Moodle moves in

Trading up. It exists in virtually all aspects of life, the primary goal being to get something better than what is already had.

The University is in the process of transferring to Moodle, a user-friendly Learning Management System (LMS) which allows students more interaction between each other and the professor.

“Moodle is similar to other LMSs,” Professor Martin Dulberg, senior coordinator for Distance Education and Learning Technology Applications (DELTA), said. Dulberg’s responsibilities include keeping the switching process going and analyzing it with the initial goal of offering Moodle at production level for the spring.

Dulberg arrived at DELTA in February 2009 while the Moodle Pilot team was in the process of evaluating Moodle as an LMS. The Moodle Pilot team consists of representatives from DELTA, CALS, College of Natural Resources and the College of Education. One reason for the change is that the current Blackboard Vista system will be going away.

“The Blackboard company stopped upgrading, and they won’t support the Blackboard Vista product at its current level after next year. Our license expires in summer 2011,” Dulberg said.

Dulberg said their committees looked at different options that were open-source and came from third-party vendors. The main goal is to use one LMS for the entire campus, folding in both current Blackboard Vista and WolfWare users into one system, which will ultimately be called “WolfWare.”

Four thousand institutions are using Moodle. The Moodle Pilot team has examined how other universities have made the switch to the system.

“UNC Charlotte and Asheville have switched over, and other UNC schools are also considering making the move,” Dulberg said.

The entire system won’t change until summer 2011, when Vista will completely cease to exist. Three semesters will be given for the changeover, encompassing spring 2010, fall 2010 and spring 2011. If a new course is developed during this time frame, it will be done through Moodle.

The plan is to first migrate Vista users onto Moodle for one-and-a-half years while maintaining WolfWare. The initial goal is to have WolfWare powered by Moodle Beta for production-level usage by January 2010. WolfWare users will be migrated when file management tools, and other WolfWare tools not currently in Moodle, are implemented into Moodle.

“WolfWare is flexible with file management, and we need a drag-and-drop file to mimic the WolfWare functionality,” Dulberg said.

The current version of WolfWare is running on surplus hardware which Sun Systems is no longer manufacturing. The operating system is unable to be upgraded, and the committee is working with a limited amount of time before users will need to be migrated from the current WolfWare system.

Dulberg said that the committee was looking for a system that would suit changing needs.

“Rather than a revolution every five to eight years, we want the product customized for students and faculty,” Dulberg said. Moodle was deemed the best bet for adapting and customizing to meet educational needs.

A DELTA survey of State students shows that 89-percent used LMS for at least one class, making it an essential part of the learning process.

Dulberg said maintenance fees, hardware and support costs comprise the cost of an enterprise-wide LMS.

“We expect to save approximately $130,000 per year on the hardware costs associated with running Moodle on our campus servers because Moodle is not as resource-intensive as Blackboard Vista,” Dulberg said.

In comparison, the University pays around $100,000 a year for Blackboard Vista maintenance.

“We also expect to save approximately $130,000 per year on the hardware costs associated with running Moodle on our campus servers because Moodle is not as resource intensive as Blackboard Vista,” Dulberg said.

Dulberg also has experience from the other end of Moodle, since he has used it when teaching previous classes. Dulberg teaches CSC 114, Introduction to Computing C++, through distance education. His first semester using Moodle in spring 2009 was “terrible” because Dulberg was trying to figure out how to structure his numerous files in a system with lots of choices.

“There was a lot of confusion over the Moodle structure. I had a week-by-week format and so many links it became confusing,” Dulberg said.

Dulberg retooled the site for his summer class, abandoning week-by-week in favor of modules.

“The modules are of varying lengths, and there’s a better sense of continuity for the student. They work a lot better in finding old information,” Dulberg said.

The drastic change has lead to beneficial results.

“Students are doing well on assignments and tests, and they seem to be happier. I get about half as much email as before,” Dulberg said.

Faculty members are also positive about their experiences using Moodle.

“Moodle allows more control over the structure and performance of the material since it is an open-source application, and the visual design allows consistency and is attractive,” Kimberly Ange, lecturer in animal science, said.

Dr. Maria Correa, associate professor of epidemiology, had previously tried using WebCT, the previous incarnation of Blackboard Vista, and had difficulty using it. She prefers Moodle because it was easy to get started using.

“You can try more complex page development as you learn other programs or new ways to do things,” Correa said.

After using Vista and hating it, Chris Hofelt, teaching assistant professor in toxicology, began looking for alternatives. The CALS IT department started up a Moodle pilot, and Hofelt began using it.