Page 1

Bb/Moodle Admin Functionality MatrixBb/Moodle Admin Functionality MatrixBb/Moodle Admin Functionality MatrixBb/Moodle Admin Functionality Matrix

Welcome to the Open Source Collaborative Project's Moodle & Blackboard Comparison Matrix.

This matrix will attempt to compare functionality of the Moodle 1.9, Blackboard 7.x Learning System (LS), Blackboard 8.x Learning System and Blackboard 7 or 8 Academic Suite (AS) course management systems. By determining true functionality, the project team will be able to compare the four CMSs equally.

Before you begin, please provide us some information about yourself. This information will help us organize the data we receive and aid in the follow-up effort if needed.

Once you have supplied the information, click on the Save button to begin the matrix.

1. Personal Information: (optional) This information will be used as follow up purposes only.

2. How many years of administration experience do you have working with one or more of the following CMS's?

3. If you received training on one or more of the CMSs, please describe the training below.

Please answer the following questions on Course Management.

You may answer: yes, no, Back-end, 3rd party(free), 3rd party($), Dev, N/A or leave the answer blank for the following questions.

*Select Yes if you are aware that the CMS does have that functionality included in the admin GUI.*Select No if you are aware that the CMS does not have that functionality included in the admin GUI.*Select Back-End if you are aware that the CMS does have that functionality included but only available through the back end server level.*Select 3rd party(free) if you are aware of a 3rd party tool that addresses the function that is free to use.*Select 3rd party($) if you are aware of a 3rd party tool that addresses the function that has a fee to use.*Select Dev if you are aware that the function is currently being coded (or in beta) and is expected to be released within the next 6 months.*Select N/A if the question does not apply.* Leave the answer blank if you do not know if the CMS has the functionality.

1. Introduction & Personal Information

Name:

Email Address:

Education Institution:

Job Title:

  Moodle 1.9 Blackboard 7.x LS Blackboard 8.x LS Bb 7x or 8x AS

Years of Experience using the CMS(s):

2. Course Management:

Comments:

Page 2

Bb/Moodle Admin Functionality MatrixBb/Moodle Admin Functionality MatrixBb/Moodle Admin Functionality MatrixBb/Moodle Admin Functionality MatrixIMPORTANT DIRECTIONS: Click the Save button on each page to continue in the matrix. You must click the Save button in order to save your progress and be able to return to complete the matrix at a later time.

Only answer the questions for the CMS in which you are familiar.

1. Course Management: (Remember: Only answer the questions for the CMS in which you are familiar.)

  Moodle 1.9 Bb 7.x LS Bb 8.x LS Bb 7x or 8x AS

Does the system offer an interface for single manual course creation

(not associated with a campus registration system)?

Does the system offer a tool for batch manual course creation (not

associated with a campus registration system)?

Does the system offer tools within the interface for governing course

creation that occurs through integration with the campus registration

system? (e.g. when courses are pulled in the LMS system, when

updates are stopped, etc.)

Can administrators set start and end dates systemwide for when

courses appear to users in the system (separate from when they are

created within the system)?

Can administrators determine when a course appears to various

users enrolled in courses according to that user's role?

Can administrators determine when a course becomes closed to

various users enrolled in courses according to that user's role

Once a course has been closed--or made unavailable--to users, can

it be reopened?

Do administrators have a method within the interface to copy

individual courses or materials within an individual course?

Do administrators have a method within the interface to batch copy

individual courses or materials within an individual course?

Does the system provide administrators with a batch course backup

and restoration method? (This would be for the purposes of

recovering a course into the same system.)

Does the system provide a method for saving course materials,

assignments, and assessments for reuse outside of an LMS?

Does the system provide a method for saving course materials,

assignments, and assessments for reuse in a different system?

Does the system provide administrative tools for importing materials

from other LMS systems?

Can administrators delete a batch of courses from within the

interface?

Does the system provide administrators with tools to search

systemwide for courses that have been accessed or materials

updated within a give time-window? (The purposes of these tools

would be to assess inactive courses which can be deleted from the

system.)

3. User Management

Comments

Page 3

Bb/Moodle Admin Functionality MatrixBb/Moodle Admin Functionality MatrixBb/Moodle Admin Functionality MatrixBb/Moodle Admin Functionality MatrixPlease answer the following questions on User Management.

You may answer: yes, no, Back-end, 3rd party(free), 3rd party($), Dev, N/A or leave the answer blank for the following questions.

*Select Yes if you are aware that the CMS does have that functionality included in the admin GUI.*Select No if you are aware that the CMS does not have that functionality included in the admin GUI.*Select Back-End if you are aware that the CMS does have that functionality included but only available through the back end server level.*Select 3rd party(free) if you are aware of a 3rd party tool that addresses the function that is free to use.*Select 3rd party($) if you are aware of a 3rd party tool that addresses the function that has a fee to use.*Select Dev if you are aware that the function is currently being coded (or in beta) and is expected to be released within the next 6 months.*Select N/A if the question does not apply.* Leave the answer blank if you do not know if the CMS has the functionality.

IMPORTANT DIRECTIONS: Click the Save button on each page to continue in the matrix. You must click the Save button in order to save your progress and be able to return to complete the matrix at a later time.

Only answer the questions for the CMS in which you are familiar.

Page 4

Bb/Moodle Admin Functionality MatrixBb/Moodle Admin Functionality MatrixBb/Moodle Admin Functionality MatrixBb/Moodle Admin Functionality Matrix1. User Management: (Remember: Only answer the questions for the CMS in which you are familiar.)

Please answer the following questions on Add-on Management & Admin Communications.

You may answer: yes, no, Back-end, 3rd party(free), 3rd party($), Dev, N/A or leave the answer blank for the following questions.

*Select Yes if you are aware that the CMS does have that functionality included in the admin GUI.*Select No if you are aware that the CMS does not have that functionality included in the admin GUI.*Select Back-End if you are aware that the CMS does have that functionality included but only available through the back end server level.*Select 3rd party(free) if you are aware of a 3rd party tool that addresses the function that is free to use.*Select 3rd party($) if you are aware of a 3rd party tool that addresses the function that has a fee to use.*Select Dev if you are aware that the function is currently being coded (or in beta) and is expected to be released within the next 6 months.*Select N/A if the question does not apply.

  Moodle 1.9 Bb 7.x LS Bb 8.x LS Bb 7x or 8x AS

Does the system offer an interface for single manual user creation

(for users not associated with a campus directory)?

Does the system offer a tool for batch manual user creation (not

associated with a campus registration directory)?

Can administrators modify a user's profile information?

Can administrators disable a user's account?

Can administrators determine which aspects of a user's profile

appear to the user?

Does the system offer an interface for single manual user deletion

(not associated with a campus directory)?

Does the system offer a tool for batch manual user deletion (not

associated with a campus directory)?

Does the system offer a way for administrators to get list of user

accounts not used in a given period of time?

Does the system offer tools within the interface for governing user

deletion that occurs through integration with campus directories (e.g.

forms to fill in tell the system under what criteria to delete users)?

Can administrators set user roles and privileges from a set list

provided within the system?

Can user roles and privileges be customized?

Can a new user role be created?

Can administrators give subgroups on campus select administrative

privileges (for instance over their own departmental courses)?

Can administrators give central help desk personnel appropriate

privileges for troubleshooting issues without compromising the

system?

Can administrators login as a user without knowing or resetting that

users password?

4. Add-on Management & Admin Communications:

Comments

Page 5

Bb/Moodle Admin Functionality MatrixBb/Moodle Admin Functionality MatrixBb/Moodle Admin Functionality MatrixBb/Moodle Admin Functionality Matrix* Leave the answer blank if you do not know if the CMS has the functionality.

IMPORTANT DIRECTIONS: Click the Save button on each page to continue in the matrix. You must click the Save button in order to save your progress and be able to return to complete the matrix at a later time.

Only answer the questions for the CMS in which you are familiar.

1. Add-on Management: (Remember: Only answer the questions for the CMS in which you are familiar.)

2. Admin Communications: (Remember: Only answer the questions for the CMS in which you are familiar.)

Please answer the following questions on Database Management, Security, Scalability & High Availability.

You may answer: yes, no, Back-end, 3rd party(free), 3rd party($), Dev, N/A or leave the answer blank for the following questions.

*Select Yes if you are aware that the CMS does have that functionality included in the admin GUI.*Select No if you are aware that the CMS does not have that functionality included in the admin GUI.*Select Back-End if you are aware that the CMS does have that functionality included but only available through the back end server level.*Select 3rd party(free) if you are aware of a 3rd party tool that addresses the function that is free to use.*Select 3rd party($) if you are aware of a 3rd party tool that addresses the function that has a fee to use.

  Moodle 1.9 Bb 7.x LS Bb 8.x LS Bb 7x or 8x AS

Can add-on modules to the system be installed through a GUI

interface?

Can these modules be turned on and off through an interface?

Can settings for these modules be made through an interface?

  Moodle 1.9 Bb 7.x LS Bb 8.x LS Bb 7x or 8x AS

Can administrators communicate with all users?

Can administrators communicate with select user roles?

Can administrators communicate through posted announcement?

Can administrators communicate with pop-ups for online users?

Can administrators communicate with rss feeds?

Can administrators communicate with email?

Can administrators communicate with chat message for users

online?

Can administrators communicate with text messages for phone?

5. Database Management, Security, Scalability & High Availability:

Comments

Comments

Page 6

Bb/Moodle Admin Functionality MatrixBb/Moodle Admin Functionality MatrixBb/Moodle Admin Functionality MatrixBb/Moodle Admin Functionality Matrix*Select Dev if you are aware that the function is currently being coded (or in beta) and is expected to be released within the next 6 months.*Select N/A if the question does not apply.* Leave the answer blank if you do not know if the CMS has the functionality.

IMPORTANT DIRECTIONS: Click the Save button on each page to continue in the matrix. You must click the Save button in order to save your progress and be able to return to complete the matrix at a later time.

Only answer the questions for the CMS in which you are familiar.

1. Database Management: (Remember: Only answer the questions for the CMS in which you are familiar.)

2. Security: (Remember: Only answer the questions for the CMS in which you are familiar.)

  Moodle 1.9 Bb 7.x LS Bb 8.x LS Bb 7x or 8x AS

Does the application support a Oracle RAC database?

Does the application support a Oracle database?

Does the application support a MS SQL database?

Does the application support a MY SQL database?

Does the application support a PostgreSQL database?

  Moodle 1.9 Bb 7.x LS Bb 8.x LS Bb 7x or 8x AS

Does the entire system run under SSL using standard

implementations of SSL through technologies such as weblogic or

accelerators?

Can SSL be turned on for select areas within the application itself?

Does the system offer ways to provide student's information that is

covered by FERPA, including grades as well as directory information

requested to be private by the user?

Does the system provide virus scanning for attachments?

Comments

Comments

Page 7

Bb/Moodle Admin Functionality MatrixBb/Moodle Admin Functionality MatrixBb/Moodle Admin Functionality MatrixBb/Moodle Admin Functionality Matrix3. Scalability & High Availability: (Remember: Only answer the questions for the CMS in which you are familiar.)

Please answer the following questions on Installation & Upgrade, Backups & Programming Language(s).

You may answer: yes, no, Back-end, 3rd party(free), 3rd party($), Dev, N/A or leave the answer blank for the following questions.

*Select Yes if you are aware that the CMS does have that functionality included in the admin GUI.*Select No if you are aware that the CMS does not have that functionality included in the admin GUI.*Select Back-End if you are aware that the CMS does have that functionality included but only available through the back end server level.*Select 3rd party(free) if you are aware of a 3rd party tool that addresses the function that is free to use.*Select 3rd party($) if you are aware of a 3rd party tool that addresses the function that has a fee to use.*Select Dev if you are aware that the function is currently being coded (or in beta) and is expected to be released within the next 6 months.*Select N/A if the question does not apply.* Leave the answer blank if you do not know if the CMS has the functionality.

IMPORTANT DIRECTIONS: Click the Save button on each page to continue in the matrix. You must click the Save button in order to save your progress and be able to return to complete the matrix at a later time.

Only answer the questions for the CMS in which you are familiar.

  Moodle 1.9 Bb 7.x LS Bb 8.x LS Bb 7x or 8x AS

Is the software certified for working in a clustered environment for

the application servers?

Is the software certified for working with a clustered database

environment?

Is the software certified or proven to work using virtualization

software?

Can an instance of the application and associated data be mirrored

on another set of hardware in case of hardware failure affecting the

first instance?

6. Installation & Upgrade, Backups & Programming Language(s):

Comments

Page 8

Bb/Moodle Admin Functionality MatrixBb/Moodle Admin Functionality MatrixBb/Moodle Admin Functionality MatrixBb/Moodle Admin Functionality Matrix1. Installation & Upgrade: (Remember: Only answer the questions for the CMS in which you are familiar.)

2. Backups & Programming Language(s): (Remember: Only answer the questions for the CMS in which you are familiar.)

Please answer the following questions on Authentication & Enrollment Management.

You may answer: yes, no, Back-end, 3rd party(free), 3rd party($), Dev, N/A or leave the answer blank for the following questions.

*Select Yes if you are aware that the CMS does have that functionality included in the admin GUI.*Select No if you are aware that the CMS does not have that functionality included in the admin GUI.*Select Back-End if you are aware that the CMS does have that functionality included but only available through the back end server level.*Select 3rd party(free) if you are aware of a 3rd party tool that addresses the function that is free to use.*Select 3rd party($) if you are aware of a 3rd party tool that addresses the function that has a fee to use.*Select Dev if you are aware that the function is currently being coded (or in beta) and is expected to be released within the next 6 months.*Select N/A if the question does not apply.* Leave the answer blank if you do not know if the CMS has the functionality.

IMPORTANT DIRECTIONS: Click the Save button on each page to continue in the matrix. You must click the Save button in order to save your progress and be able to return to complete the matrix at a later time.

Only answer the questions for the CMS in which you are familiar.

  Moodle 1.9 Bb 7.x LS Bb 8.x LS Bb 7x or 8x AS

Can the system be installed or upgraded without installing a number

of previous releases first?

Can hotfixes to critical application issues be applied without

application downtime?

When an upgrade to the application is done, are there other

components integral to the standard application that need to be

upgraded separately?

Is a roll-back feature available for upgrades so that the application

can be rolled back to a previous version?

  Moodle 1.9 Bb 7.x LS Bb 8.x LS Bb 7x or 8x AS

Can the application be backed up at the system level?

Can the application be restored to a point and time?

List the programming language required to modify the code.

List the programming language required to create modules or

additional components that can be plugged into the application.

7. Authentication & Enrollment Management:

Comments

Comments

Page 9

Bb/Moodle Admin Functionality MatrixBb/Moodle Admin Functionality MatrixBb/Moodle Admin Functionality MatrixBb/Moodle Admin Functionality Matrix

1. Authentication: (Remember: Only answer the questions for the CMS in which you are familiar.)

2. Enrollment Management: (Remember: Only answer the questions for the CMS in which you are familiar.)

Please answer the following questions on Reporting, Interface Customizations.

You may answer: yes, no, Back-end, 3rd party(free), 3rd party($), Dev, N/A or leave the answer blank for the following questions.

*Select Yes if you are aware that the CMS does have that functionality included in the admin GUI.*Select No if you are aware that the CMS does not have that functionality included in the admin GUI.*Select Back-End if you are aware that the CMS does have that functionality included but only available through the back end server level.*Select 3rd party(free) if you are aware of a 3rd party tool that addresses the function that is free to use.*Select 3rd party($) if you are aware of a 3rd party tool that addresses the function that has a fee to use.*Select Dev if you are aware that the function is currently being coded (or in beta) and is expected to be released within the next 6 months.*Select N/A if the question does not apply.* Leave the answer blank if you do not know if the CMS has the functionality.

IMPORTANT DIRECTIONS: Click the Save button on each page to continue in the matrix. You must click the Save button in order to save your progress and be able to return to complete the matrix at a later time.

  Moodle 1.9 Bb 7.x LS Bb 8.x LS Bb 7x or 8x AS

Does the interface provide tools to turn off and on different types of

authentication?

Does the system provide for a primary and secondary authentication

method?

  Moodle 1.9 Bb 7.x LS Bb 8.x LS Bb 7x or 8x AS

Can the system be set to allow self-enrollment?

Does the system allow manual batch enrollment into courses?

Is there a GUI interface available for customizing and adjusting

enrollment integration with an SIS system?

If there is an interface available for turning on and off drop/add

capabilities included?

Is there a way to accommodate the need to enroll a user despite

their official un-enrollment? (e.g. for students who enrolled but later

un-enroll but still need access to the site.)

If there is an interface available to customize the way integration

handles cross-listing via the administrative interface?

8. Reporting, Interface Customizations:

Comments

Comments

Page 10

Bb/Moodle Admin Functionality MatrixBb/Moodle Admin Functionality MatrixBb/Moodle Admin Functionality MatrixBb/Moodle Admin Functionality MatrixOnly answer the questions for the CMS in which you are familiar.

1. Reporting: (Remember: Only answer the questions for the CMS in which you are familiar.)

  Moodle 1.9 Bb 7.x LS Bb 8.x LS Bb 7x or 8x AS

Can administrators run reports to determine which courses are being

accessed regularly within a given time-frame?

Can administrators run a report to determine which courses are

being modified within a given time-frame?

Can administrators run a report to determine which courses are

being accessed or modified according to other customized variables

(e.g. any courses with a matching text string in their name)?

Can administrators run reports to determine which types of content

areas and tools within active courses are being used?

Can reports be narrowed (e.g. to view certain tools, certain users)?

Are report results exportable in a delimited text format?

Is the raw data behind a report exportable for analysis in a different

program?

Can an administrator check the logs for specific user activity or errors

in a given course?

Is it possible to pull together an activity report from a user from

across all his/her sites?

Can administrators get a summary report of numbers of unique

users logging during a given time period?

Comments

Page 11

Bb/Moodle Admin Functionality MatrixBb/Moodle Admin Functionality MatrixBb/Moodle Admin Functionality MatrixBb/Moodle Admin Functionality Matrix2. Interface Customization: (Remember: Only answer the questions for the CMS in which you are familiar.)

Please answer the following questions on Integration & Operating Systems.

You may answer: yes, no, Back-end, 3rd party(free), 3rd party($), Dev, N/A or leave the answer blank for the following questions.

*Select Yes if you are aware that the CMS does have that functionality included in the admin GUI.*Select No if you are aware that the CMS does not have that functionality included in the admin GUI.*Select Back-End if you are aware that the CMS does have that functionality included but only available through the back end server level.*Select 3rd party(free) if you are aware of a 3rd party tool that addresses the function that is free to use.*Select 3rd party($) if you are aware of a 3rd party tool that addresses the function that has a fee to use.*Select Dev if you are aware that the function is currently being coded (or in beta) and is expected to be released within the next 6 months.*Select N/A if the question does not apply.* Leave the answer blank if you do not know if the CMS has the functionality.

IMPORTANT DIRECTIONS: Click the Save button on each page to continue in the matrix. You must click the Save button in order to save your progress and be able to return to complete the matrix at a later time.

Only answer the questions for the CMS in which you are familiar.

  Moodle 1.9 Bb 7.x LS Bb 8.x LS Bb 7x or 8x AS

Can administrators make changes to the graphical look of the

system by selecting colors and uploading images?

Can administrators customize the graphic look through css style

sheets or other methods that allows more flexibility?

Can administrators customize (or give others the ability to

customize) the look and feel according to departmental or other role

affiliation?

Can the main structure and organization of the content area of the

home page be changed (moved to the right, left, etc.)?

Can options and permissions for customizing the appearance and

structure of course home pages be adjusted by administrators?

Can administrators set the entire system to run in a particular

language?

Can administrators allow instructors to choose which language a

particular site interface appears in?

Can administrators set the time zone?

9. Integration & Operating Systems

Comments

Page 12

Bb/Moodle Admin Functionality MatrixBb/Moodle Admin Functionality MatrixBb/Moodle Admin Functionality MatrixBb/Moodle Admin Functionality Matrix1. Integration with Directory Services: (Remember: Only answer the questions for the CMS in which you are familiar.)

2. Integration with SIS Systems (Student Information Systems): (Remember: Only answer the questions for the CMS in which you are familiar.)

3. Operating Systems: (Remember: Only answer the questions for the CMS in which you are familiar.)

Please answer the following questions on Infrastructure and Accessibility .

You may answer: yes, no, Back-end, 3rd party(free), 3rd party($), Dev, N/A or leave the answer blank for the following questions.

*Select Yes if you are aware that the CMS does have that functionality included in the admin GUI.

  Moodle 1.9 Bb 7.x LS Bb 8.x LS Bb 7x or 8x AS

Does the system provide standard APIs for integrating with Active

Directory?

Does the system provide standard APIs for integrating with LDAP?

Does the system provide standard APIs for integrating with

Kerberos?

Does the system provide standard APIs for integrating with

Shibboleth?

  Moodle 1.9 Bb 7.x LS Bb 8.x LS Bb 7x or 8x AS

Have there been successful integrations with Banner-Luminis portal?

Have there been successful integrations with Datatel?

Have there been successful integrations with PeopleSoft?

Have there been successful integrations with Custom SIS?

Have there been successful integrations through batch file

processing?

Have there been successful integrations with event-driven

processing?

  Moodle 1.9 Bb 7.x LS Bb 8.x LS Bb 7x or 8x AS

Does the system run under Unix?

Does the system run under Windows?

10. Infrastructure & Accessibility

Comments

Comments

Comments

Page 13

Bb/Moodle Admin Functionality MatrixBb/Moodle Admin Functionality MatrixBb/Moodle Admin Functionality MatrixBb/Moodle Admin Functionality Matrix*Select No if you are aware that the CMS does not have that functionality included in the admin GUI.*Select Back-End if you are aware that the CMS does have that functionality included but only available through the back end server level.*Select 3rd party(free) if you are aware of a 3rd party tool that addresses the function that is free to use.*Select 3rd party($) if you are aware of a 3rd party tool that addresses the function that has a fee to use.*Select Dev if you are aware that the function is currently being coded (or in beta) and is expected to be released within the next 6 months.*Select N/A if the question does not apply.* Leave the answer blank if you do not know if the CMS has the functionality.

IMPORTANT DIRECTIONS: Click the Save button on each page to continue in the matrix. You must click the Save button in order to save your progress and be able to return to complete the matrix at a later time.

Only answer the questions for the CMS in which you are familiar.

1. Shared Infrastructure: (Remember: Only answer the questions for the CMS in which you are familiar.)

2. Standards & Compliance--Accessibility: (Remember: Only answer the questions for the CMS in which you are familiar.)

  Moodle 1.9 Bb 7.x LS Bb 8.x LS Bb 7x or 8x AS

Is the software certified and proven to support multiple institutions

sharing the same set of application servers with discrete instances of

the software for each institution?

Is the software certified and proven to support multiple institutions

sharing the same instance of the software itself? (multiple

institutions sharing one license and a single install)

Is the software certified and proven to support multiple institutions

sharing the same database hardware with discrete databases for

each institution?

Is the software certified and proven to support multiple institutions

sharing the same file storage hardware with discrete file space for

each institution?

  Moodle 1.9 Bb 7.x LS Bb 8.x LS Bb 7x or 8x AS

Does the system comply with 508 accessibility requirements?

Does the system comply with WAI WCAG 1.0 A guidelines?

Does the system comply with WAI WCAG 1.0 AA guidelines?

Does the system comply with WAI WCAG 1.0 AAA guidelines?

Does the system support and comply with IMS Content Packaging?

Does the system support and comply with MS QTI?

Does the system support and comply with SCORM?

Comments

Comments