The chicken or the egg

Moodle origins

by Martin Dougiamas -
Number of replies: 20
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Hi!

It's a verb in English but not very well known. I didn't know the 1934 book at the time but I had heard of the word even though it only appears in larger dictionaries.

When coming up with a name for my system I remember sitting down one evening trying to come up with a word that:
  1. was an acronym (because I like hidden meanings)
  2. was a word you could say easily
  3. was not common on the internet (so searches could find it)
  4. had a domain name free
I played around with words and whois for a few hours before finally deciding on Moodle and registered moodle.com. The fact that "moodle" actually had a meaning of its own which made sense was the main reason why it won over other combinations. The system has never had another name, although originally the M in Moodle was "Martin's" not "Modular". wink



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Re: Moodle origins

by Martin Dougiamas -
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As for Moodle spreading, I have a lot of data waiting for someone to study them and make stats! The forums are also a rich source of information.

The first Moodle site ever was of course smec.moodle.com. Here is a copy of how it looked in 2001.

As far as I know, the first school outside Australia to use Moodle (which was a secondary school) was Jacob Romeyn's The Kings School in British Columbia, Canada. Note his ID number (2), and see the first discussion on this site.
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Re: Moodle origins

by Ulrike Montgomery -

Martin,

I appreciate you telling me how you found the word. My English teacher colleagues will love it. That's how I'll start my presentation. I know they'll find this a lot more interesting than a computer acronym. They are still a little bit afraid of the computer but I'm sure that once they'll see Moodle, they'll become addicted.

Origins of Moodle - very interesting. It's just amazing how it spread from Australia to Canada and all over the world. Thanks for the links,

Ulrike

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Re: Moodle origins

by Don Hinkelman -
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>>The first Moodle site ever was of course smec.moodle.com. Here is a copy of how it looked in 2001.

Is Moodle so old, we now have a museum?  big grin

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In reply to Don Hinkelman

Re: Moodle origins

by Martin Dougiamas -
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Here's a screenshot of the first real Moodle course from that 2001 codebase.   Notice how Journals were meant to be used.  wink


Attachment moodle2001.png
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Re: Moodle origins

by N Hansen -
What are those general forums over on the side?
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Re: Moodle origins

by Martin Dougiamas -
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Just that, general forums to cover the whole course. Now these are in section 0 and totally configurable (you can still see the distinction on the forums index).
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Re: Moodle origins

by Don Hinkelman -
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Live chat in 2001?  No, no, it came much later--version 1.1 or 1.2, summer 2003 I believe.  You must have had a special chat script on the side.  smile
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In reply to Martin Dougiamas

Re: Moodle origins

by Richard Treves -
I LOL when I saw that the first discussion was nagging Martin about when the first alpha version was going to be out, some things never change smile

Richard
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Re: Moodle origins

by Giulio Maistrelli -
Hi, I just updated the wikipedia page on Moodle inserting a section with the origin of the name. As I'm not English native speaker, nor particularly expert in Moodle, I I won't get offended if somebody will find time to have a look to it and fix eventual mistakes!

Cheers,
Mac.
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Re: Moodle origins

by A K -

I remember a discussion after a talk by Martin at the first UK Moodlemoot at the Open University at which he told a few of us that the "D" had originally stood for "Digital", thus the original acronym (/"backronym") was "Martin's Object-Oriented Digital Learning Environment".  Pehaps Martin might confirm this?  We have to get it right as we are writing history!    wink

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Re: Moodle origins

by ben reynolds -

Wikipedia seems to agree. https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Moodle#Origin_of_the_name

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Re: Moodle origins

by Ian Wild -
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Hi all,

Well... if Wikipedia says it's true then it must be big grin!

I'm interested in this conversation because I'm currently rewriting Moodle Course Conversion: Beginner's Guide and I've heard so many conflicting stories regarding Martin's background and Moodle's background.

Ian.

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Re: Moodle origins

by ben reynolds -

Wikipedia no longer says it is true.

Mr. Borges, meet Mr. Orwell.

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Re: Moodle origins

by Martin Dougiamas -
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I don't recall that! It's never been digital, always dynamic. I actually have a dislike for digital, cyber and virtual ... These words don't apply to our field in my opinion.
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In reply to Martin Dougiamas

Re: Moodle origins

by A K -

Strange thing, human memory.    wink

I dare say your recollection is right, but I only have my own recollections and interpretations, mangled as they are over time by the little electrical flashes in the neural wires.    thoughtful


Mine recalls a conversation, ~five people, including Martin after his opening talk, left aisle of the Berrill lecture theatre (looking from the stage), about 20 feet from the stage, Martin waiting for someone to collect him to take him to post-talk venue (lunch? coffee?).  A few spare minutes.  Someone asked about the origin of the name 'Moodle'.

I made a note at the time... Moodle, with the M and D underlined, then, underneath:
Martin's > Modular; Digital > Dynamic

How much of history depends on differing recollections?  Most of it, I guess.  At least, in the past.  The future might hold something quite different...
http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/features/2009/sep09/09-23ememory.mspx

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