Using Moodle e-learning platform in Mechanical Engineering lectures

Abstract

With implementation of European Union's wide reforms of the educational system in the last decade, the academic lectures and increased complexity of the overlapping curriculum has become increasingly demanding. Usage of the online e-learning platforms in Higher Education has become an important part of the flexibility in modern educational system. There are many different e-learning platforms, both open source and commercially available. In the Laboratory LECAD (laboratory for Computer Aided Design) we have decided to use open source software Moodle for handling practical exercises of different academic lectures. The e-learning platform has been in use since 2015 and gradually adapted for many lectures, including traditional approach of weekly practical lectures as well as project-based lecture management. The paper describes impact of the implementation of Moodle on the curriculum, its advantages as well as its weaknesses. Each academic year more than 600 students were enrolled in Moodle. The advantages offered through online management tools have made lectures more attractive and accessible and has simplified keeping the topics being up to date. Having long time experience in conducting courses with usage of e-learning in the field of Mechanical Engineering it is hard to imagine e-learning as a full supplement of the traditional approach in educational system.