Need help with LMS decision....is Moodle that great?

Hi Sarah,

I agree with you, I found the Moodle site to be very confusing. I haven't worked with Moodle directly, but I have worked with a product called Totara through a company called Kineo. Totara is built off the Moodle platform to create a front end LMS. I really enjoyed the product. 

Right now, in my current organization, we are exploring the Absorb LMS. This has been by far my favorite LMS. I think it looks the best and has been the easiest to use. They gave me full access to a sandbox, which I've been playing with over the past several months. They take user interface design seriously, and it has paid off (both on the users end and admin end). They're also pretty cheap as compared to a few other vendors.

Personally, I'd suggest staying aware from Oracle and SumTotal. I've worked with both of these platforms and they've been subpar and expensive.

Good Luck!

-TIm

At first I found Moodle very confusing, but you need to get it set up correctly. I found moodle is very good for classroom resources and lessons done concurrently, but not as good for totally online resources. It then takes a lot of customising.

Hi Sarah,

I've been using Moodle (1.9, 2.2 now upgrading to 2.4) for some time now so I can tell you what I know:

- Moodle is open source which means that you can have custom modules bulit for your company if needed

- it is free for as many users as you want (you pay for hosting services only)

- Moodle has a great community, new versions are available every year (version 2.4 released in December, 2.5 coming up in May), I believe future releases will be much more user friendly (in terms of setting up and managing)

- it works well with the most popular tools (Articulate, Adobe, etc.)

- it will fully support mobile users shortly (Moodle Mobile app is now in beta)

On the contrary, you have to keep in mind that:

- you have to install and set it up on your own (I recommend that you have the IT person install it for you, setting up is 

not problematic since you have tons of books and resources on the subject)

- there is no technical support, you solve your issues on your own

- if you want to customize it, you either buy a custom theme or have a graphic designer build it for you

- let's be honest, Moodle could be a tad more user friendly, but once you get the hang of it, it is not that bad

I think I covered the most important stuff. Let me know if you need more info.

Cheers,

Marta

easiest way to try Moodle - go to  http://bitnami.org/stack/moodle - download installer - runs as a virtual machine on laptop/PC 

also look at eFront (much less cluttered, and free)

We've set up, configured, and customized  Moodle for many government agencies unable or unwilling to pay for a commercial LMS. You'll find opinions all over the place. If you want to get valuable insights, I respectfully suggest that you tell us a bit more about your specific requirements. I would not recommend Moodle or any other LMS without knowing how, why, where, and with whom you intend to use it.

Generally speaking,  Moodle's strengths include its flexibility and vast global developer community. It's particularly well-suited to academic environments, especially those with dedicated IT departments who can support it.  There are also some great companies dedicated to hosting, supporting, and customizing Moodle. 

I personally would not  consider Moodle  if you're a small training department solely responsible for every aspect of LMS setup, maintenance and administration. Hosted solutions like Articulate Online are probably a better starting point for that set of needs.

Thank you all for sharing your insights and experiences. I especially appreciate hearing about what systems you have used that you have both loved working with and those who have been subpar.  There are sooo many options.   It has been really helpful as I have not had any luck in getting Moodle downloaded onto my MAC computer.  But everything I read is how many users Moodle has and how popular it is.  Based on what I am hearing, because I don't have IT background or support is leading to my confusion with how Moodle should work. 

To provide additional information about what my needs are for this project.  I am working closely with a large social media group who is looking to provide online courses in the related field both for free use as well as for purchase.  In addition we are looking to partner with a site that would also allow our group members to upload their own content for free use or purchase.  We don't currently have IT support, but if necesssary could explore that as an option.  This has the potential to have a very large amount of users taking courses as well as uploading. 

So the basic needs are these:

Commerce capbilities

User friendly both from administration, as well as end users

Customization

Community building options such as chat boards

Easy integration with multiple eLearning authoring software and

Preferably web based as users will from all over the world

If possible a structure that wouldn't require major IT support

I hope that gives a little bit better picture of what I am exploring.  I recognize my needs are a little different than those of a singular company or academic setting. 

Thanks again for all your great suggestions!

Sarah, about your requirements:

1 You can integrate Moodle with Paypal 

2 Once you've set up the site, adding or editing new content is rather easy (again great resources available)

3 Moodle themes are available (both free and paid), plus each course and activity page can display different blocks

4 It has chats and forums

5 It works with the most popular tools, plus you can create content within Moodle (I especially like block that displays definitions from the Glossary interaction - very useful)

6 Once you install it on a server, users just use their browsers

7 Honestly, you should have one person who knows IT stuff (there are many ebooks and community forum which can help him or her get to know Moodle administration and troubleshooting)

In the end, it all depends on your budget and IT skills.

Hope it helps

You can find exemplary Moodle blocks (which you can turn on or off on every course main page and activity page) here

Hi, how many users should you manage? Are you speaking about thousands of users?

I'm asking you because both LMS stability and LMS administration are really important point to consider. A server of your own could not serve many users, unless you are heaviliy supported by an It Dept. (als in terms of networking and balancing issues...)

Are you considering a LMS installation at your site, or a hosted or cloud one? That is another important point....

A truly "free" LMS is hard  to use in a professional way for large numbers of users; a Cloud or hosted installations are the best choice, in my opinion...

you could start with a minimum number of users and then scale gradually...

Moodle Totara, Docebo, eFront, are all great! Absorb is amazing! 

To be sure and avoid mistakes, start with Totara or Docebo, according to your budget...if I may suggest

hope it helps

Stafano, we don't know yet how many users, but based on the large number of active members could easily get into the thousands.  That is what makes this tricky, to begin with it may be a few hundred users or could begin much bigger with 5-10K +.    The choice has to be flexible to adapt to a potentially large amount of users.