just be a very versatile web

page authoring system. It is its administrative functions that make Moodle

such a powerful system.

Information about everything that is added to Moodle is saved in a database.

This information includes the name of all students and teachers, the individual

quiz items, journal entries, activities that students have done, and so on. The

front end of Moodle, the part that students see, is therefore a database driven

web site, as opposed to the traditional static site that is same regardless of

who looks at it. This comprehensive data tracking allows teachers to keep

abreast of the activities of their students. They are able to see what their

how students have done in the various tasks made by the course teachers.

Whilst a programmer with a lot of time could implement such a complex

administrative system, it would be impossible for the average teacher, no

matter how enthusiastic.

The third main function of Moodle is that of a communication device. As a

sound. More specifically, there are modules within Moodle like email, chat,

etc. that are specifically geared to facilitate communication between students

and teachers and between students and students. What is more, Moodle

manages all these modes of communication. For example, forums (bulletin

boards) can be set to automatically send out emails to subscribers informing

them of new postings. Communication has a vital role to play too in Open

Distance Learning (ODL) system. Its criticality arises due to the distributed

nature of program delivery and student support services. For a distance

learner waiting for crucial information at various stages of study, the

information must be made available at the earliest and with clarity. Lack of

appropriate communication has been cited as one of the reasons for student

attritions (Fozdar, Kumar & Kannan, 2006). Having a MOODLE-LMS will prove

to be advantageous as the entire course related resources, activities and

communication are accessible at one single place.

Moodle is designed to help educators create online courses with opportunities

for rich interaction. Its open source license and modular design means that

many people can develop additional functionality. The Moodle LMS supports

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on-line learning communities where a teacher makes activities for students to

use on-line. With Moodle the potential for classroom teachers and special

areas is profound. With educational theory as a backbone, unmatched price

and host of benefits, Moodle is an excellent choice to add on-line content.

Moodle as an ICT tool has many features expected from a learning platform

including: Forums, Content managing (resources), Quizzes with different

kinds of questions, Blogs, Wikis, Database activities, Surveys, Chat,

Glossaries, Peer assessment, Multi-language support (Dougiamas & Taylor,

2003; Moodle, 2013).

A study done by Siirak, (2011) to find out how students appreciate courses

provided in Moodle e-learning environment, found that students felt

encouraged and motivated to learn more, they felt that participating in Moodle

forums and other activities were very useful to learning.

3.3.2 Benefits of using MOODLE as an Open Source Software

LMS

Moodle is provided freely as Open Source software (under the GNU General

Public License). Basically this means Moodle is copyrighted, but that one can

have additional freedoms. For eg. 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 (Moodle, 2013). The open source movement has already

had a significant impact in the business world (Wheeler, 2003), and is now

drawing the attention of educators around the globe. Distance education is at

the forefront of using and creating open source applications in education.

Current advances in open source online learning environments are a response

to the shortcomings of commercial products like WebCT and Blackboard. One

such weakness is a lack of flexibility in designing and adding customized

learning modules. With commercial products one can only include elements

that the software designers deemed necessary when they developed the

program. With an open source learning environment it is possible to download

and use any learning module one might find on any open source software

website. This opens almost limitless capabilities for the user to customize the

application by choosing from a variety of options for email, discussion boards,

chat, online quizzes, and some other elements and features like templates for

the homepage, layout of editing features, etc. Further, as the open source

definition suggests, the actual code can be modified and improved to meet

individual needs. So, if the user decides that an open source module he or she

80

found is almost perfect, the code can be modified to meet his or her needs.

Look, feel and functionality can all be changed since the code can be easily

accessed and modified (Dougiamas & Taylor, 2003). This is particularly

important with seemingly continual decreases in funding for higher education.

All open source software, on the other hand, is available free of charge to

anyone who wants to use it. Shortcomings of commercial distance education

software have prompted the development of a number of open source online

learning environments such as MOODLE.

The MOODLE project indicates the growing interest of educators and open

source programmers in joining their efforts to improve the quality and reduce

the cost of education. Since it is distributed under the General Public License,

Moodle can be easily modified to meet individual needs. Further,

development, customization, and support are all completed as part of the

community effort to improve online teaching. This open source application

provides an effective and cost-efficient alternative to expensive commercial

software packages for those interested in joining the movement to provide

high quality constructivist-based educational experiences in the online

environment (Huseyln, Fezile, & Zehra, 2005).

The evidence gathered by the Learning Management System Evaluation

Committee at the University of North Carolina strongly favors a transition to

Moodle on both pedagogical and financial grounds (Currently they are using

Blackboard as LMS). In the Executive Summary report they have done an

extensive study not only on the total cost of operation of these two LMS but

taken a feedback from faculty and students on their experience in using

Moodle and Blackboard. The student feedback covered areas related to

perceptions, functionalities, tools, ease of use and the faculty responses to

assessment and grading tools, communication tools, organization tools,

interface, training and support, reliability, compatibility, migration and overall

preference of both Moodle and Blackboard LMS were studied. The committee

understands that transitions of this nature are burdensome, but its 18-month

reflection upon a wide variety of factors culminated in a renewed appreciation

Moodle provides better or comparable functionality with the benefit of

increased relevance and control for what in the long run will be lower cost. It

provides the best choice for meeting those challenges (Carbone, Mehta,

Powers, & Strahl, 2005).

Several studies have examined characteristics of various LMS and

recommended Moodle as LMS. Miyazoe (2008) reports a comparative study of

two LMSs (Blackboard Academic Suite 7.1 and Moodle 1.7.2) in four blended

81

courses of English for academic purposes at two different universities in

Tokyo. The courses used a semi-identical instructional design and LMS usage

for comparative purposes to make the most of synchronous oral interaction

and asynchronous written interaction in the target language. The post-course

questionnaire focusing on

online interaction, and LMS usability reveals that a higher usability of Moodle

over Blackboard in the course designs while the correlation analysis reveals

th

appreciation of the blended course delivery over traditional learning.

Bakharia & Obexer, (2005) technically reviewed basic characteristics of open

source learning management systems such as ATutor, ILIAS, Moodle, Sakai

and .LRN (dotLRN) as well as commercial learning management systems such

as Angel, Blackboard, Desire2Learn, and WebCT and have recommended

Moodle. Pandey & Pandey (2009) describe the approach to develop a course-

centered LMS system for the academic institutions and examine and study the

features of Moodle. They compare Moodle with other commercial software

such as Blackboard, eCollege, Angel LMS, and Desire2Learn and have also

recommended Moodle for academic institutions.

Hewagamage & Batpurev, (2007) used the LMS evaluation guide developed

by the Commonwealth of Learning (COL) in 2003 and compared 61 OSS and

commercial LMSs. Among these, the Moodle package has been the most

favourably ranked on the majority of COL criteria. They have strongly

recommended Moodle for use in Asian Distance Education. While the

corporate world can choose to purchase and support an enterprise-level LMS,

educational institutions often cannot afford such large investments.

Commercial LMS software are certainly too costly for typical Asian educational

institutions, and lack flexibility in terms of their customization potential. Cost-

free, open source software products are the best candidates for those

organizations.

Globally Moodle registered sites are 68131 as on 25th December 2013 across

235 countries. In India there are 808 sites total (out of which 275 are private

and not shown on the official Moodle website) that have reported using

Moodle as LMS (Moodle, 2013). Prominent IT educational institutions in India

like IGNOU, BITS-PILANI, IIT Mumbai, S.N.D. , TISS,

YCMOU have been extensively using Moodle as their LMS. In India, a number

of institutions are digitizing their course materials and a good number of open

courseware has been established (Majumder, & Sarma, 2010). Shrivastava,

Jain, & Sachan, (2013) used Moodle for their institute in India and have

proposed a methodology of how LMS Moodle features like forums, chats,

quizzes and assignment can be used to provide an interactive and interesting

82

way of learning. A study done by Goyal, (2009) to investigate IITB students'

perceptions of the use of LMS Moodle in their engineering/science courses,

found that students largely perceive the recorded videos and the interactivity

provided by Moodle as being productive for their learning. Their responses

towards the classroom environment were mixed, a significant problem being

the lack of perceived spontaneity in the classroom.

As far as Moodle is concerned, it is not only freeware thus beating all

commercial products in terms of price but also open source thus possessing

greater vitality, as educators and volunteers from around the world constantly

rejuvenate it and renovate it (Berggren, Burgos, Fontana, Hinkelman, Hung,

Hursh, & Tielemans, 2005). Open source freeware also helps customers to

vendor for products and services that he or she cannot move to another

&

Munro, 2004). Commercial software imposes a large financial burden not only

in initial stages but also in subsequent stages as the software makers always

find innovative ways of charging customers with new releases and updates.

Freeware, on the other hand, imposes no such burden, though it too may

require some inevitable expenses related to hardware and professional

support.

3.3.3 Use of MOODLE as LMS in the present study

There have been a lot of reviews reported on LMS selection and evaluation.

However, research related to current practices in technology integration in

higher education shows that available resources, such as an LMS, are not fully

applied (Allen & Seaman, 2010; Morgan & Hill, 2005). Though LMS has been

proven as beneficial to student learning, it has been debated on how LMS can

be used further as a means to better engage the learners. The challenge is

not only instructors make an effort to integrate LMS into instruction and class

activity, but also instructors have to realize how to engage students with the

meaningful learning experiences enhanced by the integration of LMS tools,

and to support the transition of eLearning and mLearning (anywhere and

anytime) to uLearning (ubiquitous learning) environments where learning

occurs everywhere and every time. Consideration toward teaching and

learning pedagogy, access and flexibility, and cost effectiveness are suggested

for higher education institutions in integrating LMS into their teaching and

learning (Monsakul, 2007).

83

All these efforts definitely call for a need to explore the various avenues

thrown open by LMS. A comprehensive LMS like Moodle will not only facilitate

-learning, during learning and post learning

stage but also offer him/her an enjoyable and satisfying learning experience.

Moodle is a great tool for teachers as a platform to save

and archive teaching material easily as well as a collaborative platform for

& Meskill

(2000) claims that the key to successful use of technology in teaching lies not

in hardware or software but in human ware, Moodle itself does not promote

learning or teaching on its own so that its effectiveness definitely lies in the

The effectiveness of the Moodle features like Discussion Forum, Chat,

Glossary, Assignment and Quiz need to be studied. The researcher hence aims

to harness potential features in the LMS-Moodle so as to create an engaging

and motivating environment for the student to learn.

3.3.4 Limitations of MOODLE

Moodle does have limitations, notably it lacks SCORM support, and its roles

and permissions systems are limited. However these problems can be fixed,

and are part of the project roadmap (Moodle, 2013). Moodle simply does not

look polished enough to compete in a market where the incumbent offerings

are so much visually richer. While colour schemes in Moodle can be changed

quickly, experience shows that more serious design changes are time-

consuming. Only administrators can alter the look and feel of the website

through the theme mechanism. There is no user-level control of look and feel.

Moodle also offers very limited roles; hard-coded implementation; limited

ownership of courses. Moodle provides an activity log, but only registers

successful operations; as such it is only useful for monitoring of expected

activity. Operational errors are logged with the server log. Moodle offers

limited or no support for text-only navigation. Images in Moodle lack ALT

texts; navigation does not provide hidden links nor keyboard shortcuts. Some

links use ambiguous link texts. Moodle offers some good language

compatibility although some development may be needed for robust handling

of MathML and enhanced tracking features. Despite some of these drawbacks

Moodle is still a highly recommended Open Source LMS (Al-Ajlan, 2012;

Bradley et al, 2007; Stewart, et al. (2007); Dougiamas, 2004).

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Moodle users frequently complain about the troubles they experience with

customizations. Efficient customization in Moodle requires some knowledge in

programming and coding. Assessment abilities are limited in Moodle, and

there are some space issues. For instance, there are a few blocks on displayed

pages that do not allow administrators to insert content there. These are the

main disadvantages of using Moodle that many complain or comment on, but

there are others of lesser importance. One of the biggest issues with Moodle is

its inability to support large projects. As more users use the platform the

slower it runs causing performance issues for larger institutions. This can

make it difficult for users who are trying to review content or take

tests. Although Moodle is primarily meant for delivering course content,

administrators feel that providing some type of communication would be an

effective approach for providing feedback and guidance to users (Fisher,

2011).

3.4 Conclusion

There is no debate regarding the necessity for developing well designed

learning activities to facilitate student learning. However, there is a scarcity of

resources available that can readily assist teachers in rapidly evaluating

learning progress and behaviour in order to better design learning activities to

provide a more personalised and relevant learning environment. In this

context, recent advances in academic analytics (for e.g. Harmelen &

Workman, 2012; Campbell & Oblinger, 2007; Dawson, McWilliam, & Tan,

2008; Goldstein & Katz, 2005; Phillips, 2006) offer educators new insights

into student learning and possibly individual student motivations. These

studies aimed to further contribute to the field of academic analytics by

investigating the relationship between student online learning behaviour and

individual student achievement orientations. The findings from these studies

suggest that patterns of student participation within discussion forum types

can be used as an indicator of student achievement orientations. By

identify with the underlying motivations driving student participation in

teaching units. Consequently educators are better equipped with the

information necessary to design highly engaging online learning resources.

highlights the continuing transition in the higher education market for

Learning Management Systems (LMS). The survey addresses the leading

commercial and open source tools. Open source software is sometimes

85

code must not only be free, but others must be given the right to modify and

redistribute it for free. It also must not restrict the functionality of other

software and must be technology neutral (Miranda, 2012).

The biggest challenge faced in higher education in developing countries is the

provision of quality higher education to the greatest number at the lowest

possible cost. LMSs are at the forefront of online technologies making a

serious impression on patterns of learning and teaching in higher education

(Coates, 2006). A developing country like India can definitely look to using an

LMS like Moodle for higher education. Moreover having LMS-Moodle integrated

with the EDUSAT (India's first thematic satellite dedicated exclusively for

educational services) programme of the Government of India would definitely

be a great advantage (EDUSAT, 2013). The seamless access, flexible

schedules, quality content and inclusive delivery mechanisms provided in

MOODLE-LMS have enormous potential to increase the scale of access and, in

that process, bring down the cost of higher education for the individual

learner.

The aim is to create learning environments centered on students as learners

and a belief that they learn more from what they do and think about rather

than from what they are told. If the aim is to offer new learning opportunities,

or to improve the way in which current learning activities are implemented,

then the overall effectiveness of learning environments and episodes is of

paramount concern, not whether they are more effective with or without

computers. It is important that the ever changing nature of computer-based

technology not overshadow the enduring nature of learning and the solid and

ever increasing base of knowledge about learning. This knowledge is not

superseded by new technologies; rather, it can inform the use of new

technologies when applied to learning (Means, Toyama, Murphy, Bakia, &

Jones, 2010).

As more and more teachers in tertiary education experiment with technology,

looking for new ways of enhancing their traditional ways of teaching, the need

of flexible tools able to support well planned blended learning scenarios

emerges. Learning Management Systems, especially those which are based on

open source software, have shown to be very helpful in reaching this goal.

Nevertheless, technology alone is not sufficient because teachers have to

understand beforehand the potentials it offers in order to be able to use it

effectively in redesigning their educational scenarios (Georgoulli, Skalikidis, &

Guerreiro, 2008). The importance of interpersonal contacts is rising. Blended

learning by using the Moodle e-learning environment is very effective tool for

university education. Blended learning in the Moodle e-learning environment

is one of the very perspective solutions for lifelong learning. The courses on

86

which the online and face-to-face delivery is blended will have the

predominant role in the future.

In closing, due to the rapid technological changes taking place in society,

(Anderson & Blackwell, 2004). Future studies suggest that mobile devices,

such as tablets, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and smart phones, and the

use of different modes of communication such as SMS messaging, are the way

of the future. These new technologies and programs require ongoing staff

training. The LMS might need to adapt to catch up to popular technology to

become more usable for future students (Nasser, Cherif, & Romanowski,

2011).

experience as a teacher educator; the researcher felt a need to explore the

effectiveness of Moodle-LMS on student engagement, motivation and their

academic performance.