Learning Management System Proposal – Moodle
What? Why? When?
“School District No. 20 is committed to ensuring all learners experience relevant, current, and purposeful practice.”– Achievement Review Committee (ARC), 2010
What is Moodle?
Moodle, an acronym for Modular Object-Oriented Distance Learning Environment, is a Learning Management System (LMS) currently supported by many British Columbia School Districts. Moodle enables the user to create learning opportunities that incorporate constructivist learning principals and social networking, (Moodle, 2011). Moodle can be used to deliver a course in its entirety, to provide organization and activities for a blended delivery program, or to act as an organizational supplement to face-to-face course delivery.
Our district has invested time, expertise, and financial resources in our teachers and their continued learning of technology (Luterbach, 2010). Wiki and web page creation learning opportunities (professional development and After School Learning Sessions (ASLS)) have frequently been offered and taken advantage of. Technology professional development has been ongoing and sustained. An effective model for teacher and support staff learning is in place. The continued combination of self-learning, colleague collaboration, and district supported professional development will enable our teachers to become creators and users of Moodle (teachers as facilitators and learners). Teachers will be able to access Moodle for professional development, course delivery, and course collaboration.
The opportunity for our teachers to be learners with Moodle will help support the purposeful integration of the system into the learning lives of our district students. Students will be able to access Moodle for course support and learning. Online delivery will allow for 24/7 (anytime) learning, to occur, anywhere.
Moodle will enhance the district’s intent to ensure that assessment for learning, inquiry learning, choice in content, and differentiated instruction and demonstration are part of our purposeful practice. A Moodle course is not static. It is a creative process that evolves as contributions from students are made and as educators refine course content, activities, and assessment.
“In School District No. 20 (Kootenay-Columbia) we are building capacity to impact achievement in a 21st century learning paradigm.” – Vision Statement May 2010
Evaluation – Why Moodle?
There are many Learning Management Systems available to choose from. ANGEL, BlackBoard, Desire2Learn, Moodle, Sakai and WebCT are among the available choices. At first glance the decision making process may seem overwhelming and organizations could easily procrastinate from investigation and decision.
As more school districts and other institutions realize the importance of an LMS to their organizations and cliental, criteria for choosing a system has become paramount. Several sources were investigated for the purposes of this proposal to provide criteria, guidance, and consideration by which an organization might choose an LMS system. These sources are referenced at the end of this proposal and linked where possible should you wish to investigate further.
In the section above I make reference to the excellent interactivity and organizational capabilities of Moodle. Additionally, the “ease of use”, (Bates, 2007) of a system must be considered. Moodle is intuitive for the user and both our students and educators will be able to navigate and develop with little assistance. Professional development, access to online information (Moodle.org) and our Information Technology (IT) team will be able to support implementation as demonstrated for individual, school, and district web page development and the installation and use in every district classroom of the “21st Century learning station equipment”, (Luterbach, 2010, p. 20).
Moodle is open source and is of no cost to the district to acquire or license yearly. What expenses will be incurred are from support (minimal and in place as mentioned above). The server capacity, hardware, and software required to support Moodle use are already in place in our district as they are in place to support the district web site and other mission critical applications. Our district engages in excellent technology practice. Our server is “currently under warranty, is monitored for failure, and software updates are run regularly” (Sander, 2011).
“We are losing a majority of our kids who are uncomfortable with a system that they do not find relevant.” – Tom Whitby 2011
Moodle can be integrated into the picture of SD#20 (Kootenay Columbia) learning landscape, now. We often speak of preparing out students and teachers for the 21st Century. It must be remembered that the year is 2011 and we are now more than one decade in to the 21st Century. Students are using Web 2.0 tools and social media from the time they awaken in the morning until the time they retire in the evening with one interruption to their engagement each day – school (Gorman, 2010). The demands of society and the workplace in the 21st century are abundant. The learning of our teachers and students must reflect that. All of our school district learning environments are wireless and students are now encouraged to make use of personal devices rather than to adhere to a list of restrictive rules as to the possession and use of electronics.
Conclusion
It is an exciting time in School District No. 20 (Kootenay-Columbia) as we engage in unparalleled teacher learning, inquiry based and differentiated student learning, meaningful and productive assessment, and the purposeful integration of 21st Century classroom learning stations. As a district we have long discussed a need for a Learning Management System to support our initiatives. Moodle will meet the needs of our learners and facilitators and the realities of our budget. Moodle will further help our district enable educators and students to learn and purpose 21st Century digital skills. “Technologies and support systems enable varied learner groupings, allow for the expanded realm of potential teachers, mentors and the various resources available in personalized learning models.” (Personalized learning in, 2010). Moodle can easily enable the personalized learning opportunities and 24/- access to learning that ministry envisions for the future. The future can be now.
References
B.C. Ministry of Ecucation, (2010), Personalized learning in the 21st century: initial thoughts for discussion draft
Bates, A.W. & Poole, G. (2003). Chapter 4: a framework for selecting and using technology. Effective Teaching with Technology in Higher Education: Foundations for Success. (p. 77-105). San Francisco: Jossey Bass Publishers.
Chickering, A.W. and Gamson, Z.F. (1987). Seven principles for good practice in undergraduate education. American Association for Higher Education Bulletin, 39 (7), p. 3-7. http://www.aahea.org/bulletins/articles/sevenprinciples1987.htm
Educause resources: http://www.educause.edu/ Faculty Development for the 21st Centuryhttp://www.educause.edu/FacultyDevelopmentfortheNetGeneration/6071
Gorman, J. (2010). Personalized learning: a vision for the 21st century. Proceedings of the provincial leadership conference.
Luterbach, G. (2010) School District #20, Technology. District learning and technology plan. Trail, BC
Moodle. (n.d.). In Wikipedia. Retrieved June 7, 2011, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moodle
National Educational Technology Standards for Teachers http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForTeachers/200 8Standards/NETS_for_Teachers_2008.htm
Sander, A. (personal communication, June 9, 2011)
Whitby, T. (2011, Marcy 31). When is comfort uncomfortable? [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://tomwhitby.wordpress.com/2011/03/31/when-is-comfort-uncomfortable/