Last semester, I spotted a sign while walking to my class that said, “Are you ready for the reMoodle?” At first, I assumed someone had just made an unfortunate spelling error, but I soon realized it was a clever pun being used to tell students the online portal was going to change. I didn’t really think Moodle needed any changing. Everything seemed just fine to me. I figured the “remoodle” might include making the graphics a little more eye – catching or changing the colors to be slightly more cheerful so you wouldn’t feel so bad after discovering you had bombed a test. Sadly, I was wrong about every one of my assumptions.

I logged on to Moodle a few days before the semester started to get a head start on my assignments and reading material. Now, most people would assume the syllabus and due dates overwhelmed me to the point of anger. However, it was the brand new “reMoodle” that gave me a headache and made me want to throw my computer.

After putting in my password, I was greeted by an incredibly cheesy, low-quality picture of the Northwest side of the campus. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a lovely picture, but Moodle isn’t the place for it. I know what the college looks like – I’m there every day. They did try to update the fonts, which was a nice gesture, but failed to make it look like anything other than a bad Microsoft Word template. They also put the same picture of OCCC again by the “Moodle Orientation” tab, in case you forgot what the library and pond looked like while scrolling for less than one second.

You get on Moodle for three things. 1) To see what you have yet to do 2) To see what you forgot to do and 3) To see what you have failed to do. I don’t think the most challenging part of OCCC is the course work anymore, it’s navigating Moodle. The whole thing is just a jumbled mess. It’s impossible to find anything whether it’s an assignment, a discussion board or what chapter you’re supposed to read. There’s no organization to any of it and it honestly looks like a website from the early 2000’s that is under construction. But, thankfully someone had the brilliant idea to include a search bar, so there is a very slim chance you may actually find what you’re looking for.

I used to dread doing my homework. Now, I just dread finding my homework. Please don’t make our lives as students even more difficult. We liked Moodle before the “reMoodle.”