Moodle Mentor says:
BigBlueButton is one of those tools people often notice only after they need it, and then wonder how they ever lived without it! With every Moodle platform (Moodle LMS, Moodle Workplace, or MoodleCloud), BigBlueButton is the built-in virtual classroom tool designed specifically for teaching and learning. It’s also one of Moodle’s Certified Integration Partners, which means BigBlueButton meets our standards for quality, security, and interoperability.
What makes BigBlueButton special is that it isn’t a generic videoconferencing tool retrofitted for education — it’s founded on pedagogy. Everything in it is designed to support instructor-led active learning: whiteboards for modelling thinking, breakout rooms for collaboration, shared notes for building knowledge together, and real-time analytics that help you understand learner engagement.
BigBlueButton is great for higher education, but it’s also a powerful tool for employee learning (or, really, whatever type of learning you’re facilitating). I highly recommend checking out Fred Dixon and Jesus Federico’s talk from MoodleMoot Global 2025 — From webcam fatigue to learning success: Reimagining Instructor-Led Training — where they explore why instructor-led virtual classrooms still matter in an AI-shaped future.
For the quick summary, with BigBlueButton, you can:
- Host live classes, review sessions, or virtual office hours
- Use the built-in whiteboard and breakout rooms
- Record sessions for learners who couldn’t attend
- View real-time engagement analytics like who has spoken, raised hands, and more
And you do that all right within your Moodle course! No need to send your learners out on a scavenger hunt trying to find the right link for their virtual meetings.
A pro tip: treat BigBlueButton rooms the same way you treat your course design — set expectations early, create a simple structure for how sessions run, and make intentional use of active-learning tools (polls and shared notes are my favourites!).
And if you ever outgrow the free tier, Moodle’s ecosystem includes extended BigBlueButton hosting options with larger rooms, longer recording retention, and more advanced analytics.