Child Care and Moodle

The hardest thing I had to do this week was to convince my 4 year-old to stay inside. He had a cold and missed daycare, so I got to babysit him while mom went to work and ran some errands. Ray wasn't aware that he was sick and wanted to get outside for some scooter riding, a trip to the park, and a walk around the neighborhood. Luckily it was raining. I bundled him up, gave him an umbrella, and we hung around under the car port. Ray soon became bored with riding the scooter around in small circles and we headed back inside for some indoor activities. We watched a video, drank some orange juice, and then we took turns chasing each other around with cardboard swords.

At work I've been fooling around with Moodle, an open source class management system (CMS). In the interest of avoiding confusion, you could also refer to Moodle as a Virtual Learning System (VLS), a Learning Management System (LMS), or an e-learning system. Take your pick.

Moodle is OS independent. To use it you'll need a web server, like Apache, that supports PHP, and a database such as MySQL or PostgreSQL. Installation is almost automatic: all Moodle needs is an empty database to connect with.

Moodle is quite robust and has all the bells and whistles you 'd expect. All assignments, quizzes, and other classroom activities go into the database and can be graded automatically. It also supports forums, chat, and numerous other functions, which are referred to a modules. It looks rather plain, Your first impression is of a lot of text with minimal graphics. My students wouldn't like it because of a lack of multimedia appeal. Moodle can be modified to fit your audience though, and it is free. If you need something like this, and you have the time to kick the tires and take it for a test drive, it's worth a look. The Moodle website has documentation and classes to help you get started.