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Effect of Moodle on learning: An Oman perception

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 Effect of Moodle on learning: An Oman perception
Nauman Ahmad and Dr. Zuhoor Al-Khanjari,
Department of Computer Science, College of Science, P.O. Box 36, P.C 123, Al-khoudh
Sultan Qaboos University, Sultanate of Oman.
Emails: nauman@squ.edu.om and zuhoor@squ.edu.om
ABSTRACT
The world is emerging in a comprehensive society and
internet and other related technologies are becoming
dominant and widespread, nations are inflowing to the
digital phase. In the world of WWW, Moodle is used for
instruction and learning in education. This study
explored the effect of Moodle on students learning
taking a course “Basic Computing Skills” offered for the
foundation program at Sultan Qaboos University,
Sultanate of Oman. Digital course material was used in
the study. Students and instructors were continuously e-
connected for exchanging their ideas, information,
questions and answers. In response of their queries and
discussions, required material and information were
published on Moodle‟s course website. The results
revealed that however students had little experience of
Moodle at the beginning of the course but headed for the
end they had valued the significance and use of Moodle
as it is accessible from every internet enabled location at
any time. They were comfortable using Moodle overall,
and experienced its importance. Moodle also helped
them in better understanding and learning the course
material through the revision of their course web
contents, and especially students preferred face to face
approach, but supported with online Moodle activities as
a favorite mode of learning.
KEYWORDS: Moodle, I.T., Online-learning,
Instruction, Students attitudes
1. INTRODUCTION:
We are rising in a global civilization, and the entire
world has become a widespread village. The
progression in the technology has influenced and
has changed the previous outline and our lives.
Oman is one, among the nations, on the rise,
determined to advance the pedagogical system, up
to the level of flourishing accomplishments. Sultan
Qaboos University is the sole national university in
the country, serving more than 14000 male and
female students. At the College of Science,
Department of Computer Science, we have
introduced Moodle for the students to get access to
the digital material of the Basic Computing Skills
next to, traditional face to face instruction,
communication through online chat session, e-mails
etc. Shift from traditional face to face learning
towards digital learning atmosphere like Moodle
might have implications on students‟ approaches
and attitudes.
According to[6] online teaching and learning as an
environment can be beneficial to both the students
and teachers, which work well for the education
goals in terms of curriculum. The importance of E-
learning and its tools in education, as said by[3], “E-
learning is widely in universities, other educational
institutions and commercial organizations all over
the world. It is growing more and more popular, and
an increasingly large number of institutions are
working on creating better tools for e-learning.”
These days there is an improvement in higher
education regarding the traditional and online
learning, by emphasizing a high concern on the
growth of Information Technology and use of e-
learning[1]. As stated by[4], Face to face learning in
grouping with E-learning supports in bridging the
gap between students and instructors. E-learning
has proved that the usefulness, effectiveness and
easiness are the key factors for its acceptance and
usage[9]. According to[1] students like to take the
courses which include the use of Information
Technology and point out that activities offered
through e-learning systems are more useful and
valuable as compared to traditional classroom
activities. The students ideas and interests will be
really motivated if the teachers make good use of e-
mail in teaching[10]. [5]express the role of chatting as
an inspiration that Chat rooms encourage thoughtful
conversation about learning, among the students.
2. BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
Sultan Qaboos University is the comprehension of
the assurance announced by His. Majesty Sultan
Qaboos Bin Said. The first Sultan Qaboos
University students were registered in 1986. The
plan, project and construction of the campus was
carried out with great consideration and attention to
the fulfillment of these aims, with the overall
appearance of the buildings wisely and cautiously
planned to accommodate the physical, academic,
and spiritual needs of students, faculty and staff. Set
in a valley beneath the glaring outlook of the nearby
foothills of the Oman Mountains, the University is a
stylish arrangement of buildings designed with
arches and courtyards and built in white and pink
stonework in a way that mirrors traditional Omani
and Islamic architecture. Overall, the campus
depicts the rich heritage of Oman and Islam while
including all the competences of modern life. The
outcome is an educational and living environment
which is useful, practical, eye-catching and good-
looking[8].
There are nine colleges; namely Agriculture &
Marine Sciences, Arts &Social Sciences,
Commerce & Economics, Education, Engineering,
Law, Medicine & Health Sciences, Science,
Nursing. In addition there are two main centers for
Support and Research; Support (Community
Service & Continuing Education, Center for
Information Systems, Center for educational
Technology, Human Resources and Staff Dev.,
Language Center, Center for Career Guidance,
Student Counseling) and Research (Excellence in
Marine Biotechnology, Communication & Info.
Research, Earthquake Monitoring, Environmental
Studies & Research, Oil & Gas Research, Omani
Studies, Remote Sensing & GIS, Water Research,
Humanities Research). Almost all the colleges are
using Moodle and Center for Educational
Technology (CET), of Sultan Qaboos University is
providing the access to Moodle with its full support.
3. PURPOSE OF STUDY
The purpose of this study was to survey the
students‟ response on the use of Moodle and its
effect on the students learning, who had a very little
knowledge of I.T. or without basic I.T. skills,
towards the „course material of “Basic Computing
Skills”, offered at Sultan Qaboos University.
4. What is Moodle?
In the words of Moodle creators[7] “Moodle is an
Open Source Course Management System (CMS),
also known as a Learning Management System
(LMS) or a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). It
has become very popular among educators around
the world as a tool for creating online dynamic web
sites for their students. Many institutions use it as
their platform to conduct fully online courses, while
some use it simply to augment face-to-face
courses.” Moodle is a very useful and good
platform for E-learning[3]. Moodle allows educators
to control and manage all features of course content
and delivery using one integrated system[2].
5. METHODOLOGY
This study was conducted on the students of
Foundation Program (a bridging program) having
similar educational background and a very little or
without basic IT Skills. A questionnaire was
designed to collect the student responses, with
twelve questions. The total sample size was five
hundred and ten (510) students. Four major
domains were concluded, related to Attitudes
towards Moodle, Moodle helps in understanding
and learning, students‟ favorite way of learning
through Instructor, or Moodle or both and the
accessing Moodle. There were two phases for the
data collection Before and After. The Before data
gathering phase was at the beginning of the course,
while After data gathering phase was at the end of
the course. Likert scale was used to collect the
responses for each item, ranging from 1 to 5, where
1= Strongly Disagree, 2=Disagree, 3=Uncertain Table1 and graphically presented in Figure 1. The
(never used Moodle before), 4=Agree, 5=Strongly overall attitudes towards Moodle was found low at
Agree, as shown in Appendix 1. the beginning of the course (M=2.22), but in the
A course outline, course presentations, additional after phase most students responded very high (M =
exercises for preparation, teaching material, 4.70).
additional handouts to support the course material It looks that the students were having a little
and data gathering and processing tools were used knowledge or didn‟t have enough knowledge or
in the study. Students and instructors were understanding of Moodle Before to the course. It
continuously linked with each other for exchanging seems that it may be a main cause of this low mean
and forwarding the ideas, information, questions towards attitudes at the beginning of the course.
and answers, among them through both Then the students were freely familiarized to
communication activities; Asynchronous (through- Moodle. After the course it was significant to know
E-mails: as E-mails can be sent or received without that the students‟ attitudes towards Moodle was
the contributors participation at the similar time) very positive (M = 4.70). It looks from students‟
and Synchronous (through- Moodle‟s Online Chat response that they sensed Moodle as an essential
sessions; for having the contributors participation at tool for learning and also felt comfortable while
the similar time, to mark their active involvement using it. This specifies their more positive attitudes
and contribution). These chat sessions were led and towards Moodle.
summarized by the instructors and deeply
participated by students. These Moodle chat Table 1: Attitudes towards Moodle
sessions were for 10-15 minutes, sometimes during Mean Size of Change
classes and occasionally at weekends. In response Dependent Variables Before After After-Before
of their queries, MS Word, PDF files, and website Comfortable 2.19 4.72 2.53
links etc. were uploaded or published on Moodle by Essential 2.24 4.67 2.43
instructors, to answer the generalized questions. A Overall(Attitudes
comparison was done, Before to the course and towards Moodle) 2.22 4.70 2.48
After the course, to perceive any evident difference
on students attitudes towards Moodle, its effects on
learning and their preferences in comparison with
Instructor versus Moodle.
Computer labs were used for the class sessions and
each lab was operative with 32 computers
containing Microsoft Office and Windows 7.0
Operating System. Plain statistical analysis were
used to evaluate the collected data by comparing the
means to review the size of change from Before to
After phase. Then the outcomes of these
comparisons were included to study the change on
questions like attitudes towards Moodle, learning
through Moodle, students liking in comparison with
Instructor versus Moodle and accessing Moodle.
Figure 1: Attitudes towards Moodle (Before Vs. After)
5.1. ATTITUDES TOWARDS MOODLE
The means of the survey at Before and After phases
along with the size of change are tabulated in
5.2. LEARNING THROUGH MOODLE 5.3. METHOD OF INSTRUCTION
In the beginning of course overall opinion and The means of the survey at Before and After phases
awareness of students towards the Moodle as a along with the size of change are tabulated in Table
learning tool was poor as specified by their response 3 and graphically presented in Figure 3. In the
(M=2.66). But when inquired at After phase of the beginning students were asked to give their opinion
course, they valued the effect of Moodle on their about the method of instruction, i.e. Instructor Only,
learning with a very positive response and their Moodle Only or Instructor and Moodle. The overall
mean was (M = 4.69). Students had specified the mean response in the beginning was higher for
effects of Moodle on their improved understanding Instructor Only (M = 4.09), and Instructor and
and learning the course material as well on their Moodle was poor (M=1.88).
better exam preparation. It appears that more After using the Moodle their responses were
availability and usage of Moodle leads to more changed with a decrease in overall mean for
positive students‟ attitudes towards Moodle, which Instructor only to (M=3.09) and big increase in the
sequentially contribute to their better understanding students liking for the method of instruction through
and learning the course material. Instructor and Moodle mean with (M = 4.83) along
The means of the survey at Before and After phases with a very big size of change (2.95).
along with the size of change are tabulated in Table
2 and graphically presented in Figure 2.
Table 3: Method of Instruction
Table 2: Moodle and Learning Mean Size of Change
Mean Size of Change Before After After-Before
Dependent Instructor Only 4.09 3.09 -1.00
Variables Before After After-Before
Moodle only 1.42 2.08 0.66
Understanding 2.85 4.73 1.88
Instructor and Moodle 1.88 4.83 2.95
Learning 2.88 4.70 1.82
Helped in Exams
Preparation 2.25 4.65 2.40
Overall(Helps in
course learning) 2.66 4.69 2.03

Figure 3: Method of Instruction (Before Vs. After)

5.4. MOODLE ACCESSIBILITY
The means of the survey at Before and After phases
along with the size of change are tabulated in Table
Figure 2: Learning through Moodle (Before Vs. After)
4 and graphically presented in Figure 4. The overall
Moodle accessibility was found to be low for technologies are becoming dominant and
students at the beginning of the course (M=2.70) widespread, all over the world, and nations are
because students were having a little knowledge or inflowing to the digital phase. The mode of
didn‟t have enough knowledge or understanding of education through distance learning is becoming
Moodle Before to the course, but in the After phase more eminent which is more effective. The
most students responded very high (M = 4.59). It additional use of Moodle, with traditional class-
was remarkable to know that the students found room, face to face instruction can impact the
Moodle accessible from any networked location at students learning and understanding with positive
any time. attitudes. Maximum students preferred face to face
approach but supported with online material and
activities (like E-mails or chat sessions etc.) as a
Table 4: Accessing Moodle favorite mode of learning. The findings of this
Mean Size of Change study are also in agreement with[3], in that students‟
Before After After-Before attitudes and approaches were precisely positive
Any Location 2.49 4.55 2.06 when they used Moodle as a learning tool, and they
Any Time 2.91 4.63 1.72 were confident that it deals with a worthy approach
Overall (Moodle to modern teaching and learning, and they believed
Accessibility) 2.70 4.59 1.89 that E-learning is very useful, but cannot replace
face-to face learning, entirely. The most promising
thing students underlined is the availability and ease
of access of the available teaching materials,
exercises and updated information regarding their
course from effectively anywhere outside of the
classroom and collection of all the learning material
in one place, a rapid feedback on the course website
of their e-communications (through online chat
sessions and exchange of E-mails).

7. REFERENCES
1. Alkhanak, S. A. K. and I. A. G. Azmi (2011).
"Information technology usage and attitudes towards
online resources-Students perspective." African Journal of
Business Management 5(7): 2582-2589.

Figure 4: Accessing Moodle (Before Vs. After)
6. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION:
Students those were introduced to online learning
environment through Moodle, had encouraging,
optimistic and positive approaches and attitudes
towards Moodle and sequentially had better and
enhanced learning and understanding of the course
material.
As the whole world is emerging in a comprehensive
society and the Internet and other related
2. Brooks-Young, S. (2008). Got moodle? T.H.E.Journal,
35(4), 28-28,30. Retrieved on March 10, 2012 from
http://search.proquest.com/docview/214821409?accountid
=27575
3. Hölbl M, Welzer T. (2010) Students' Feedback and
Communication Habits using Moodle. Electronics &
Electrical Engineering [serial online]. July 2010;(102):63-
66. Available from: Computers & Applied Sciences
Complete, Ipswich, MA. Accessed December 20, 2011.
4. Hsu, L. (2011). Blended learning in ethics education: A
survey of nursing students. Nursing Ethics, 18(3), 418-
430. doi:10.1177/0969733011398097
5. Insinnia, E., & Eileen, C. S. (2004). Power chatting:
Lessons for success. Voices from the Middle, 11(3), 10-
16.
http://search.proquest.com/docview/213932355?accountid
=27575
6. Maikish, A. (2006). MOODLE: A Free, Easy, and
Constructivist Online Learning Tool. Multimedia &
Internet@Schools, 13(3), 26-28.
7. Moodle (2012), Retrieved on March 01, 2012:
http://moodle.org/about/
8. Sultan Qaboos University (2012), Retrieved on February
04, 2012: http://www.squ.edu.om
9. Tselios, N., Daskalakis, S., & Papadopoulou, M. (2011).
Assessing the Acceptance of a Blended Learning
University Course. Journal Of Educational Technology &
Society, 14(2), 224-235.
10. Wang, G. (2010). The application of E-mail to college
english teaching in china. English Language Teaching,
3(2), 129-134.
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8. APPENDIX 1: QUESTIONNAIRE FORM
Basic Computing Skills (FPCS0101)
Spring, 2012 Please Tick
o Male
Dear Student: o Female

The function and intention of this form is to obtain your opinion regarding the course. Your input will help out
in understanding and developing the course delivery method and will not at all affect the evaluation of your
work. Assess the following statements by selecting:
1= Strongly Disagree 2=Disagree 3=Uncertain 4=Agree 5=Strongly Agree
(OR Never used Moodle)

Please encircle your answer;

Thanks for your help.
Before Course After Course
01. I think Moodle is friendly. 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
02. I think Moodle is comfortable, while using. 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
03. I feel easy working with computers. 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
04. I feel that Moodle is an essential part of this course. 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
05. I wish this course be taught by the instructor only. 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5

06. I wish this course be taught through Moodle only. 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5

I wish this course be taught by Instructor and

07. 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
supported through Moodle.
On the whole, Moodle helped me in understanding
08. 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
the course material.
On the whole, Moodle helped me in learning more
09. 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
the course material.
On the whole, Moodle helped me in gaining more
10. 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
score, in the course exams.
I can access Moodle through internet enabled
11. 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
computer from any location.
12. I can access Moodle at any time. 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5

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