By Casey Montana

Blackboard has been erased and replaced by the new site Moodle.

For the past seven years teachers have uploaded assignments to the Blackboard website, where students could find homework and notes at home. Blackboard also offered communication between classes using forum boards and online chat.

Moodle offers the same test and homework upload options as Blackboard. Moodle also offers to the ability for students to add a profile picture.

The district switched to Moodle primarily as a cost-saving measure.

“The district met with Capital Area IU, the vendor for Moodle, and opted to end the relationship with Blended Schools, the vendor of Blackboard, to save money,” Vice Principal Janeen Peretin said

In addition to lower cost, Moodle has a cleaner, less cumbersome page design.

“Blackboard was messier than Moodle because it had several different pages and Moodle only has one page,” English teacher Daniel Harrold said.

Just like Blackboard, Moodle offers the opportunity for uploading assignments and essays for plagiarism check, as well as the same applications as provided by Blackboard.

“We wanted to make sure that Moodle offered similar tools so everyone could easily transfer from Blackboard,” Peretin said.

Peretin and Vice Principal Jonathan Peebles said they want to get the school into new areas of technology so students can apply what they know best to their school lives.

“Using applications such as Moodle is our attempt to meet halfway with the students,” Peretin said.

Many high school students are online when they are at home and can use it to their advantage. Moodle offers lesson reviews using applications like flash cards, review quizzes, and a chat room to seek help from teachers.

Students don’t have to stay after school for tutoring; they can be at home and have an in- house study session through Moodle.

Not only is Moodle for communication between students and teachers, but also between teachers and parents.

Parents ask the question, “Do you have homework tonight?” Every parent has access to Moodle to see the truth.

“We are always looking for ways to communicate,” said Peebles, “and the school format isn’t just 7:30 a.m. to 2:25 p.m. How we learn is transitioning from teacher to fingertip.”