Moodleposium/2009/Kirkpatrick
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Moodle at the OU - Abstract
Denise Kirkpatrick
The Open University is the largest university in the UK with over 220 000 students studying via supported open learning. Since its inception the OU has made extensive use of technologies to deliver learning opportunities and materials and to support our students. However it was not until 2004 that the university commenced work on implementing moodle as an enterprise system. Choosing an open source system aligned closely with the university’s mission and values and we saw value in the opportunity of being part of the moodle community.
Since the decision to adopt moodle as our virtual learning environment (or LMS) we have engaged in significant development of the software and of staff across the university including our 8000 associate lecturers located across the UK. The OU has a distinctive approach to education provision and has adapted moodle to meet the needs of our staff and students. The OU’s approach to distance learning is based on a centralised, industrial model that allows us to operate at scale. The implementation of moodle has required the development of new policies, workflows and pedagogies. The presentation will provide an overview of our developments, our approach to development and implementation and our plans for the future.
