e-Learning Blog

Moodle is the world standard LMS^※2 for efficient e-learning^※1. According to Moodle HQ's statistics, it is used in over 170,000 sites, with over 300 million users in 243 countries and regions, making it the largest education platform in the world. (*As of 2022)
It is the top choice for universities in Europe and Japan, and is widely used not only in educational settings, but also in global companies, government agencies, and other organizations around the world.
The main reason for Moodle's continued popularity around the world is its status as the world standard LMS, meaning it has been refined and standardized by universities and other organizations around the world.
By using this world standard system and implementing organizational changes to fit the system, it is possible to review and improve the structure and functioning of the organization, leading to increased international competitiveness.

※1 e-learning is a general term for educational systems that utilize IT technology centered around personal computers and the internet. This includes watching videos on video sharing sites, solving problems with learning apps, and all forms of remote learning through web conferencing tools.
※2 LMS, or Learning Management System, is a system that manages information such as learners, materials, progress, and grades in e-learning. In recent years, there has been an increase in systems that not only manage information, but also integrate with employee performance management and can be operated as a Learning Experience Platform (LXP) that provides personalized learning experiences for each employee.

> [Moodle Basic Course] What is Moodle?
> Moodle Implementation Support and Operation

From the next section, we will introduce case studies and customer feedback from Human Science, the official partner of Moodle.

Introduction Background
A state of emergency was declared, and despite the fact that new students had just entered, the situation forced us to close the school. At that time, face-to-face classes were the main method of teaching, but around February when the effects began to appear, we started gathering information about e-learning, which allows for online classes, and contacted your company.

Reason for Selection
We considered multiple e-learning systems, but ultimately chose Moodle for the following reasons.

• ・Open source and affordable implementation costs
• ・Manuals are well-equipped on the web
• ・High market share in universities

And after considering multiple companies, we have decided on Human Science Co., Ltd. as our partner.

• ・Good response when inquiring
• ・Presentation of a plan tailored to the size of the school (up to 200 people)
• ・Extensive track record in operation and maintenance at universities

<Introduction Results>

• ・In April, we made an inquiry and were able to introduce it in May in about two weeks, which was very helpful as the response was quick.
  Additionally, we were grateful for the provision of the user manual.
• ・In situations where school closures prevent students from attending classes, we are utilizing remote online learning tools to the fullest extent. In the event of a sudden school closure, if we were to interrupt ongoing classes and start preparing for online learning, it would inevitably result in a loss of time. However, by proactively implementing a hybrid approach to our regular classes, we are able to smoothly transition to online learning during school closures.
• - Classes are still mainly conducted in person, but we are exploring methods such as showing preparatory videos and implementing flipped learning to improve the quality of classes. We are also searching for ways to enhance the quality of classes by exploring things that cannot be done through in-person classes alone.
• ・Students were able to communicate about classes even outside of class time, which was also good because it allowed for asynchronous communication.

Introduction Background
Prior to implementation, there were three main challenges in managing submissions from approximately 85,000 communication training participants: using both mail and Moodle, and utilizing a web system.

• ・85,000 participants, approximately 250 courses. It is not realistic for administrators to manually set up all 250 courses. This would require a significant amount of time and increase the risk of human error. Have you considered measures to improve efficiency and prevent missed settings?
• ・System downtime is never allowed for paid services. Verification of the current system configuration was necessary in preparation for an increase in the number of users.
• ・Moodle has frequent minor version updates. Initially, it was planned to be carried out by the person in charge of operations, but they were unable to do so due to other tasks and were unable to implement it.

Reason for selection
Because the following three proposals from Human Science were very satisfactory.

• ・Proposed and developed a function to set various items in bulk on Moodle. This achieved business efficiency through automation and prevented setting omissions.
• ・Conducted load testing on the current system and performed parameter tuning based on the results.
  Parameter tuning has achieved a reduction in response time.
  Furthermore, by conducting additional load testing, we were able to identify the cause of the system bottleneck and propose the optimal hardware specifications.
• ・We have conducted updates for middleware and Moodle on the verification environment and production environment on behalf of the person in charge.

Introduction Results
We were able to develop various Moodle tools such as bulk registration for courses, which helped to streamline our operations.
By tuning the server we have been using, we were able to achieve the best performance and increase processing speed.
Regarding the upgrade of Moodle, we received helpful advice including the relationship with the OS and middleware updates used on our server at the school. We also greatly appreciate your efforts in on-site adjustments at the school.

<Introduction Background>

• ・Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the format of classes has changed, and especially since the immediate aftermath of the pandemic in 2020, classes have been completely switched to online, with an increase in asynchronous classes using LMS (Moodle) where students can learn tasks, materials, videos, etc. regardless of class time.
• ・In the past, Moodle has been introduced, but at this timing, there has been a significant increase in inquiries from instructors who are using Moodle for the first time, and the response has been handled by the staff within the university. However, there were over 100 inquiries in a month, including basic inquiries, and it became difficult to handle them within the university. Therefore, we searched for a company that could handle help desk support, and we found Human Science, a Moodle partner company, from the Moodle website and contacted them.

Selection Reasons
We contacted three Moodle partner companies, including Human Science Co., Ltd., and compared them.
We selected the partner based on the following reasons, mainly for the niche business of operating and maintaining Moodle.

• ・A reliable company size
• ・There are dozens of records of operation and maintenance at universities
• ・They also provided a price that met the conditions in terms of cost.

In addition, as part of our strategy to reduce inquiries, not only do we provide help desk support, but also address the inquiries themselves.

• ・Usage Seminar (Online Training)
• - Manual improvement, translation (Japanese, English version)
• ・Video Manual Production
• ・Moodle server construction, performance investigation

It became a point of request when it was understood that we can also handle everything in one stop.

Introduction Results
Inquiries have decreased from 100 hours/month to 10 hours/month during busy times, resulting in a significant reduction in workload.

• - The content of the class was very detailed and not only answered inquiries, but also included suggestions, which was very good.
• ・Regarding manuals, in the past there were complaints about them being "difficult to understand" or "difficult to read", but now that they have been improved, those complaints have disappeared.
• ・Originally, Moodle's manual was in PDF format, making it difficult to find information among the vast number of pages. However, after the revision, it was reconstructed using Moodle's book function. As a result, it was improved to be easily viewed online from a browser, making it more user-friendly and reducing complaints from teachers.
• ・There have been requests for English localization of the Moodle manual for some time now, but we have not been able to properly address it until now. This was our first time providing an English version of the manual, but it was greatly appreciated as it had been a long-standing request.
• ・Video manuals are also being utilized effectively. It is very effective to have all the necessary content prepared for teachers to view, and it has resulted in a decrease in inquiries.

> e-Learning Implementation Results
> Moodle Implementation and Operation Support Results

You can also see Moodle implementation examples on this page.
> Moodle usage rapidly expanding due to COVID-19! Latest updates on classes and training using LMS
> Comparison of 4 points for e-learning and LMS (Learning Management System)

Reference URL:
> Moodle statistics (※Overseas site)
> e-Learning LMS (Learning Management System) Comparison: 4 Points | e-Learning Blog | e-Learning by Human Science (hs-learning.jp)
> Yamamoto Gakuen Mito Electronics Technical College | e-Learning Implementation Case Study | Numerous Achievements by Human Science (hs-learning.jp)
> The Open University of Japan | e-Learning Implementation Case Study | Numerous Achievements by Human Science (hs-learning.jp)
> Tokyo University of Science | e-Learning Implementation Case Study | Numerous Achievements by Human Science (hs-learning.jp)

In the previous chapter, we learned what Moodle is and what problems it solves.
In this chapter, let's take a look at what we can do with Moodle.

Moodle's quizzes are automatically graded. When learners take a quiz and submit their answers, the results graded by Moodle are presented to the learners. Immediately after submitting their answers, they can see whether their answers are correct or incorrect, and feedback regarding the correct answers can also be provided. Instructors can view the answer sheets and grade history of the learners (i.e., general users). Additionally, it is possible to import question data created separately in formats such as XML into Moodle.
Moodle allows for various types of quizzes, including multiple-choice questions, descriptive questions, numerical questions, fill-in-the-blank questions, calculation questions, and combination questions. Furthermore, there are many features that enable learners to study efficiently, and we will introduce some of them.

• ・Function to randomly select a certain number of questions from a problem bank (collection of multiple questions) and present them
• ・Function to provide questions at an appropriate level for the target learners
• ・Function to set appropriate feedback (hints and explanations of related matters) for answers
• ・Learner's anti-cheating function (such as randomizing questions so that copying someone else's answer will not result in a correct answer)
• ・Self-study test for effectively understanding and learning weak areas by solving problems

Even if you don't have knowledge about how to upload to a web server or HTML, you can easily create and publish instructional pages.
We use a JavaScript-based GUI HTML editor called htmlArea, which allows you to easily create and edit web pages in your browser, similar to a word processor.
You can also create pages in plain text format or using the Moodle auto-format, which is a simplified format (plain text + some HTML tags). It is also easy to upload files and place links.
Records are kept of which user viewed which page and when, and you can also search through these records.

Moodle's "Forum" has the same functionality as what is generally called a BBS or bulletin board.
There is also a function for instructors to assign evaluation points to students' posts. Additionally, there is a function to forward post content to participants via email, which can help promote discussion by encouraging them to log in to the Moodle site.

This is a function for submitting answers by writing text and uploading files, which is equivalent to what is commonly known as report submission. For teachers, it is more efficient to collect and manage submissions as the deadline can be set in the system and non-submitters can be easily identified on the submission status screen, compared to submitting via email attachments. For report submitters, there is also the benefit of being able to store various submissions in one place without them getting scattered.

Moodle has a grade management function called "Grades" where you can view the grades for various activities (quizzes, forums, assignments, etc.) as well as the total grade. You can also create a new column and input any desired value. In addition to inputting values, you can also input formulas to perform complex calculations. These formulas can include functions such as max(), round(), and sqrt().

In addition to this, there are various convenient features such as chat, message sending, lessons, voting, glossary, and Wiki, all of which are available as standard functions.
In addition to standard functions, there are also numerous modules and plugins developed by developers around the world that are publicly available, allowing anyone to freely use these functions by installing them.

> Moodle Implementation and Operation Support Services

Reference URL:
> Moodle Functions | No.1 in Domestic Achievements Human Science (science.co.jp)
> Utilizing and Customizing e-Learning System Moodle: Series | gihyo.jp ... Technical Review Co., Ltd.
> [Moodle Basic Course] What You Can Do with Moodle's Default Functions