Does Anyone Know About Moodle?

HI!
I work for a company that teaches through Blackboard and moodle. I myself teach 7-12 math through BB. Moodle is suppposed to be very similar. This is definately not a system where bulling is a common problem. In fact, many of our students come to us to avoid bullying. The nice thing about these systems is that they are closely monitored and any problems that do pop up are traceable because the company I work for doles out the passwords and login information. We have strict policies about inappropriate messages and in my two years doing BB any time an issue has popped up it has been taken care of swiftly. I do not know your school's plans with the system but my experiences have been positive with the similar format.
Good Luck.
JB

I'm not familiar with Moodle, but there are some great "anti-bullying" watch-ware programs out there now. It used to all be "spy-ware" and kids hated it because their parents were seeing every email, text, post, etc. so they felt they had no privacy. The ones I'm acquainted with are Mouse Mail and CoolYou (same company -two different age groups) that allow parents to load words and phrases they want to watch for. If anything goes out or comes in with that content -it's flagged and sent to the parents first before it goes to the intended recipient. There are several companies out there right now marketing this type of thing. I think it's awesome because it doesn't turn you into a spy, but it can prevent your kid from getting some horrible text or something that could really hurt them.

I don't know much about moodle but my husband is an adminstrator for an online school and he's talked about Moodle. Teachers and admnistrators monitor it. I would sign your daughter up for it and just monitor it yourself if you're hesitant.

My daughter (7th grade) uses Moodle for two of her classes. Our teacher explained it to be a "virtual classroom" where the students upload assignments and ask questions. My daughter has her own id & password and can only access certain areas. The teacher also encourages discussions among the students about things they were taught in class. She usually posts a question and the kids can answer and respond to each other. It really gets them thinking and they also can learn from how others respond. I know the teacher is monitoring it because she responds with comments as well. I made sure I knew my daughter's info when she signed up, so I also monitor her work and postings. So far, everything I have seen is related to the class, nothing personal. I think it is a great way to keep in touch with what is going on in the classroom.
Maybe you could sign her up, know her id & password and monitor it for yourself. If there comes a time when you are not comfortable with it, I'm sure the teacher would let your daughter stop doing it.

I have taught with Moodle (and another online system). As someone else mentioned it is just a virtual classroom. The best thing though is that all interactions between students is recorded online and monitored by the teacher. For my classes, I do require my students to sign up for email to communicate with me but they do not have to share this information with any other student and it is not shared by me with anyone else. It is really a great system and it allows for students who work and think in different ways to come together to create a great classroom environment. This is nothing like Facebook.

Moodle is a homework portal. The kids have unique IDs and passwrods so they can only get in to the class pages that relate to their class and homework. There isn't a way to bully or post negative comments. Some of our teachers use Moodle, but not all. From what I've seen with my daughter's homework there's a place to write out your homework assignment and submit it - and there's also a place for "group" discussion - but since it's moderated by the teacher if anything negative is posted the teacher is on it right away. My daughter has 2 teachers who use it and they both have very strict rules about what is allowed to be posted - it must be about the homework subject and it cannot be personal or make comments about anyone elses posts.

My daughter has encountered some vicious stuff at her high school in terms of things kids say to each other or text, etc. - but there's never been even a scintilla of problem on the Moodle site. Kids who bully and are mean know better than to do so on a school sponsored site where their actions can be tracked.

I wouldn't worry about Moodle - it's pretty benign and is a really good tool for schools.