Moodle for Windows

Free, open-source CMS

Moodle is a free course management system (CMS) that allows users to create online learning sites. Also known as  Learning Management System (LMS) or Virtual Learning Environment (VLE), this app is used for blended learning, distance education, flipped classroom, and other e-learning projects. It comes with customizable management features to support your education and training needs. More, it allows you to extend and tailor your environments using plugins. 

About Moodle

Moodle is an acronym for Modular Object-Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment. It is a cloud-based learning management solution that helps users—business or educational institutions—create their private websites for custom selection or course. It comes with the necessary tools for managing online courses, a large student database, activity module (forums or wikis), assignments, or quizzes. 

The program also includes data backup, contact management, activity tracking, and an in-built calendar. More it has a messaging function that students can use to resolve queries related to their ongoing courses. Additionally, it offers mobile applications enabling students to get notifications of upcoming events and access offline courses. 

As an added advantage, Moodle facilitates integration with third-party apps, such as Google Apps, Microsoft Office 365, and NextCloud. You can also extend the features of your site by adding plugins. Moodle has hundreds of available plugins that you can use. The software maintained each plugin in its directory, so you can look for something that you need. 

Due to its GNU General Public License, Moodle is and will remain free to download, use, and change. Of course, there are costs if you have it hosted with someone. To install it, you need a little more knowledge. Don’t worry, though. There are tons of guidance available.

Moodle’s Achilles heel

Moodle is an app packed with great functionality, making it one of the most popular LMS available today. However, despite this, there are still caveats that users—especially beginners—will need to consider. The biggest of all is its clunky interface. If you are used to WordPress’s sophisticated UI, then you are in for a challenge with Moodle’s raw and outdated one. 

The app lacks appeal, and users will have a challenge in familiarizing themselves with the app due to its lack of structure. It is time-consuming to set up since it is difficult to find stuff within it. The raw interface it has makes the learning curve way to steep. 

Additionally, Moodle has way too many options, which often confuses new users. It would be better if there are easy options to access pages that users are looking for. The app could use links categorized in the sidebars, custom menus, configured widgets, or links to import pages or settings.

Helpful app for educators

All in all, Moodle is a helpful app for educational institutions, especially in this day and age. The app has an impressive feature that helps in creating dynamic online learning websites. More, it provides users with the ability to extend its features using plugins and integrations with third-party apps. It needs a cleaner and more user-friendly interface, but in terms of capabilities, it is certainly worth using.