How+does+MOODLE+compare+to+Blackboard?

and annual increases occur, || Proprietary only one company to work with. ||
 * < =** MOODLE **= ||< =** Blackboard **= ||
 * < Repositories of re-usable, re-purposable content. ||< Repositories of re-usable, re-purposable content. ||
 * < MOODLE is customizable with a large number of plugins and addons freely available from http://moodle.org ||< Blackboard is continually incorporating new products into their LMS, but at a cost to users . ||
 * < Promotes student-student interaction and teacher-student interaction. ||< Facilitate student-student and student-faculty interaction. ||
 * < Multimedia content ||< Multimedia content ||
 * < MOODLE is open source and free to download over the internet. ||< Blackboard limited to institutions which pay annual licence fees
 * < Contains whole course and/or supplement ones ||< Whole courses only ||
 * < Customizable: colour, themes and logo titles ||< Customizable: colour, themes and logo titles ||
 * < Restricted access to students - access pages but cannot change them ||< Restricted access to students - access pages but cannot change them ||
 * < Teachers have editing rights ||< Teachers have editing rights ||
 * < Use file uploads to help students learn, and the dropbox program for submission of assignments. ||< Use file uploads to help students learn, and the dropbox program for submission of assignments. ||
 * < <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Accessing grades is a one click process ||< <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Accessing grades takes several steps ||
 * < <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Presents important <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">information in the centre of the page, and general information down the sides of the page ||< <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Information categories and subcategories run down the page ||
 * < <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Collaborative: Teachers can post in forums and students can see and interact within a discussion. ||< <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Uses email to transfer information from teachers to students. Blackboard Connect <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">(at an additional cost), <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">alerts students to deadlines within a course. ||
 * < <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Automatically updates its calender when quizzes are added. ||< <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Cannot perform this function. ||
 * < <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Run on institutions servers, but requires a person to monitor <span style="color: #008000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">or <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">r <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">un offsite and monitiored - cost for numbers of students and data traffic. ||< <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Run offsite and monitiored constantly, each upgrade incurs <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">costs increases <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">.
 * < <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Mobile app for smartphones free. ||< <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Mobile app at <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">$5.99 US <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">as a one off payment, use is charged annually to the institution via an annual license. ||
 * < <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Course resources can be downloaded and viewed offline ||< <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Offline option not applicable to Blackboards version yet. ||
 * < MOODLE community willing to help solve problems encountered @http://moodle.org/forums/ ||< Help sites obtained by Blackboard @http://help.blackboard.com/ @http://www.moodlerooms.com/ @http://www.netspot.com.au/ ||
 * < Google docs integration. ||< Google docs integration. ||
 * < A llows users to set up alerts and notifications inside courses ||< A llows users to set up alerts and notifications inside courses ||

**The following article compares MOODLE to Blackboard:**
=** For a more in depth comparison between MOODLE and Blackboard** ** please watch the following video: **=

media type="file" key="Moodle 2.0 versus Blackboard 9.1 -- a Brief Comparison.mp4" width="399" height="255" Moodle 2.0 versus Blackboard 9.1 -- a Brief Comparison. ( Nov 7, 2010 ).

**More information about both mobile apps can be found at:**
MOODLE mobile app Blackboard app However, tablets and smart-phones offer new ways of learning, but not for all students, so as Daniels (2012) indicates institutions will have to give or loan devices to students to start with. Problems exist regarding i-phone and i-pad which do not support Java or Adobe Flash two technologies used for creating web based applications, unlike Android tablets and smart-phones. In addition, smart-phone screens are small to deliver sophisticated learning applications easily, therefore, tablets may become the device of choice for mobile learning in future at all institutions.

**What others have to say about MOODLE over Blackboard:**
4MOODLE.com

MOODLE News

MOODLE 2 versus Blackboard 9.1

The rivalry between the two biggest LMS's continues: Moodle v Blackboard