Chapter 1 introduces Moodle, explaining what Moodle is and how it works. It will also cover why Moodle should be used. It is compared to other Course Management Systems (CMS) and Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs) and it details Moodle's pedagogic principles. This chapter also outlines why the book has been written and who its intended audience is. Finally, it discusses what software and hardware tools you will need, and makes some assumptions with regards to the ICT and web design/development skills needed to get the most from this book.
In this chapter, we shall cover:
What a Virtual Leaning Environment (VLE) is
What types of VLE there are
What are the advantages of using a VLE
What Moodle is
Why we should use Moodle
What we will be doing in the rest of this book
What skills we will need
What tools we will need
If you teach or are involved in information technology for an educational institution, you will have probably heard the terms Course Management Systems (CMS), Learning Management Systems (LMS), and Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs). These three terms can effectively be grouped into one and for the purposes of this book—you will refer to them as VLEs. Ever since the beginning of the Internet, there were promises that technology would transform the way by which education and learning takes place. However, this didn't happen straightaway. Rather, these transformations have evolved slowly over time, and this evolution in the way in which teaching and learning takes place is only now finally being realized.