LMS Proposal

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Dear District Technology Coordinator,

As you are aware, the Anglophone South School District announced earlier this year that they were adopting Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and that this was to be the focus for all Professional Learning Communities.

With that in mind and on behalf of Seawood High School, we would like to propose an action research (AR) pilot project providing our grade 9 students and teachers with a blended learning (online, classroom and mobile learning) opportunity through the use of a constructivist-based UDL Learning Management System (Elias 2010; Bongey 2012). We are interested if this combination will the decrease barriers perceived by students as impediments or limitations to their academic growth. If so, we hypothesize there will be an observable increase in academic performance, satisfaction and participation rates.

Moodle

Specifically, the Learning Management System (LMS) we propose using is Moodle (Modular Object Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment) and will be used by educators as a, “tool for creating online dynamic websites and courses for their students.” With Moodle, we can better address everyone’s learning with access to a wider variety of options and new ways to interact within and outside of the traditional classroom setting from anywhere, at any time and from a wide range of digital devices.

Evaluation

Moodle was selected as a result of our group’s review of the academic literature comparing the leading Learning Management Systems (Walker, Livadas & Miles, 2011; Lawler, 2011; Stewart,Briton, Gismondi, Heller, Kennepohl, McGreal & Nelson, 2007; Bremer & Brant, 2005 ) of which it consistently ranked highly, if not the highest, in many evaluation categories. This speaks to the popularity of the system, as according to Moodle, their LMS is being used by over 81 thousand registered sites with more than 69 million users in over 233 countries. In Canada, Moodle is used by universities and colleges like the New Brunswick Community College, Athabasca University, Concordia University, Mount Allison University, and the University of Ottawa. Many schools and school boards use Moodle as well including Cape Breton Regional School Board, Mission Public Schools, Lethbridge School District, and the Saanich BC School District.

These studies gave us a general sense of Moodle’s value and standing but not specifically to our reality. Therefore, we utilized the Assessing Technology Using the SECTIONS model (Sections framework, 2010) tool developed by the University of British Columbia’s Center for Teaching, Learning and Technology. This allowed us to apply our own methodical analysis of Moodle based on learning outcomes particular to our situation and needs.

Advantages

Many of Moodle’s advantages over its competition, especially those in the commercial sector, are due to the fact it is an Open Source Software (OSS) and is free to download, install, redistribute, copy, use and modify. This does not mean its use is without costs but those which are associated with implementing Moodle within an educational setting are far less than paid products (Gagnon 2012).

OSS products often have a very strong and engaged support community of which Moodle is no exception. In addition to its out of the package features, part of Moodle’s high adoption rate is due to its ability to be quickly adapted to the needs of its users as they can create their own plugins, modules, themes and add-ons to expand its capabilities in a way that commercial companies based on a closed model can not respond (Walker et al. 2011). Also, in addition to community produced extensions, there are many online and offline resources such as manuals, walk-throughs and forums for users to gain assistance. The flexibility and design of OSSs like Moodle lend themselves to more constructivist based practices in comparison to commercial alternatives like BlackBoard (Mariana 2006).

The purpose of the pilot is to determine if blended learning, when delivered by Moodle in combination with UDL based instructional practices, will improve student access and participation to learning opportunities offered by our school. As mentioned, Moodle provides many customization options and features increasing access and removing barriers for all students, including those with differing abilities and needs, in accessing course materials (Elias, 2010). Using Moodle, a virtual school will be created providing students with access features to collaborate and communicate such as messaging, forums, access to lessons featuring multimedia components, quizzes, surveys, wikis, calendars, grade access and ability to submit assignments.

Costs and Required Resources

As mentioned previously, Moodle is an OSS and can be downloaded for free at http://moodle.org which, for the purposes of this pilot, will be installed at no cost to the school by the New Brunswick Department of Education on the same server which currently houses the school’s public website. Once installed and configured, it will be accessed by teachers and students using a web browser without the need for any additional software.
We currently have a Technology Team at our school who will be leading this pilot project and is comprised of school administration, teachers representing varying disciplines and grade levels, student representatives, district Technology Mentors and an ICT technician. They have developed an implementation plan focusing on timelines and goals including training needs both instructional and technical and the development of our technological capital for self sufficiency. If the District could not contribute funds to provide supply teachers for those involved in the project to receive training, sessions will be conducted during prep period and after school.

Pilot Evaluation

Bongey’s 2012 study Evaluating learning management system (LMS)-facilitated delivery of universal design for learning (UDL) provides the majority of assessment tools we will utilize to determine the success of the pilot, including:

• LMS Site Evaluation via CAST’s Educator Check list
• Pre and Post Student Course Engagement Questionnaire
• UDL Design Validation Form
• Instructor Response Form

In addition, Moodle contains features that will provide system analytics concerning frequency of use, as well as, our Student Record System (SRS) will provide data on historical versus current student academic scores, behaviour incidents, attendance for possible comparison. On conclusion of pilot, the Technology Team will review the data gathered and provide recommendations for the pilot’s future and if the possibility for expansion.

Conclusion

By engaging in this project, we will provide our learning community with new ways to interact within and outside of the traditional classroom setting from anywhere, at any-time and from a wide range of digital devices. As educators, we will be modeling skills and providing experiences to better prepare our students as digital citizens and lifelong learners.

Thank you for the consideration of our proposal and we look forward to a continued conversation.

Mark Bates -Educator
p.p. Seawood High School Technology Team

References

Bates, A. W., & Poole, G. (2003). Effective Teaching with Technology in Higher Education: Foundations for Success. Jossey-Bass, An Imprint of Wiley. 10475 Crosspoint Blvd, Indianapolis, IN 46256

Bongey, S. (2012). Evaluating learning management system (LMS)-facilitated delivery of universal design for learning (UDL). (University of Minnesota). ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, , 163. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/docview/1013441622?accountid=14656. (1013441622).

Bremer, D., & Bryant, R. (2005, July). A Comparison of two learning management Systems: Moodle vs Blackboard. In Proceedings of the 18th Annual Conference of the National Advisory Committee on Computing Qualifications. NACCQ, New Zealand. Retrieved February (Vol. 21, p. 2008).

Dawson, K. (2012). Using Action Research Projects to Examine Teacher Technology Integration Practices. Journal Of Digital Learning In Teacher Education, 28(3), 117-124.

Elias, T. (2010). Universal Instructional Design Principles for Moodle. International Review Of Research In Open And Distance Learning, 11(2), 110-124.

Gagnon, D. A. (2012). Teacher Adoption of Moodle LMS: A K-12 Diffusion Study. Online Submission.

Hicks, M. W. (2010). Multiple pathways to learning: An examination of universal design and online strategic learning in higher education. (Capella University). ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, , 193. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/docview/746780583?accountid=14656. (746780583).

Kim, S. W., & Lee, M. G. (2008). Validation of an evaluation model for learning management systems. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 24(4), 284-294.

Lawler, A. (2011). LMS transitioning to Moodle: A surprising case of successful, emergent change management. Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, 27(7), 1111-1123.

Papastergiou, M. (2006). Course management systems as tools for the creation of online learning environments: Evaluation from a social constructivist perspective and implications for their design. International Journal on E-learning, 5(4), 593-622.

Registered moodle sites. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://moodle.org/sites/index.php?country=CA

Sections framework. (2010). (University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC) Retrieved from http://wiki.ubc.ca/images/1/19/SECTIONS_Framework.pdf

Steward, B., Briton, D., Gismondi, M., Heller, B., Kennepohl, D., McGreal, R., Nelson, C. (2007). Choosing MOODLE: An Evaluation of Learnining Managements Systems at Athabasca University. International Journal of Distance Education Technologies., 5(3) 1-7

Walker, D., Livadas, L., & Miles, G. (2011). Key Influencing Factors Behind Moodle Adoption in Irish Small to Medium Sized Higher Education Colleges.European Journal of Open, Distance and E-Learning.