LMS
I explored different Learning Management Systems such as WebCT/Vista and Moodle, and learned to evaluate them using Bates and Poole’s SECTIONS model.
Since Moodle is free and I have been using it at my school, I am glad that ETEC 565’s main project is to build a Moodle course site.
This is the first Moodle site that I built from scratch. I have learned a lot more about Moodle through building this site, such as creating forums and a splash page (welcome page) that links to the core parts of the course site. I found out more affordances of Moodle, and realized that how important it is to collaborate with fellow teachers when building these sites. Depending on function of the site desired by the instructor or course designer, building a Moodle course can be as simple as uploading class materials to supplement a face-to-face class, or as sophisticated as building a complete course shell with class material along with interactive activities like grouped forums, assessment tools like Hotpotatoe quizzes, or even live video conferences like Wimba.
There is still a lot that I need to explore in using an LMS, and I’m confident that thought collaborating with fellow Moodlers I will continue to improve my online Science 10 course site!