e-Learning Blog

The person who first developed Moodle was Martin Dougiamas from Australia. Martin grew up in a desert region in Western Australia, 1,000 kilometers away from the nearest school. This was in the 1970s, long before computers were commonly used and available for students. Martin's family enrolled him in aviation school, but he learned through shortwave radio, which was the most advanced technology at the time. From this experience of distance learning, Martin developed a vision of using the internet for education.

- Incorporating education beyond the physical classroom that has remained unchanged for hundreds of years
- Achieving high-quality education in every corner of the world on Earth

Based on this vision, Martin founded Moodle with the belief that everyone has the right to education, and regardless of developed or developing countries, to create an online learning solution that is flexible, accessible to learners' needs, and provides high-quality education to all.

Moodle History|Moodle Docs
Moodle Story|Official Website

Moodle is a free online learning platform. The costs associated with the development and operation of Moodle are covered in various ways.

Certified Partner:
This is a company or organization that has been officially certified by Moodle HQ (Headquarters). They provide various services for a fee, such as support for implementing and operating Moodle, customization, plugin installation, and training. Certified partners pay a portion of their revenue to Moodle HQ, which serves as a source of funding for development. By entrusting tasks to a certified partner, you can contribute to the stable operation of Moodle.

Community Collaboration:
Moodle is supported by a wide community of developers, educational institutions, and organizations from around the world. Often, individual developers and organizations contribute for free, participating in improving code and developing new features.

Donations and Sponsorship:
Funding for Moodle development may also be provided through donations and sponsorship. Educational institutions and companies may donate or provide funding to support the project.

As such, Moodle is supported by a wide community, certified partners, and supporters, enabling its development and operation.

Moodle development is supported by a wide international community and a major organization called Moodle HQ. Moodle HQ is an organization based in Australia. The following are some key points about Moodle's development structure.

Moodle HQ:
Moodle's core development and maintenance is carried out by Moodle HQ. Moodle HQ has a team of professional developers and staff who manage the core code of Moodle, ensure security, and develop new features.

Community Development:
The development of Moodle involves a large community of developers and educators from around the world. Community members collaborate on bug fixes, propose and implement new features, and improve documentation. As Moodle is an open source project, anyone can contribute to the project.

Development Cycle:
New versions are released regularly. The release cycle includes adding new features, fixing bugs, and improving security. Moodle developers continue to develop while receiving feedback from the community.

As such, Moodle's development structure is supported by the specialized organization Moodle HQ and the collaboration of a large international community.

Moodle is a frequently updated and well-maintained system. The update frequency is generally twice a year for major versions (e.g. 4.x) in April and October, and six times a year for minor versions (e.g. 4.x.y) in February, April, June, August, October, and December. This allows users to regularly incorporate new features and improvements, ensuring high security.

In addition, Moodle has a version called LTS (Long Term Support) that has a specially long support period set. Normally, the support period is about 1.5 years, but for the LTS version, a longer support period of about 3 years is set. Many users operate Moodle using this LTS version.

Version upgrades are performed when Moodle developers and the community make various improvements, including adding new features, fixing bugs, improving performance, and strengthening security. Users are encouraged to upgrade their systems when a new version is released to take advantage of these new features and fixes.

Specific release schedules and upgrade procedures can be confirmed on the official Moodle website and documentation.

Release Information|Moodle Official Website

Moodle allows you to add various functions that are not included in the standard by using "plugins", which are called "extensions" (small software that can be added to Moodle). There are two types of plugins: standard plugins and third-party plugins. Standard plugins are included in the download file when you download Moodle software. After setting up Moodle, you can change the settings and use them.

In addition, third-party plugins can be obtained from the "Plugins" page on the official Moodle website or from the developer's company (some may be paid).

Plugin|Moodle Official Website

For more information on Moodle plugins, please refer to the following article.

What types of plugins does Moodle have?|Human Science Co., Ltd.

Moodle Certified Partners are companies and organizations that have been certified to support the Moodle project and provide services using the Moodle platform in partnership with Moodle HQ. Certified Partners provide information to Moodle HQ about how their clients are using Moodle and their needs, which helps with development. They also contribute a portion of their revenue to help with development costs. Moodle Certified Partners typically offer the following services:

Introduction and Customization of Moodle:
We provide services such as introducing Moodle and customizing it to meet the needs of educational institutions and companies.

Training and Support:
We provide training and support for Moodle, supporting users to use Moodle more effectively.

System Integration and Development:
We provide development services to extend the Moodle platform and integrate it with other systems.

Consulting:
We provide consulting services to optimize educational environments using Moodle. We offer advice on effective usage and efficient operation methods.

Plugin|Moodle Official Website

In addition, third-party plugins can be obtained from the "Plugins" page on the official Moodle website or from the developer's company (some may be paid).

Certified Partner|Moodle Official Website

Moodle is developed by Moodle HQ and developers around the world, and is financially supported and operated by sponsors and donors from all over the world. In Japan, Human Science Co., Ltd., a certified partner, provides technical and financial support for Moodle. As a certified partner, we are delighted to be able to support you in using this wonderful online learning management system to advance education. Let's continue to focus on the progress of Moodle together.

Human Science has been providing Moodle services since 2008 and became an official partner in 2017. We have accumulated expertise and a track record of over 700 projects and more than 80 cases for companies, schools, and organizations. We offer a total solution for Moodle implementation (including content creation) and operation support. We also provide support services for Moodle via phone and email, ensuring peace of mind for maintenance and operation. Please consult with Human Science when using the open source LMS Moodle.

Please refer to Human Science Co., Ltd.'s e-learning site.
＞ Moodle Implementation Support and Operation
＞ e-Learning Material Production
＞ e-Learning Material Translation (Multilingual Support, Localization)