Just over a year ago I wrote a Dutch newsletter post about the State of Moodle in the Netherlands, Belgium and Surinam. I said that I would repeat the exercise in a year’s time. So here we go.
First a table showing the growth of Moodle and the Dutch Moodle user association (Ned-Moove) in these three countries:
| Country | 31-12-2007 | 06-01-2009 | Change | |
| Registered Moodle Sites | Netherlands | 441 | 653 | +48% |
| Belgium | 124 | 157 | +27% | |
| Surinam | 4 | 3 | -25% | |
| Total | 569 | 813 | +43% | |
| Ned-Moove Members | Netherlands | 86 | 110 | +28% |
| Belgium | 14 | 17 | +21% | |
| Surinam | 8 | 8 | – | |
| Total (includes other countries) |
108 | 135 | +25% | |
| Ned-Moove Small Sponsors | Netherlands | 3 | 6 | +100% |
| Belgium | 1 | 1 | – | |
| Surinam | 0 | 0 | ||
| Total | 4 | 7 | +75% | |
| Ned-Moove Large Sponsors | Netherlands | 5 | 4 | -20% |
| Belgium | 0 | 0 | – | |
| Surinam | 0 | 0 | – | |
| Total | 5 | 4 | -20 |
It is easy to see that Moodle has grown significantly in the last year. I am a bit disappointed that the growth in Ned-Moove memberships has not kept up with the growth in registered websites. This is something that I will try and change for next year.
I have created two montage images of the Belgian and Dutch registered Moodle sites. They give you a general idea of which colours and themes are currently the most popular (click on the images to enlarge them, note that the first one is 3.8 MB and the second one is 12.6 MB). Just like last year, I noticed that many of the sites use a standard Moodle theme (e.g. formal white, custom corners) with some very minor customisations. To me this means that Moodle HQ should make sure that all packaged standard themes are of a very high quality (currently they are not) and that some of them should allow for easy switching of the header image.
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We all know that many schools in secondary education use Moodle. What some people might not know is how many other organisations use Moodle for their learning, training or teaching needs. I have gone through most of the registered sites and want to highlight some of the more interesting ones for you to peruse at your leisure:
There are a couple of medical related sites: Mediclass, Sint Maartenskliniek, MedSchool, Proveto (for vets) en Huisartsopleiding Utrecht.
Some of the sites are focussed on teaching languages: Taallo, Chinese School Nederland en Learn 2 Speak.
There is a site focusing on deaf people: Effatha Guyot Group. They have a great logo for their Moodle site.
I found a couple of sports related Moodle sites: Dive-Rescue, Koninklijke Nederlandse Gymnastiek Unie, Watersportvereniging Almere, European Academy en Sailing Expertise.
One college has done a great job of creating a single theme for all of its separate schools: Esdal College.
A couple of Dutch tertiary educational institutions have now chosen to use Moodle. E.g. Theologische Universiteit Kampen, Internationale Hogeschool Breda Assessment and Learning Network for Learning Design. The last one is a site from the Dutch Open University exploring the IMS Learning Design specification.
Some organisations use Moodle like an alternative CMS: Isaga en Cyberdam.
Many small and bigger businesses have their own sites through which they sell or give away free courses: Camera College, Cursusnetwerk, Eduactiever, Even Leren, Cavell Group, Landelijk Expertisecentrum Sociale Interventie, Radio Nederland Training Centre, Mijn Breincoach, Online Cursussen, Opatel, Open of Course, Permanente Educatie, Zebrakey, Human Rights Education Associates, Mathelo, and the European Wine Academy.
The one site that I probably like the most is In de Groep. Jaap Marsman has done an excellent job creating a site geared for primary school students. He is pushing what he can do with the platform and that is great.
On to the State of Dutch Speaking Moodle 2009-2010!