Hello, I'm new here.
I teach at universities, including at Universidade Aberta (distance learning).
The e-learning platform on all is Moodle.
I'm all for e-learning and I use it intensively—or I try to.
On all sites the platform has several bugs (some serious), lacks features, and it is utterly slow (often to the point of becoming unusable).
This has been so for several years, and shows no sign of improving.
I am curious: is it just I and my schools (a coincidence of planetary proportions)?
If not, is there a (probably commercial) tool with a schema close to Moodle's but bugfree and efficient?
Thanks a lot.
Without more information, it's going to be difficult to give you an answer. It doesn't sound like you're a site administrator, but do you know what version(s) these Moodle installs are running? What sort of hardware are they on, and what level of usage?
You state that the platform has several bugs (some serious) - what bugs are you seeing? Could you give an error message, screenshot, or tell us what you are doing when you get them?
Do you report these problems to your Moodle administrator(s)? Do they know what problems you get and when? Do they have any idea what may cause the Moodle install to throw errors or run slowly? Have they posted this information on the forums here where others could take a look at them?
Finally, what features does Moodle lack? There are some things that Moodle doesn't do, some things the developers are working towards, and some things that it could do better. Get involved and focus on some specific issues - that's the way to see improvement.
Thanks,
Matt
You state that the platform has several bugs (some serious) - what bugs are you seeing? Could you give an error message, screenshot, or tell us what you are doing when you get them?
Do you report these problems to your Moodle administrator(s)? Do they know what problems you get and when? Do they have any idea what may cause the Moodle install to throw errors or run slowly? Have they posted this information on the forums here where others could take a look at them?
Finally, what features does Moodle lack? There are some things that Moodle doesn't do, some things the developers are working towards, and some things that it could do better. Get involved and focus on some specific issues - that's the way to see improvement.
Thanks,
Matt
Thanks, Matt.
I'm not the administrator, and I don't want to be.
Bad administration is at the root of problems at some sites, I suspect strongly.
I am just curious about how (un)common this problem is at large.
I'm not the administrator, and I don't want to be.
Bad administration is at the root of problems at some sites, I suspect strongly.
I am just curious about how (un)common this problem is at large.
Hi Marius,
Like (the other) Matt said, it's hard to be specific without knowing more. What version of Moodle are you running? I am on the latest 1.9.4 and it's very fast on my server. some older versions are noticably slower and a poorly configured or overloaded server will make things worse, so the slow speed at least is certainly not something other people are experiencing.
I'm curious as to which features you feel are missing. I've not a lot of experience of other systems so can't really recommend any, but Moodle seems pretty feature-rich to me.
Like (the other) Matt said, it's hard to be specific without knowing more. What version of Moodle are you running? I am on the latest 1.9.4 and it's very fast on my server. some older versions are noticably slower and a poorly configured or overloaded server will make things worse, so the slow speed at least is certainly not something other people are experiencing.
I'm curious as to which features you feel are missing. I've not a lot of experience of other systems so can't really recommend any, but Moodle seems pretty feature-rich to me.
Examples:
Activity reports. I use (or want to) that a lot, to assess student progress. At one site, they were removed. When asked why, admin response was just "technical problems" At other, they were never enabled.
At two sites the foruns don't send email.
At many sites, the version is unknown.
At many sites, the admin is unknown.
The clock is not set right.
Etc.
Again, I'm not interested in going into detail, I'm just curious about this overall sense of lack and inefficiency, whether it is just I, or just Portugal, or somewhat global.
Yes, Moodle is extremely feature-rich. I just want those features enabled and speedy and efficient on my sites!
Activity reports. I use (or want to) that a lot, to assess student progress. At one site, they were removed. When asked why, admin response was just "technical problems" At other, they were never enabled.
At two sites the foruns don't send email.
At many sites, the version is unknown.
At many sites, the admin is unknown.
The clock is not set right.
Etc.
Again, I'm not interested in going into detail, I'm just curious about this overall sense of lack and inefficiency, whether it is just I, or just Portugal, or somewhat global.
Yes, Moodle is extremely feature-rich. I just want those features enabled and speedy and efficient on my sites!
In reply to Marius Amado-Alves
Re: Antimoodle? No. Antifaults and antislowness.
by Robert Brenstein -
Moodle is not perfect but it sounds like your problems are not with Moodle per se but with the way your Moodles are run as service. None of the listed issues are from the Moodle program itself. You are likely to have the same management problems regardless which program you use if it is operated by the same people.
In reply to Marius Amado-Alves
Re: Antimoodle? No. Antifaults and antislowness.
by Derek Chirnside -
"whether it is just I, or just Portugal, or somewhat global"
It's not Portugal per se. I cut my teeth on Moodle 1.9 with a THEKA project using Moodle in Portugal in 2007 with a bunch of 200 lovely librarians in a professional development project. No problems - even when my work was done from New Zealand, and even with a language barrier. It was cool, and I learned a lot!!
It can't be you - since you are not an admin. But you may need to do a little homework to know what to ask for and what to check. The things you mention: clocks, e-mail, admin identity etc are sys admin issues, NOT Moodle.
Now: I have struck this problem in trying to teach online - an LMS not up to scratch. Just figure out what you want to acheive, work with Moodle where you can - and where you cannot, just move out into free tools. Treat Moodle like the safe walled garden and go from there. It's not Moodle.
OR: use a reasonably costed, properly hosted Moodle site, maybe from a Moodle partner.
It's not global either. Robert and Matt and Matt have said it all in some respects.
There are hundreds of fine Moodle installations with the settings optimised, patches managed, responsive admins. I am a member of about 8 or so such sites. So take heart. And good luck. Contact me offline if you want me to put you in touch with my buddies in the Moodle community in Portugal.
-Derek
It's not Portugal per se. I cut my teeth on Moodle 1.9 with a THEKA project using Moodle in Portugal in 2007 with a bunch of 200 lovely librarians in a professional development project. No problems - even when my work was done from New Zealand, and even with a language barrier. It was cool, and I learned a lot!!
It can't be you - since you are not an admin. But you may need to do a little homework to know what to ask for and what to check. The things you mention: clocks, e-mail, admin identity etc are sys admin issues, NOT Moodle.
Now: I have struck this problem in trying to teach online - an LMS not up to scratch. Just figure out what you want to acheive, work with Moodle where you can - and where you cannot, just move out into free tools. Treat Moodle like the safe walled garden and go from there. It's not Moodle.
OR: use a reasonably costed, properly hosted Moodle site, maybe from a Moodle partner.
It's not global either. Robert and Matt and Matt have said it all in some respects.
There are hundreds of fine Moodle installations with the settings optimised, patches managed, responsive admins. I am a member of about 8 or so such sites. So take heart. And good luck. Contact me offline if you want me to put you in touch with my buddies in the Moodle community in Portugal.
-Derek
I have to agree with the other posters - these are nothing to do with Moodle itself and everything to do with very sloppy system administration. You would not be experiencing any of these issues if the guy running your sites knew what s/he was doing. It might be worth letting your superiors know about this thread. You really should not have to put up with this sort of stuff getting inb the way of your work, and those issues are not that hard to fix.
Interesting thread... I wonder if there is any psychology at play in these types of situations? Organizations may look to open source systems not realizing that there is a cost. It is so easy to download and install, yet it often requires more than a bit of moonlighting to really configure the system as well as set up the courses etc.
I have been in the software support business since the 80's and I can say beyond a doubt that software is released with bugs whether open source or paid versions. Think about microsoft releases.
Having read the thread I have to agree none of your perceived bugs are bugs except that the admin for the moodle is clueless and to tell you the truth that happens a lot.
An IT manager or a school board posts an ad for a moodle administrator and typically it says something like ; Seeking php coder who can work in mysql Moodle experience preferred. Someone with a 2 year degree sends in a resume which includes having taken a class in moodle and gets hired. Two years down the road the school drops moodle if the guy hired did not bother to learn how to administer it but they keep the slacker to avoid paying unemployment. Sounds like you have dealt with slackers by the bunch.
In reply to Marius Amado-Alves
Re: Antimoodle? No. Antifaults and antislowness.
by Marius Amado-Alves -
Thanks a very great lot to all.
The discussion really clarified a number of issues for me.
Namely, it confirmed that the problems stem from sloppy system administration, and it has strengthen my convition that the way to go is to hire professional Moodle hosting services.
Given time, I will prepare a case for my superiors.
The discussion really clarified a number of issues for me.
Namely, it confirmed that the problems stem from sloppy system administration, and it has strengthen my convition that the way to go is to hire professional Moodle hosting services.
Given time, I will prepare a case for my superiors.
In reply to Marius Amado-Alves
Re: Antimoodle? No. Antifaults and antislowness.
by Marius Amado-Alves -
In fairness I must clarify that Universidade Aberta has only one problem, that of the missing activity reports due to "technical reasons". Everything else works fine there.
All other issues pertain to other schools and sites, which shall remain unamed for now.
All other issues pertain to other schools and sites, which shall remain unamed for now.