MOODLE VS BLACKBOARD WHO’S THE WINNER?
I really appreciate the detail explanation.
I also think the segment of user base is important for blackboard versus moodle conversation. Moodle tends to be more of a horizontal solution which can be used in k12, higher ed, non-profits and corporate sector. Blackboard is more focused on Higher ed as per my understanding. Blackboard did buy moodlerooms which is more of a k12 play but moodleroom is essentially moodle based product.
Blackboard and Moodle are two learning management solutions that mainly appeal to K-12 and higher education. Blackboard also provides many solution types to target businesses and government, and Moodle is open source and flexible enough for any organization to customize it.
Moodle: Moodle is an open-source learning management platform designed to help schools educate their students. Moodle is based on a modular design that lets teachers and administrators build their own curriculum using plug-ins for various workflows, content and activities.
Users have a choice of either installing their Moodle account on their servers or in the cloud. The cloud-based platform, called MoodleCloud, provides several benefits, such as accessibility anytime, scalability and a very short implementation process.
Blackboard: Blackboard Learn is a web-based LMS that’s used in both academic and business environments to help students and employees improve their learning experience. It’s easily customized to an organization’s needs and integrates with Microsoft OneDrive, school information systems and Dropbox.
Blackboard Learn’s main features include testing, assessments, discussions and a dedicated user learning profile. However, some features are market specific, such as the analytics feature in business and government markets. The solution can be deployed in three ways: cloud, self-hosting or managed hosting.
Two Core Differences
1.) Pricing
Moodle: Moodle is an open source solution, which means you can download it for free. However, once the solution is downloaded, you need a way to host it so others can access it, which comes with its own set of costs. Moodle can either be accessed through cloud-hosting options where Moodle charges you based on your number of learners, or through self-hosting options where your team purchases and maintains a server for your organization. There are additional hidden costs that come with self hosting, such as the pay for employees to maintain the server and overtime hours for the solution to go live. We’ve given a thorough explanation on what to expect in our Moodle Pricing article.
Blackboard: The price of Blackboard isn’t disclosed. We’ve attempted to estimate these costs by gathering all available information online, but in order to know how much Blackboard will cost, you must reach out to Blackboard for a quote based on your industry and number of learners. As an out-of-the-box LMS, Blackboard has a reputation for being pricey.
2.) Services and Community
Moodle: Open-source solutions rely on their users. Developers are able to download Moodle and add their own customizations. Then, they can share those features with the community. Open-source communities all use a free product so they can share and adopt free improvements. This is a cornerstone of Moodle, but it can be viewed as a downside. If your organization doesn’t have the right technical staff to take advantage of Moodle’s community, implementation and ongoing updates may be difficult to execute. Moodle has third-party partnerships to provide some services at a cost, but many resources are available for free online if IT staff have the skills.
Blackboard: Blackboard provides a variety of implementation services and training options to support new and ongoing users. The vendor has a community space similar to Moodle called Behind the Blackboard for developers and administrators to troubleshoot problems.
