Pros and Cons of Moodle Course Management System

Posted by: WH13 Administrator on April 28, 2013 Under: Articles

Making an informed decision on whether or not to opt for Moodle over the rest of the LMSs (Learning Management Systems) accessible in the market can be challenging and confusing. It even becomes more difficult if you lack experience and expertise in Moodle. However, the decision making process can be simplified by weighing the pros against the cons. Listed below, are the pros and cons of opting to use Moodle Couse Management System over other applications:

The Pros

Open Source

The fact that Moodle is an open source software means that you can download and install it in your computer at no extra cost. Moreover, once you have studied the codes used on Moodle, you can opt to customize them to suit your needs. The amount of money you would have spent in buying a CMS tool can be used in doing other things that will enhance your site.

Unlimited Users

One of the factors which you need to take into consideration when looking for the most suitable CMS (Content Management System), Learning Portal or Learning Management System is the number of online users that are already using the tool. There are hundreds of thousands of online users worldwide that are using Moodle. This in turn gives you the much needed peace of mind that the tool is effective and reliable.

Furthermore, the more users that a course management system has the more help you will get from the online community when experiencing issues.

Availability of Learning Tutorials

Learning Moodle has been made relatively easy thanks to the availability of learning tutorials accessible on the web. Perhaps this has been occasioned by the huge online community that offers their ideas on how to use the course management system.

Availability of Plug-Ins

There are hundreds of plug-ins and extensions available online which you can use to enhance the functionality of a Moodle-based website. Then again, most of the plug-ins are plug-and-play, which means that installation is a breeze.

The Cons

While there is no doubt that Moodle Course Management System is a great tool, it does present a number of challenges. For instance:

Usability

You need to have technical skills in order to use Moodle. Whereas there are numerous online resources that you can use to learn how to use the application, it is not as simple as learning to use WordPress, Drupal or Joomla. Therefore, if you are not the kind of person that likes spending a lot of time online learning how to use a particular application, then you may not find Moodle friendly.

Compatibility

When using Moodle on different browsers such as Chrome, Mozilla, Safari and IE, you will experience a difference in consistency. This in turn requires extra programming work in order to ensure that Moodle is compatible with different web browsers.

Complex Interface

The user interface is not only confusing, but less user-friendly. This in turn makes it extremely difficult for a layman to use the course management system.

Compare Hosting Company with Moodle included