Proposal
LMS Project Proposal
To: TD Friends of the Environment Foundation
Re: Conservation Education – An On-Line Educational Resource
Project Overview
An on-line resource covering conservation issues affecting the local environment of Boundary Bay will help to extend student learning and provide much needed quality resources for teachers.
Background Information and Project Description
The Friends of Semiahmoo Bay Society is a non-profit group working to conserve the ecosystems of the Boundary Bay Area. Our school program[1] currently follows an outreach model where a local area naturalist visits the classroom to prime students for learning in one of three topic areas: For the Birds; Marine Explorations; Freshwater/Pond Studies. Following the presentation, the teacher is left with resource materials for a three week period. The program culminates in a field experience.
We believe that students will benefit from further exploration of subject matter following the field experience and teachers need support and access to resources in order to make this learning meaningful.[2] To this end, we are developing an on-line resource that is accessible to elementary school teachers and students. Like our school programs, funders and project partners will be acknowledged on our well-established website (www.birdsonthebay.ca).[3]
We have selected Moodle, a free, open-source Learning Management System for our online resource. The design of Moodle supports constructivist principles and a project based approach to learning. Further, we are able to start with a simple design and build in new features over time (Perkins & Pfaffman, 2006). A separate, yet critical deciding factor for our organization is the open source philosophy mirroring our own philosophy of seeking partners and freely sharing expertise.
Moodle allows us to upload, manage and deliver content while affording collaborative tools (including email, chat, discussion forums, wiki spaces) and interactivity thus making learning more relevant (Berenfeld, 1999; Swetland, Kafai & Landis, 1999).). Coupled with assessment tools, ease of use and modification and data collection tools for teachers, Moodle provides a rich teaching and learning space for today’s classroom.
Selection Process
We evaluated several options including DVD-based lessons and Blackboard, a commercial LMS using SECTIONS, a model for instructional design (Bates & Poole, 2003), as well as EduTools, an online LMS comparison website (www.edutools.com).
While Blackboard has much in common with Moodle (discussion forums, chat, quizzes) and some affordances that Moodle does not currently offer (expanded data options, content download), the ongoing cost is prohibitive for a non-profit. DVD delivery, while affordable and valuable for multimedia presentation does not provide the collaborative element essential for knowledge construction (Scardamalia & Bereiter, 2006; Perkins & Pfaffman, 2006).
Although Moodle is free software, there are hosting costs involved in any LMS. Reports in user communities indicate that it is fairly reliable, however, we are concerned with ensuring our course site is stable. We feel it is imperative, therefore, to include a commercial hosting and support service as an interim measure, to be re-evaluated at the end of the service contract. If this cost is prohibitive, we can modify our hosting needs somewhat.
Project Budget
| Item | Cost | Volunteer/in-kind | Details |
| Start-up and hosting
Support |
$7,200
$3,000 |
Lambda Dedicated Virtual Moodle hosting: $300/ month Bronze plus $1,500/year for support
www.lambdasolutions.net |
|
| Design | 60 man hours | Our volunteers will design and upload course interface/content and promote to our program partners | |
| Implementation/training | $1,000 | $50 honorarium per session X 20 sessions first year – volunteer support to school sites | |
| Total funding request | $11,200 |
We appreciate your continued support of Friends of Semiahmoo Bay Society and look forward to further discussing this proposal at your convenience.
Sincerely,
Yvonne Dawydiak, Volunteer Educational Outreach Director, Friends of Semiahmoo Bay Society
www.birdsonthebay.ca
[1] Over 1500 students were reached at over thirty schools in the Surrey, White Rock, Delta schools districts between September 08 and June 09
[2] We have found, through interactions with local educators, teachers frequently do not have the resources or understanding of conservation issues to develop and deliver appropriate content to their students.
[3] Our Website has become increasingly popular with an average of 232 hits per day and 7,000 hits per month
References
Bates, A.W., and Poole, G. (2003). Effective teaching with technology in higher education: Foundations for success. New York: Wiley, John & Sons, Incorporated.
Berenfeld, B. (1999) The internet in our classroom: Teaching tomorrow’s skills for tomorrow’s world. In S. Ware (Ed.), Science and Environment Education: Views from Developing Countries (pp. 215-235). Washington, D.C.: The World Bank.
Gilliland-Swetland, A., Kafai, Y. & Landis, W. (1999). Integrating primary sources into the elementary school classroom: a case study of teachers’ perspectives. Archivaria, (48), 89-116.
Louv, R. (2005). Last child in the woods: Saving our children from nature-deficit disorder. Chapel Hill, NC: Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill.
Perkins, M., Pfaffman, J. (2006). Using a Course Management System to Improve Classroom Communication. Science Teacher, 73(7), 33-37.
Scardamalia, M. & Bereiter, C. (2006). Knowledge building: Theory, pedagogy, and technology. In K.Sawyer (Ed.), Cambridge handbook of the learning sciences (pp. 97-118). New York: Cambridge University Press.