Is Moodle the ‘volvo’ of VLEs?
I have been using Moodle at our school for about 2 years now. I like it and have spent a lot of time learning how to use it. However I am finding it difficult to get the rest of the staff on board. I realise that time for training is an issue, but I also think that some of the functionality isn’t instinctive. The video below sort of sums up moodle at the moment (apologies for bad language at the beginning).
I have also just read the excellent article on different VLEs by @andykemp which can be found here . It raises some interesting questions regarding the VLE options as well as how best to integrate them into schools.
We went for Moodle, because we like to have control of the server, host locally and therefore be in control when or if it goes wrong. This has meant that one technician and I have had to learn shed loads to make sure it all runs smoothly. This is fine as long as neither of us goes…
I am also seeing lots of other VLE options appearing that look at lot more user friendly and give a lot of tech support. This will obviously come at a cost. But if staff can adopt it more easily and use it then it might well be worth it.
I didn’t manage to get the Moodlemoot09, so am so far unaware of the changes being developed for Moodle 2.0. I am hoping that it is going to be extremely user friendly and less ‘boxy’. When you have a VLE like edu2.0 saying ‘edu2.0 is like a Mac, Moodle is like a PC’ you have to wonder why. There are also other great VLE options that are easy and simple to use. I quite like edmodo and if I was a Primary school teacher I would defintely consider using it.
Frog, seems to be becoming the next big comercial VLE that people are talking about. I haven’t seen a demo, but the website looks fantastic and once again it look easy to use and can be hosted locally. So do you pay a technician to run moodle or pay Frog to run their VLE????
As a school we also use SLG to enable staff acess to SIMs. This will also be used as our parent and student gateway. I know that SLG has the potential to be a VLE. This may be a tad clunky, but at least the pupil info will seemlessly link with SIMs. Our Moodle is not yet linked with SIMs annd our MIS coordinator would rather it did. So would I. It would be great to assign sets to different course and if a pupil changed sets, it would be automatically picked up. Can moodle do this? Will Moodle do this?
So I am sort of sitting on a VLE fence. Should I stick with Moodle now and persevere with staff training and induction or go for an alternate option like frog or SLG?
Thanks for the link to my writeup, I’m glad you found it useful… In answer to the Frog issue, they remotely manage your server (which is stored on site) so all upgrades etc are carried out by them. I beleive they also provide physical technical support when neccessary (but I’m not certain…)
Also it is possible to do some SIMS integration with moodle via the CLEO tool:
http://cleo.net.uk/index.php?category_id=618
Is Moodle the volvo of VLEs? I like it and I take your point
But… you have to remember one of the main pros of Moodle is that it is driven by a community constantly thriving to improve its functionality – for pedagogical, not commercial reasons. So when Moodle lacks something (better MIS integration etc) you can be sure someone somewhere will be working on it and that it WILL happen. I know what you mean about Moodle not being intuitive but a lot depends on how you present it to staff and train them (hey – get ME down to train your teachers!) There are plenty of moodle themes available to make it look prettier and it really IS worth persevering with. I keep saying this everywhere I go but my experience is that people are going away from commercial VLEs and coming to Moodle because of its customisability (is that a word?) Moodle 2.0 is going to make a big difference – and what a shame you couldn’t get to the Moot.
I’d also look again at how you’re training staff. We had Kaleidos a few years ago, which we ditched for Moodle and the take up problems are the same – most staff do not have the time to playing around with things that they do not see directly affect their day to day teaching / marking, which for most staff take up more hours than there are in a day anyway.
Some ideas that we’re trying / are about to try:
All staff must have an ICT related objective linked to their performance management. Many of these will link through to Moodle in the final term
I have set up courses for each department and I’m working 1:1 with named members of the department to get some stuff up there
We’ve got a load of web-based resources that we’re being plugged into to courses by staff. We’re in the process of installing MrCute to give students searchable access to these.
Departments will be strongly encouraged to build Moodle into their planning for the new GCSE specs. This seems like a perfect opportunity to give them a real reason to use it!
We’ll be using Moodle to deliver all the twlighlight ICT training next half term – modelling is important when it comes to Moodling!
:0)
Tomaz Lasic has some great ideas about how to get staff using technology to enhance their teaching. His blog is http://human.edublogs.org/. Tomaz is a Moodle evangelist, but a lot of what he says would apply to any technology.
Interesting points about Moodle. I have to confess that I don’t often see a Moodle site whose design I like. They seem to shriek functionality rather than beauty and in an age where getting students to use the VLE is vital – we considered this essential. I’m sure Mary has designed and seen many good Moodle sites, and in line with that, Andy and I have discussed the idea of getting guest logins to some of the different types of VLE’s, so that we can get the ‘look’ and ‘feel’ of some of the better ones.
I’ve played around with Sharepoint, Fronter and Frog – never with Moodle. So many people support Moodle, so there has to be more in it besides the fact that it’s free (?) and part of a large community which develops it.
Although Frog might be in the VLE market for profit, I’ve always felt as if I’m part of their community, and they always entertain any specific requests we have. This has included designing and linking our daily and calendar notices to the digital signage.
Fronter clunked. Sharepoint had its Microsoft pluses, but like Moodle, would have required a dedicated tech person to ensure its setup and maintenance. Perhaps the realistic consideration of a VLE is whether you are in a position to secure trained tech support and help, or whether development of the VLE is only a part of your overall role in a school. Its unfair to lumber the Network Manager with the responsibility for the VLE, but with a solution similar to Frog, it should be entirely possible for an Elearning or ICT Director and the Network Manager to put the basic structure together.
Is, or will Edmodo be powerful enough to grow to rival VLE’s like Frog? Will it remain free? I once met a Junior School teacher who said that all a VLE needs is a WordPress blog and Google docs. If only those two tools are used effectively, then its a good VLE – but its not enough for me and where I want to be able to take our school.
Whilst we have worked hard to create a reasonably friendly Moodle site it is still quite clunky ( but we are a boys school of 11 – 18 and perhaps clunky is OK ?? ). I can say that this year we are getting more hits from students out of school hours with over 300 (out of 800) logging onto Moodle one Sunday which I think is quite good.
We have worked hard to customise Modle with our own plugins and hacks to modules – we now offer pupils access to home directories through Moodle and automatic sign-on in school. The teacher gradebook even identifies all of the SEN pupils for staff and informs them of a student’s report ( great for OFSTED / ISI ). It is this ability to play/customise Moodle that is one of it’s powers.
However who would look after Moodle if I left…. would it just fall apart.
I love the philosophy of Moodle but it seems less usable for non ict literte teachers than Frog. Fronter have good functionality but its inflexible and not that user friedly. Sharepoint and Kaleidos did not appeal at all. I wanted to host locally so if the web went down we could still teach lessons. This is vital if you want staff to make the VLE a central tool for teaching and learning.
Ive rolled out Frog at my school and am very happy with it.
The tools are extremely user friendly and unthreatening for teachers to adopt (although multiple training opportunities are still vital to get staff to adopt it). It uploads all multimedia very very easily in all formats. Web page building is drag and drop. A killer app for teachers is the ability to quick issue and collect in uploaded work. Students who have not handed it in are easy to see on summary pages and i personally have saved a lot of time that i used to spend just flicking through paper folders to see if something had been printed and handed in. When negotiating with Frog it is worth doing so as a Federation of schools. Frog are not the cheapest but will negotiate if you push hard and bring them multiple clients. Once on board the very best thing about frog is they take ownership of any problems. Even as they are growing fast its clear that supporting customers is central to their business model. Any ict project like this will have teething problems. Im glad to say that they have supported me to resolve these innetiviable issues.