On the 31st of March, Martin Dougiamas, founder and CEO of Moodle was announced as an Honorary Doctor of the University of Vic – Central University of Catalonia (UVic-UCC).
UVic-UCC awarded Martin Dougiamas an Honorary Doctorate for his contribution and dedication to the field of education with the development of the open-source learning platform, Moodle. In his acceptance speech, Dougiamas said that he has always felt attracted to collaboration, group activities and education as a process to share and learn together.
Since developing the first version of Moodle in 2002, Dougiamas has maintained his role as project leader and manager of the platform, combining his skills as a programmer with a constructivist pedagogical vision. The project has grown to be one of the most powerful free software communities, with over 71,000 registered Moodle sites and 84 million users worldwide.
The University of Vic is a pioneer in the use of Moodle, not only for academic affairs and teaching but also in the administrative management of projects such as the control of documentation and meetings. According to Pere Quer, Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs, Moodle has opened the door to a whole range of educational teamwork possibilities, with enhanced communication outside the classroom, multimedia integration, use of mobile devices, structured learning activities and tools for linking up with the wider social and professional context. Quer proposed the award to Dougiamas for his contribution to education.
The Catalonia Department of Education welcomed the decision of the UVic-UCC to grant recognition to Dougiamas and highlighted the important role of Moodle in the learning process in schools in Catalonia. Catalonia has nearly 400,000 Moodle users in 1,300 secondary schools and 300 primary schools.
The presentation ceremony was well attended by both students and staff of the University. Following the presentation Dougiamas met with about 120 people in seven Catalan schools to share experiences and knowledge about the use of Moodle.
See here for a full breakdown of the award ceremony and celebration.
