Monthly Archives: February 2012

Returning from the land of the lost with a pretty solid map

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I require my students to do some serious self reflection on their learning from time to time…… here we go, taking my own medicine.

I hinted to this in my assessment reflection, but the quiz assignment really launched me into a full on Moodle quest of discovery. So much so that some other aspects and important details were unfortunately neglected. However, the end result for me on how much I was able to figure out and complete as a result was needed for my own sanity.

I spent over 15 hours with Moodle the latter part of last week. It was time that for me, needed to be spent. Trial, error, troubleshoot, attempt again, repeat. This was the pattern of most of my evenings last week and my weekend. The end result is that I have a complete Module that is 100% connected and linked ( with the exception of one class wiki) that I can use as a map to move foreword. Where I lost some things this week, I gained in others.

Like others in this course, I have been struggling to keep my head above water….with a few times dipping below the surface. For the first time in this course I feel that I have a firm handle on what is going on, an understanding of what I am a part of and what I need to do in order to move forward. I know I need to up my presence in responding to my classmates posts. I read them, and many times I have taken notes off your inspiring ideas, sat back away from my computer to think about a different perspective or a question that had been asked. I have felt very lucky that my first MET course has been filled with many who have taken several classes. I also know I need to pay closer attention to finer details…..twice I have missed something minor, but crucial, and it has lead me to a position I do not enjoy. Sigh. The trials and tribulations of learning.

I feel lighter, with my better relationship with Moodle, like some clouds have been cleared and some brain space has been reclaimed. I have my goals in sight for the rest of this course and am truly looking forward to where my thoughts and skills will be sitting at the end.

Cheers

Tracy

Moodle Quiz

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It was a really interesting experience making the Moodle quiz, this activity was one of the more interesting so far. I can see how they really do play a major role in assessment/ feedback when it comes to online learning but at the same time it would be dangerous to rely solely on the quizzes for that purpose. They are great for immediate feedback, review and for the instructor to get a snapshot of where their students are with the material, but I think it is important to incorporate other assignments and projects as well.I chose to make the purpose of my first quiz for review for my students. To motivate my students to complete the quiz at the end of module 1, they will receive full marks for completion, but no marks if it is not done or left incomplete. Since it would be their first quiz, I wanted it to be low pressure and enable them to get used to taking a quiz in this format. I also made a really high attempt number to encourage students to take the quiz multiple times if they received a low score on the first attempt.Assessment in a F2F classroom can be challenging. To ensure that it is authentic, fair, given promptly, incorporated by students in future assignments, and addressing the learning goals of the course can at times be very time consuming on the teachers end. I think my main concern with online assessment is that my students would be self motivated enough to utilize the feedback. My Moodle is for students ages 12-13, and I think my challenge will be getting them to understand that sometimes it does take reading a passage more than once, or taking a review quiz more than once for the information to really sink in. I will be building a few other quizzes in my other modules, and this is going to be my main focus: How can I motivate students to take the quiz again if the scored under a certain percent. I have a few ideas kicking around, I will be interested to see what reality does to them.

 

Here is my quiz if anyone wants to test their skills in remembering Macbeth: Act I Quiz

Wile E. Coyote and I are kindred spirits

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As a kid I loved Saturday morning cartoons. Out of all the shows that were available, the one I was most excited to watch was the hour long Bugs Bunny and Friends. The variety of the show and characters were unmatched. An excited smile would appear on my face when the drawn desert scenes let me know that the roadrunner would once again outsmart the mail order gadget happy Coyote.

My point?

This Moodle feels like my Roadrunner and the past week and half I have felt like Wile E. coyote. Instead of mail order gadgets from Acme, I have watched hours  of tutorials. After each one I would head back over to my shell and would attempt to put into place what I had just watched. There were many misfires and back to the drawing board moments……trying to make my splash page look the way I want it too has been a true labour of love. However, I think I have finally figured it out and should be able to repeat the steps to finish the page soon. The users of this Moodle will be my grade five english students, so I am very cognizant of how user friendly my site needs to be, and I feel that a major factor to this is having a clear and organized splash page.

Unlike Wile E., I am gaining ground on my Roadrunner.