End of Week 5 / Module 2

Preparations for creating my Moodle site are underway.

My LMS Proposal has been submitted and this time has been spent really considering the Rationale for this Course shell that I will be building.

What is my Rationale?
-why the communication space I will set up is supportive of your instructional goals.
The goal in this Chemistry 12 Moodle space that I am constructing, is to create another method of support for my students’ studies, and give them a different avenue for successful transfer of their learning outcomes. Students will have access to the online environment at any time, allowing them to revisit topics, complete work and collaborate with peers according to their schedule.
This platform will be designed to cater to a variety of learning styles. This learning environment, used in conjunction with the face to face, in classroom learning activities, might better meet students’ needs when facing a difficult topic. The intent is also to spark interest in a topic that may otherwise not entice the student. A proposed benefit might also be that students would be more likely to spend quality time completing homework and grasping concepts after class if such an environment is available to them.
This educational platform will allow students to collaborate with one another while learning, allow them to explore the material in any order and as many times as they wish. With the modeling provided by the instructor on this Moodle site, students will be encouraged to articulate their understanding of each topic and reflect upon their responses as well as reply to online postings from fellow classmates. In this way, we hope to motivate learners and provide them the opportunity to experience the learning materials in a more interactive way. Also to provide them with opportunities to learn information beyond the prescribed learning outcomes covered in the course outline.
Part of the delivery system will allow for students to assess their own learning as they collaborate on the website and respond to each other’s queries and comments.
“We must constantly remind ourselves that the ultimate purpose of evaluation is to have students become self evaluating. If students graduate from our schools still dependent upon others to tell them when they are adequate, good, or excellent, then we’ve missed the whole point of what education is about.” (Costa and Kallick, 1992, p. 280)

I truly believe that a blended, or mixed-mode delivery of content will benefit my students and prepare them more fully for lifelong learning.

I know that I will tweak, change and add activities and features as this Moodle site evolves, and I look forward to making this a valuable site for enhanced learning.