Exploring Moodle's potential for enhancing teaching and learning in primary and secondary education.
With over 2000 active sites in 96 countries, Moodle is one of the fastest growing Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs) today. The system can be used to create fully online distance courses, or to support face-to-face teaching activities. Moodle is Open Source software, which means that it is free to download, use, modify and distribute (under the terms of the GNU General Public License). Moodle's diverse user base includes individual educators; Primary and Secondary schools; Further and Higher education institutions; community organisations; and commercial companies. The design of the system is guided by social constructionist pedagogy, with a strong emphasis on community building and knowledge construction. This paper will examine Moodle's potential as a collaborative environment to support and enhance teaching and learning in primary and secondary education. Moodle and its features will introduced from both teacher and student perspectives, and examples of its use will be demonstrated.
Morag Munro is a Learning Technology Project officer at Dublin City University (DCU). She has been involved in the pedagogical and technical design, development and delivery of technology-based learning since 1998. Current activities include: support and promotion of Moodle; provision of face-to-face and online training and support on e-learning technology and pedagogy; research into emerging technologies and pedagogical methodologies relating to teaching and learning; and contributing to DCU's MSc in Education and Training Management.