{"id":9,"date":"2011-05-15T11:47:30","date_gmt":"2011-05-15T19:47:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/evans565\/"},"modified":"2011-08-02T22:35:10","modified_gmt":"2011-08-03T06:35:10","slug":"course-site","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/evans565\/course-site\/","title":{"rendered":"3. Course Site"},"content":{"rendered":"

Moodle Course Reflection:
\nLink to Moodle Page: An Introduction to Arduino<\/a><\/p>\n

I am a advocate for creative and simple design. I draw inspiration from the powerful simplicity of sites such as google.ca and dropbox.com. These sites demonstrate that effective online environments are best accomplished with minimalism in mind. My educational design goal in this assignment was to create a Moodle learning environment that was intuitive, reflective, student centered, had an inviting simplicity.<\/p>\n

The Splash pages, located at the Home and each Lesson Screen, were components that helped to bring a polished look to the project. Built into the Home Splash screen was the navigational components linking to various Lessons in the course and to key sites of the larger Arduino learning community. Having the splash screens helped build familiarity and consistency in the course. Each time students logged into the site, they were welcomed back and allowed quick access to the most often used portions of the course.<\/p>\n

I chose to create my learning modules based on Arduino, an open-source electronic prototyping board used by many educators to explore the areas of data acquisition, electronic sensors, control systems, feedback loops, robotics, and general electronic experimentation. I have ambitions to use the Arduino with my students in a experiential learning environment. I feel this would be a great way to bring concepts of science and math to life. Reflecting on the Moodle modules, I am now more aware that incorporating this device into my traditional labs and lessons would be a formidable task.<\/p>\n

Creating a module programmed for \u201cselective release\u201d was a challenging, but enlightening, requirement of this project. As will all words, both module and selective release are subject to interpretation. Selective release is not terminology used by Moodle but it is a staple component of the WebCT\/Vista learning management system. Selective release is a feature that allows instructors control over how content can be released to students. The newest version of Moodle, Moodle 2.0, does include a new feature called Conditional Activities which is designed to address the issue of selective release. For this project, our Moodle server was running Moodle 1.9.x and the Conditional Activities feature was not available.<\/p>\n

To satisfy the requirement for a module to be programmed for selective release, I included the following components: (5 is the best option)<\/p>\n

1. Quiz Time Constraint – The Module 4 Assessment is set to be released on September 29 at 8:00am.<\/p>\n

2. Forum Group Requirement – In Module 3, the Control and Automation Forum is selectively released to members only if they are part of a group.<\/p>\n

3. Forum Grouping Constraint – In Module 4, the Forum titled Quiz Improvements is set to be selectively released to only members of a specific grouping (A grouping is a groups of groups. Groups are composed of individuals).<\/p>\n

4. Each module could be selectively released using the Hide\/Show button. This feature requires manual adjustment.<\/p>\n

5. Lesson Selective Release – This is the most promising selective release option but it requires units to be built into the Lesson activity blocks. The Lesson features allow for selective release based on Date, completion of prior lesson, time spent on prior lesson, or grade on prior lesson.<\/p>\n

This experience with Moodle introduced me to use the Group feature. I found it to be fairly easy to use and although it may take some front end time to setup effective groups from classes of students (auto-group may speed this up), the benefits to learner would be great. I my experiences as a MET student I have found that large, overpopulated discussion forums can feel fragmented and chaotic, often leading to disengagement. In the chaos, some may feel that everything has already been said and refrain from contributing. When classes are divided into smaller discussion groups, more responsibility is placed on each member in the hopes that more engagement is produced. Moodle\u2019s Group feature is a great way to accomplish this.<\/p>\n

Grouping is a Moodle feature that allows specified Groups to be placed in categories. These categories could be classes, sections or blocks, but the feature could also be used to provide differentiated learning environments. In this Moodle course, I have created a Grouping known as \u201cAdvanced Students\u201d and have placed students who may benefit from supplemental learning activities such as private discussion spaces and advanced lessons.<\/p>\n

This Moodle project has been challenging and I have been pushed to develop a deeper understanding with the system. I have been guided to learn about features and elements of educational design that I believe will serve me, and my students well in the future. I look forward to upcoming updates in Moodle and hope that one day I can develop enough expertise to make a meaningful contribution to this open source project.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Moodle Course Reflection: Link to Moodle Page: An Introduction to Arduino I am a advocate for creative and simple design. I draw inspiration from the powerful simplicity of sites such as google.ca and dropbox.com. These sites demonstrate that effective online environments are best accomplished with minimalism in mind. My educational design goal in this assignment […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1869,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-9","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/evans565\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/9","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/evans565\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/evans565\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/evans565\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1869"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/evans565\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/evans565\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/9\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":147,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/evans565\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/9\/revisions\/147"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/evans565\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}