Moodle has been claimed to be based be a Social Constructivist pedagogy. It aint. Niall Sclater summed it up, when talking about the OU’s adoption of the eLearning platform,  by pointing  out that “It can also be argued that LMSs are relatively pedagogy-neutral and and are merely shells in which to place content and activities”.  I used to think that to argue whether one LMS or VLE is more learner-centric than another was a bit daft - no to mention that it feels suspiciously like using students as footballs in some elaborate game. But I change my mind. I’m very excited by the latest announcement from the OU that they have now baked in the very tools that Moodle should support if is to lay claim to a Social Constructivism that includes the studentStudents can build and develop their own communities using the power of Moodle outside of their prescribed virtual classrooms. . I’m really stoked by this idea. It also reminds me of Mahara and the social networking functions of that platform which I’ve recently seen hooked up to a DSpace repository. Social Constructivism is here, or to translate,  fun times ahead!

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