Genre: Information/Explanation

With customizable management features , it is used to create private websites with online courses for educators and trainers to achieve learning goals . Moodle ( acronym for modular object-oriented dynamic learning environment ) allows for extending and tailoring learning environments using community sourced plugins . Moodle was originally developed by Martin Dougiamas to help educators create online courses with a focus on interaction and collaborative construction of content , and it is in continual evolution . The first version of Moodle was released on 20 August 2002 . Nowadays the Moodle Project is led and coordinated by Moodle HQ , an Australian company of 30 developers which is financially supported by a network of eighty four Moodle Partner service companies worldwide . Moodle's development has also been assisted by the work of open-source programmers . Moodle as a learning platform can enhance existing learning environments . As an E-learning tool , Moodle has a wide range of standard and innovative features such as calendar and Gradebook . Moodle is a leading virtual learning environment and can be used in many types of environments such as education , training and development and in business settings . Plugins are a flexible tool set , allowing Moodle users to extend the features of the site . There are hundreds of plugins for Moodle , extending the features of Moodle's core functionality . Each plugin is maintained in the Moodle plugins directory . As of April 2015 , there are over 1,000 plugins available for Moodle with over 7 million downloads . Graphical themes for Moodle can be installed to change the look and functionality of a Moodle site or of an individual course . Moodle has been translated in over 100 languages , available for any site administrator to install . People in various countries maintain and contribute to the various language packs . Moodle has adopted the following e-learning standards : Sharable Content Object Reference Model ( SCORM ) is a collection of elearning standards and specifications that define communications between client side content and a server side learning management system , as well as how externally authored content should be packaged in order to integrate with the LMS effectively . There are two versions : SCORM 1.2 and SCORM 2004 . Moodle is SCORM 1.2 compliant , and passes all the tests in the ADL Conformance test suite 1.2.7 for SCORM 1.2 . SCORM 2004 is not supported in Moodle , however Rustici Software have a Moodle plugin which can turn any Moodle site into a fully compliant SCORM 2004 LMS . The AICC HACP standard for CMI was developed by the Aviation Industry Computer-Based Training Committee ( AICC ) and is used to call externally authored content and assessment packages . AICC content packages are supported in Moodle 2.1 and later versions . IMS Content Packages can also be imported into Moodle . In addition , Moodle Book activities can be exported as IMS Content Packages . Learning Tools Interoperability ( LTI ) is a standard way of integrating rich learning applications ( often remotely hosted and provided through third-party services ) with educational platforms . Moodle uses the External Tool activity to act as an ' LTI consumer ' as standard , and will act as an ' LTI provider ' using a plugin . Users can download and install Moodle on a Web server , such as Apache HTTP Server , and a number of database management systems , such as PostgreSQL , are supported . Pre-built combinations of Moodle with a Web server and database are available for Microsoft Windows and Macintosh . Other automated installation approaches exist , such as installing a Debian package , deploying a ready-to-use TurnKey Moodle appliance , using the Bitnami installer , or using a " one-click install " service such as Installatron . Certified Moodle Partners provide other Moodle services , including hosting , training , customization and content development . This network of providers support development of the Moodle project through royalties . Moodle runs without modification on Unix , Linux , FreeBSD , Windows , OS X , NetWare and any other systems that support PHP and a database , including webhost providers . Moodle also has import features for use with other specific systems , such as importing quizzes or entire courses from Blackboard or WebCT . As of February 2010 , Moodle will not import Blackboard courses , apparently due to changes in php code-releases . In March 2012 Blackboard acquired two companies based on Moodle's software including Baltimore-based Moodlerooms Inc. and NetSpot of Adelaide , Australia . In August 2015 , Blackboard acquired Colombia-based Nivel7 , possibly the largest Moodle services provider in Latin America . The Red Hat site , Opensource.com , reports that Moodle will always be an open source project , with clear delineation between Blackboard and Moodle . For many schools , colleges and universities , SIMS integration is key to ensure a seamless data flow from the Management Information System through to the Learning Platform and back again . Many Learning Platforms do not enable write-back functionality , however this is often a key requirement from schools needing to write data onto their MIS and back again . Martin Dougiamas , who has graduate degrees in computer science and education , wrote the first version of Moodle . Dougiamas started a Ph.D. to examine " the use of open source software to support a social constructionist epistemology of teaching and learning within Internet-based communities of reflective inquiry . " Although how exactly social constructionism makes Moodle different from other eLearning platforms is difficult to show , it has been cited as an important factor by Moodle adopters . Other Moodle adopters , such as the Open University in the UK , have pointed out that Learning Management Systems can equally be seen as " relatively pedagogy-neutral " . The stated philosophy of Moodle includes a constructivist and social constructionist approach to education , emphasizing that learners ( and not just teachers ) can contribute to the educational experience . Using these pedagogical principles , Moodle provides an environment for learning communities . The acronym Moodle stands for modular object-oriented dynamic learning environment . ( In the early years the " m " stood for " Martin's " , named after Martin Dougiamas , the original developer ) . As well as being an acronym , the name was chosen because of the dictionary definition of Moodle and to correspond to an available domain name . Moodle has continued to evolve since 1999 ( since 2001 with the current architecture ) . It has been translated into over 100 different languages and is accessible in many countries worldwide . Institutions can add as many Moodle servers as needed without having to pay license fees . The Open University of the UK currently uses a Moodle installation for their 200,000 users while the UK government uses a Moodle installation for their Civil Service Learning platform serving half a million employees . Grading improvements , auto-login , sign-up improvements and SSO , new notification preferences A MoodleMoot is a conference for Moodle community members , held to learn about Moodle , share experiences of the learning platform , discuss research in related educational technologies and contribute ideas to future Moodle development . Held around the world , MoodleMoots are organised by universities or other large organisations using Moodle , Moodle Partners , Moodle associations or Moodle HQ . In the higher education market in the United States as of fall 2013 , Moodle is the second largest provider with 23 % market share , following Blackboard ( 41 % ) , with Desire2Learn ( 11 % ) and Instructure as number three and four providers .