Moodle - Interoperability

Interoperability

Moodle runs without modification on Unix, Linux, FreeBSD, Windows, Mac OS X, NetWare and any other systems that support PHP and a database, including most webhost providers.

Data goes in a single database. Moodle version 1.6 could use MySQL or PostgreSQL. Version 1.7, released November 2006, makes full use of database abstraction so that installers can choose one from many types of database servers such as Oracle and Microsoft SQL Server.

E-learning systems can have many dimensions of interoperability. Moodle's interoperability features include:

  • authentication, using LDAP, Shibboleth, or various other standard methods (e.g. IMAP)
  • enrollment, using IMS Enterprise among other standard methods, or by direct interaction with an external database
  • quizzes and quiz questions, allowing import/export in a number of formats: GIFT (moodle's own format), IMS QTI, XML and XHTML (NB although export works very well, import is currently not complete). Moodle provides various types of questions - Calculated, Description, Essay, Matching, Embedded Answers, Multiple Choice, Short Answer, Numerical, Random Short-Answer Matching, True/False.
  • resources, using IMS Content Packaging, SCORM, AICC (CBT), LAMS
  • integration with other Content Management Systems such as Drupal, Joomla or Postnuke (via third-party extensions)
  • syndication, using RSS or Atom newsfeeds - external newsfeeds can be displayed in a course, and forums, blogs, and other features can be made available to others as newsfeeds.

Moodle also has import features for use with other specific systems, such as importing quizzes or entire courses from Blackboard or WebCT. However, these import tools are not perfect. At the time of writing (Feb 2010), Moodle will not import Blackboard courses, apparently due to changes in php code-releases. Some available utilities help convert Blackboard courses to a Moodle-friendly format.

In March of 2012 Blackboard acquired two companies based on Moodle's software including Baltimore-based Moodlerooms Inc. and NetSpot of Adelaide, Australia. Moodlerooms Inc. is located in the same building as another online education company called StraighterLine and has close relations.

Read more about this topic:  Moodle