Murdoch Uni picks local program to manage online learning
The institution will replace its Blackboard system with the open-source Moodle - hosted by Adelaide-based company Netspot - in the second half of this year. Curiously, Netspot was acquired by proprietary vendor Blackboard in 2012.
Moodle, a course management system, was originally created in Australia by Martin Dougiamas, with the first version released in 2002. It is estimated there are more than 60 million students worldwide using Moodle, with more than 70,000 individual installations. It is often used by single lecturers or faculties, but Murdoch University is introducing it across all courses.
The university's director of library and information services, Liz Burke, said keeping pace with innovation in ICT was a challenge for all higher-education providers.
"In terms of the technology space, we have done innovative things over time but things can change so rapidly," Ms Burke said. "Three or five years ago you may have been a leader, but before you know it you can be really old hat.
"We have so many teaching periods as we teach year round and we have students in almost every conceivable time zone. So we were piloting our Moodle implementation with that group and are going live with the remainder of the university in the second half of this year."
While Moodle will allow academics to carry out the now-standard action of delivering their learning materials electronically, the university is also mulling the not-so-common option of electronic examinations.
Conducting electronic exams in an online world has its challenges but Ms Burke says they are not insurmountable. Murdoch expects to conduct a trial next year.
Frequently Asked Questions about this Article…
Murdoch University is replacing its Blackboard system with the open-source learning management system Moodle. The university plans to go live with Moodle across the remainder of the university in the second half of this year after completing its pilot.
Moodle will be hosted for Murdoch by Adelaide-based company Netspot. The article notes the curious detail that Netspot was acquired by proprietary vendor Blackboard in 2012, making the hosting arrangement notable in the context of a move to open-source software.
Moodle is an open-source course management system originally created in Australia by Martin Dougiamas, with the first version released in 2002. The article estimates more than 60 million students worldwide use Moodle across more than 70,000 individual installations.
According to Liz Burke, Murdoch's director of library and information services, keeping pace with ICT innovation is a challenge for higher-education providers because technology can change rapidly. The university is adopting Moodle to support year-round teaching and students across many time zones and to keep its online learning systems current.
Murdoch is considering the option of electronic examinations. The article says conducting electronic exams in an online world has challenges but they are not insurmountable, and the university expects to conduct a trial of electronic exams next year.
Murdoch piloted its Moodle implementation with a group of students who represent the university's year-round teaching and wide range of time zones, and then planned to go live with the remainder of the university in the second half of the year.
The article frames Murdoch's choice of open-source Moodle as a huge vote of confidence for the niche player (Moodle) and highlights the curious fact that Netspot—the Moodle host—was acquired by Blackboard in 2012. The piece presents the move as an indicator of interest in open-source options among higher education institutions.
Liz Burke said that innovation in ICT is a constant challenge for higher-education providers: technologies can change so rapidly that an institution can be a leader one year and 'really old hat' a few years later. She emphasized the university's need to support students across many time zones and year-round teaching schedules, which informed the Moodle rollout strategy.
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