A comparison of webct, blackboard and moodle for the teaching and learning of continuing education courses

WebCT, Blackboard and MOODLE are three well-known web-based learning management systems widely used in higher education. This paper compares them functionally, with a special focus on their usage in the teaching and learning of continuing education courses which are characterised by short duration, few face-to-face contact hours, part-time or distance learning mode, less coherent student community, less structured but flexible curriculum, flexible study schedules and flexible performance assessment. It is found that all three learning management systems support curriculum design, communication and discussion, performance assessment and course administration, but at different levels of sophistication. In terms of functionality, WebCT and Blackboard are better than MOODLE, and WebCT is the best. WebCT allows greater flexibility in designing course curriculum and study schedules, which is especially suitable for continuing education courses. With many communication and discussion features, WebCT facilitates active participation among instructors and students of continuing education courses, and allows more varieties in designing learning materials and resources such as the use of multimedia. The performance assessment and grading functions are also flexible enough to meet the special requirements of a wide spread of continuing education courses.