Free Software Favourites #4 – Moodle

If you are looking for a stable, school-wide package for producing online course pages then Moodle may be for you.  I’ve used a commercial product that is similar to Moodle and found it very useful.  If you are familiar with Blackboard or MyClasses then you will know what to expect from Moodle. 

If non of this is maing sense yet, then consider Moodle to be an online folder for storing all the resources you or your students need for s subject, course or unit.  As the administartor, you get to choose who can see the content you put online.  

So what are the advantages of Moodle?  By having information available to students 24/7,  students are able to access it at a time and place that suits them.  Teachers who have tracked studnet access to their information have been staggered by the times that students are completeing school work.  Easy access to course work also means that students and parents can be reminded electronically of work requirements and due dates.  If you put work sheets online you also put an end to the old excuse of “I lost my sheet”, because they know that they could access the sheet by other means.

Moodle is as powerful and/or complex as the teacher who is using it.  Check out the Moodle demonstration page to see whether it is useful for you and your class.