Posted by: | 10th May, 2009

Hello world!

Write an entry for your course weblog about your experience here (on your “Home” page and posting a new entry). How labour intensive was the process? What worked well? What was challenging? What surprised you?

Welcome

Welcome

Last night I added a “Welcome” webpage and an “Icebreaker” discussion forum to my ETEC 565 Moodle site.   This process was not labour intensive at all (less then 20 minutes).  We have been using Moodle in our school as a supplement for some of our courses, so I am currently familiar many of the basic Moodle features.  The steps in the assignment were clear, however, I was not sure why we were instructed to skip the summary portion of our entries.

Thinking

hmmm

The most challenging part was trying to think of content to add, especially at this point when the theme of our LMS project has not yet been determined (hope I did not miss something about that step!)

uh-oh

uh-oh

Actually, I find the use of WordPress more labour intensive, probably becuase I have much less experience with it, and I am not a blogger or journal writer, so I will have to remind myself to post thoughts here, and not just the required assignments – that will be one of my biggest challenges!


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Responses

in general we try to build the activities to focus on the technologies rather than their pedgogical application. I’ve not yet found a teacher unable to design an activity; it’s matching those plans to a new technology is the challenge.

And we’re very much using a scaffolded “start with the basics” approach, expecting fully that many will very quickly want to learn about things like the summary boxes and other features.

And the good news is I won’t assess your content–just your site design.

John Egan on June 4th, 2009
at 3:35 pm

Thanks for the additional information! It’s good to know that we don’t have to be overly focused on content…

So, if I am understanding this correctly, basically we can choose whatever focus or theme we want for our LMS and then just make sure we meet all of the design standards (like the “does my webpage suck” checklist – I am very curious (and a bit afraid) to check out that list….. I love images and animations (that are related to the info), so I’m thinking that I may end up in the “you suck” category, but if so that is important to know and then reflect on (reflect on the checklist and the outcome of it).

Wanda Dechant on June 5th, 2009
at 4:44 am

Hi Wanda, you never cease to a amaze me with your ability to manipulate the software and pages. You are lucky you have some Moodle experience… for me… a big fat ZERO, though I do want to use Moodle in my Bus. Ed. class in Sept. It will be a gradual process.

When John mentions, “I’ve not yet found a teacher unable to design an activity, it’s matching those plans to a new technology is the challenge” my belief is that we are so incredibly busy in our work week that experimenting with new technologies is just not an option. Eg: a worst case scenario, when your plan fails… there are 25 to 30 kids looking at you and you know under their breathe they are saying, “way to go dumb ass…”

New experiments need to happen during “off time” ie: the summer months, spring break, Christmas holidays and only then, can you check and re-check that a process is working properly. During the course of the school year… you may be putting a gun to your head.

Gotta run, invigilating in 8 minutes…

ddp

David De Pieri on June 11th, 2009
at 7:22 am

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