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PHP Programming Language - OpenLibra

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Moodle 137<br />

show, it has been cited as an important factor by Moodle adopters [9] [10] . Other Moodle adopters, such as the Open<br />

University in the UK, have pointed out that Learning Management Systems can equally be seen as "relatively<br />

pedagogy-neutral" [11] .<br />

The wiki part of the software was forked from ErfurtWiki. [12]<br />

Pedagogical approach<br />

The stated philosophy of Moodle [13] includes a constructivist and social constructionist approach to education,<br />

emphasizing that learners (and not just teachers) can contribute to the educational experience. However, there are no<br />

peer-reviewed studies comparing Moodle to other learning management systems, such as Sakai or Blackboard, that<br />

find that Moodle provides a more constructivist environment than any other system. Moreover, a comparison of<br />

features between Moodle and other comparable systems shows that Moodle does not provide substantially different<br />

tools or functions from other open-source or commercial learning management systems.<br />

Moodle does not necessitate a constructivist teaching approach. Constructivism is sometimes seen as at odds with<br />

accountability-focused ideas about education, such as the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) in the United States .<br />

Accountability stresses tested outcomes, not teaching techniques, educational value, or pedagogy. Moodle supports<br />

an outcomes-oriented learning environment.<br />

Origin of the name<br />

The acronym Moodle stands for Modular Object-Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment, although originally the<br />

"M" stood for "Martin's", named after Martin Dougiamas, the original developer. [14]<br />

The word "Moodle" can also function as a verb which describes the improvisational process of doing things as it<br />

occurs to you to do them, an enjoyable tinkering that often leads to insight and creativity. As such it applies both to<br />

the way Moodle was developed, and to the way a student or teacher might approach studying or teaching an online<br />

course.<br />

"Moodle" is a protected trademark. Only Moodle partners get the right to use the trademark to market their services<br />

like Moodle Hosting, Moodle Customization etc.<br />

Moodle statistics and market share<br />

• By 9 January 2010, Moodle had a user-base of 46,624 registered sites with 32,464,992 users in 3,161,291 courses<br />

in 209 countries and in more than 75 languages. [15]<br />

• The site with the most users, moodle.org, has 63 courses and 838,109 users. Following a £5 million investment in<br />

2005, The Open University, UK is the second-largest Moodle deployment by user-base, with 607,536 users and<br />

4,731 courses. A comprehensive list of the top ten Moodle sites (by courses and by users) is maintained at<br />

moodle.org. [16]<br />

• In Australia, Moodle is used by numerous Universities, including the University of Canberra, the Australian<br />

National University, UniSA, the Central Queensland University and the University of Southern Queensland, and<br />

is scheduled for release in 2011 in La Trobe University, the University of Ballarat and the University of New<br />

England. Moodle is also used by the largest vocational training institute in the Australian Capital Territory, the<br />

Canberra Institute of Technology.<br />

• Birmingham City University has used Moodle as a university-wide VLE since 2004. The Robert Gordon<br />

University, Aberdeen adopted Moodle for all taught programmes across its 12,790 member student body, in<br />

2007. [17] It has more recently been adopted by the University of Kent [18] for its entire campus, replacing WebCT.<br />

• In Argentina, it's used by Universidad de San Andrés.

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