Some people may feel that school districts who are taking a cheaper route in their choice of an effective course management system may be at risk of losing major quality control points, but taking a cheaper route is a smoother and better path for students, teachers, and the district.

Blackboard was what most students knew as a place where teachers would post daily assignments, group discussions, and study reviews, The district viewed it as a huge investment that was putting a hole in its tight overall budget. In order to maintain a structured budget,the district decided to discontinue Blackboard and switch to Moodle,which is a stronger replica of Blackboard which includes more advanced features that allow a teacher to become more involved in a student’s academic future.

Some people might wonder what the big fuss is about, and others may ask what exactly is Blackboard and Moodle? Blackboard is a learning system that strives to enhance the teaching and learning environment by providing content management and sharing, online assessments, student tracking, assignment management and virtual collaboration. Moodle is very similar to Blackboard and provides some of the same functions as Blackboard; yet, Moodle is free software that you are allowed to copy and modify. Blackboard on the other hand is very costly. You would think that since both systems provide most of the same features, it only makes sense to go with the program that is the least expensive, or even free.

Cost is one significant factor in moving from Blackboard to Moodle, but Moodle also has a number of advantages over Blackboard. Some advantages are that it promotes frequent feedback to students. Students are sent email notices when an instructor has posted grades, added feedback to an assignment, and an assignment can be updated.

The grade book tool in Moodle lets you add feedback in addition to a grade or score. Built-in blog and wiki tools in Moodle provide new communication options for group work and journals. In addition, Moodle students can access all of the course resources from the course front page.

I wouldn’t consider the change from Blackboard to Moodle as being a "Big Deal" but I would account it as being a "Big Change" for the teachers and students who have been accustomed to Blackboard, and with all new things comes some consequences.