Conclusion
Overall, I found Moodle to be the easiest and most flexible CMS that I have used to date. Moodle was easy to navigate, had features that were directly applicable to the writing classroom, and best of all, was free for me to download and customize. Moodle’s philosophical and pedagogical underpinnings are consistent and conducive to current writing classroom practices, allowing it to fit seamlessly into the activities of many writing classrooms. Furthermore, Moodle has a strong support community and strong online documentation to help you get started and work out any problems that may occur on the way. What sets Moodle apart from other potential open source CMS systems, notably Drupal or Mambo, is that Moodle is specifically designed with educators in mind, allowing for easy setup and maintenance. For those of you searching for a different CMS for writing instruction, I would highly recommend trying Moodle.
Links for More Information on Moodle
- Moodle Webstite: Information about Moodle, downloading options, and links to help pages, community forums, and hosting information.
- Moodle Teacher Documentation: Information for instructors on how to set up and populate their courses.
- Administrator Documentation: Information for those of you installing and running Moodle on your own.