What is the difference between Moodle and Moodle Workplace?

Exploring the key differences between Moodle and Moodle Workplace so you can decide what’s best for you.

Moodle is perhaps the best-known of all online learning platforms. Since the first version was released in 2002, it became the go-to platform for universities and other educational institutions.

It wasn’t long before we and other companies working with employers realised Moodle was also very well suited to corporate learning. With a few tweaks here and there, we could turn Moodle into something that truly met the needs of large employers.

After a few years of this, Moodle decided to save us some of the work we were undertaking by making a platform that already included many of the custom features we were adding to Moodle to meet the needs of corporate L&D teams. That’s how Moodle Workplace first came about.

So, how do the two differ, what is the difference between Moodle and Moodle Workplace, and which is the right platform for your requirements? Let’s look at the key differences.

Audience

As we’ve already touched upon, Moodle Workplace is squarely targeted at an enterprise-level audience. Moodle has a much broader audience across education and SMEs.

Availability

Moodle is open source and available for anybody to download. Moodle Workplace is available only via Moodle Partners like us. Since the platform targets an enterprise audience, Moodle wants organisations using it to have a smooth experience. The way it manages that is by insisting those who want to use Workplace have an experienced Moodle Partner to support them and help them to get the most out of it.

Organisational structure

Moodle Workplace allows you to manage learning in a way that mirrors the organisational structure of your organisation. This includes setting positions for each employee and creating automated workflows based on this. 

Multi-tenancy

Reflecting the fact that many corporate organisations are made up of multiple divisions, companies or subsidiaries, Moodle Workplace allows you to create multiple versions of an LMS for different audiences via a single installation.

Enrolment

Workplace offers smarter enrolment than Moodle. This includes automated enrolment, so learners are automatically enrolled on courses based on dynamic rules. It also includes competency-based enrolment, which enrols learners on courses based on their current competencies.

Compliance 

With compliance being a key aspect of corporate learning, Moodle Workplace offers more ways to streamline mandatory training than Moodle. This includes compliance tracking and recertification management so that employees are automatically alerted when they need to take or retake mandatory courses.

Notifications

While Moodle offers push notifications via the Moodle App, Moodle Workplace offers a more powerful alerts and notifications system that makes it easier to quickly get key information to learners or groups of learners.

Have you decided between Moodle and Moodle Workplace?

Hopefully, that rundown of the key differences between the two platforms has helped you to understand why Moodle Workplace is often a better choice for larger organisations. If you’re interested in learning more about either platform, just fill out the form below.

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