Source: http://21stcenturylearning.wikispaces.com/file/view/change.jpg/35223089
Mark at Learning Conversations shares the following chart comparing Moodle and Elgg. After reading it, I’m not entirely sure of the features of either, only that I must confess to a certain disappointment that I have yet to install Elgg in our learning environment. The key difference between the two tools is put succinctly in this way:
Jane is a very effective advocate of Elgg, the open source social networking and social publishing platform. She calls it [Elgg] a social-learning platform, and uses it as the base from which a whole load of activities are started, and to introduce the concepts involved in social learning.
The distinction appears to be made that Moodle is teacher-centered platform for design for “formal, directed learning” while Elgg provides “a space to explore informal, learner-led activities.” This is a powerful distinction to make and might mean for those who think Moodle is too…teacher-oriented that Elgg is an acceptable, walled garden solution (that is, one you can install on school district servers and therefore enjoy “complete” control over rather than one installed, as Dan Rezac suggests, on some third party host or in the cloud, which for most districts I know has yet to become popular or acceptable or come into vogue).
I suppose that the one word that is true of Elgg in both comparisons Mark makes is that it’s confusing to the learner. Why?
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I've installed ELGG… it rocks! Fun times… as far as providing a place for learning, Moodle has all of the pedagogical components in place, while ELGG is the recess space.
I've installed ELGG… it rocks! Fun times… as far as providing a place for learning, Moodle has all of the pedagogical components in place, while ELGG is the recess space.
This is a useful comparison. At the same time, you're going to sow confusion if you give a me-first teacher a student-centric tool. Moodle is a kind of "gateway drug" (pardon the expression), as it it allows the me-first teacher to experiment with student-centered activities (e.g., forum and wiki activities) within a familiar context. This may allow a teacher to diversify his/her pedagogical toolkit and learn from the good work of colleagues also using Moodle.Richard
This is a useful comparison. At the same time, you're going to sow confusion if you give a me-first teacher a student-centric tool. Moodle is a kind of “gateway drug” (pardon the expression), as it it allows the me-first teacher to experiment with student-centered activities (e.g., forum and wiki activities) within a familiar context. This may allow a teacher to diversify his/her pedagogical toolkit and learn from the good work of colleagues also using Moodle.Richard
Hi there,Just to clarify a little. I think Elgg can be confusing to the learner mainly because there can be (if the administrator allows) too many potential places to post ideas.As well as comments on files, pages and blog posts, there is also your personal blog space, shared blog spaces for each group that you are a member of, and group discussion spaces.I think the problem lies in the user interface. It can be very easy to lose track of where you are and which section you're writing in.There are no easy answers. I find the same thing with Facebook, but to a slightly lesser extent. It's the nature of this type of software.But it does mean that it can be very hard for a new user to know what to do. There's a significant orientation and socialisation process that you need to go through before you can start to use a tool like Elgg for serious learning activities. When you've gone through that, it can be a very useful tool.
Hi there,Just to clarify a little. I think Elgg can be confusing to the learner mainly because there can be (if the administrator allows) too many potential places to post ideas.As well as comments on files, pages and blog posts, there is also your personal blog space, shared blog spaces for each group that you are a member of, and group discussion spaces.I think the problem lies in the user interface. It can be very easy to lose track of where you are and which section you're writing in.There are no easy answers. I find the same thing with Facebook, but to a slightly lesser extent. It's the nature of this type of software.But it does mean that it can be very hard for a new user to know what to do. There's a significant orientation and socialisation process that you need to go through before you can start to use a tool like Elgg for serious learning activities. When you've gone through that, it can be a very useful tool.