CMS Comparison

Being from a school district I evaluated two open source (FREE!) CMS packages. Sakai 2.5 (www.sakaiproject.org) which is relatively new on the scene in 2005 and Moodle 1.9 (www.moodle.org) which has been around about 10 years as I first remember it in 1999.

In both systems I set up demo accounts to be able to explore the packages. The table below on shows the tools in both systems.

Moodle 2.0 was due out in July and I had hoped it would be available for this project but unfortunately it was not so I did look at 1.9.

Both are open source and so rely a great deal on a community of developers. Sakai does have some commercial partners who provide some support whereas Moodle does not.

Moodle has a much larger user base having been around for twice as long as Sakai. But the Sakai user interface and up-to-date web 2.0 tools make it very appealing. It will be most interesting to see Moodle 2.0 and find out if it will be as clean and navigable as the current Sakai version.

Reviews of Moodle by users are generally positive. The system is characterized as flexible, powerful, and customizable. Instructor control of look and features, and features operate correctly.

Reviews of Sakai were very limited – most were on Sakai sites of one kind or another which I tend to discount.

One main difference is the amount of “significant development and support costs” for Sakai as reported in a couple of articles. Moodle is reportedly much easier to set up, run, and support. Certainly with double the amount of time on the ground that makes sense. That factor alone would sway my decision toward selecting Moodle.

The table used originally to organize this information does not transfer to this software. The first listed is Sakai, the second is Moodle.

SaKai Moodle 1.9 (2.0 due July 2010)
Learning Tools
Forum/Discussion Yes Yes
Announcements/Blog Yes Yes
Assignments List Yes Yes
File upload/download Yes Yes
eMail Yes No
Chat Yes Yes
On-line notes, text Yes Yes
Wiki Yes Yes
Calendar Yes Yes
Navigation Tabs, Links List Links List, ‘Jump’ menu
Whiteboard No No
Languages Yes Yes
Templates Yes No
Presentation Area Yes No
Teacher Tools
Ability to create structure: folders/menus/forums Yes - files, folders, podcasts, images, presentations, modules Yes - Choices so student controls progress through lesson with Branch Table; Upload files, images, MP3, folders
Gradebook Yes Yes
Registration, Roles, Grouping Yes Yes
Authentication/safety Yes Yes
Replication/Editing Yes Yes
Hidden options No admin example access Yes
Activity Reports Yes Yes
Testing Test & Quizzes Audio or text – MC, T/F, short answer
Glossary Yes FAQ, definitions
Survey Tool Yes Yes
Tech Specs/Support Yes Yes
Open Source
SCORM compliant Yes Yes
On-line community Yes Yes
Tech Support Undetermined – corporate sponsors available $1200 per year
Help Yes Yes