Migrating off Moodle
Migrating off Moodle
Moving platform is two jobs: moving your courses, and keeping your records. They need different things, and the records are the one people remember too late.
Here is a plan that does both, in the order that avoids surprises.
Before you switch anything off
Moodle holds things no course file carries: who took what, their grades and completion history, the certificates it issued, and every forum discussion. A course backup made without users carries none of them, and a SCORM package never will.
- Export the reports you need to keep, such as grades, completions and certificates issued, while Moodle is still running.
- If you need a complete archive, keep one full backup of each course with users included, somewhere safe. It holds personal data, so treat it that way.
Sort your courses into three piles
Move as they are
Courses built from pages, books, files, video, links and quizzes. These convert: the same content, in the same order, with the quiz score reported to your new LMS.
Rebuild
Courses that live on forums, assignments, workshops and group work. Those need a server and other people, and no conversion can carry them. Your new LMS has its own versions: rebuild these there.
Retire
Courses nobody takes any more. Keep the backup, and leave them behind.
Not sure which pile a course is in? The MBZ Check reads its backup in your browser and lists every activity, with whether it converts.
The plan, step by step
List your courses
Every course, who owns it, and whether anyone still takes it.
Export your records
The reports above, before anything else changes.
Back up each course, without users
The export guide shows the two settings that matter.
Check each backup and sort it
Move, rebuild or retire. The MBZ Check is free and nothing is uploaded.
Convert the ones that move
One at a time, or up to 10 at once with the batch converter. Each takes minutes, and you can play every one before you download it.
Test in the new LMS
Upload a few, enrol a test learner, and check that completion and scores arrive the way you expect.
Rebuild the rest, then switch Moodle off
Keep Moodle running until every course has moved and every record you need is exported.
How long does it take?
Converting is the quick part: minutes per course, and the same day you decide to do it. The time goes on the decisions and the testing, which no tool can do for you.
What your new LMS will see
A converted course is one SCORM 1.2 package. It reports one status and one score for the whole course, plus where the learner stopped. If you need a mark for every activity, that is a course to rebuild. What a package can tell your LMS →