The Moodle
Introduction
Canada is one of the countries that accepts and basically needs immigrant on a yearly basis. It is almost estimated that Canada gets 200.000 immigrants (Wikipedia statistics) yearly. The number will be doubled in the States proportionally speaking. In Canada, the new comers (immigrants and refugees) face a language problem. Many of them need to improve their English for the process of social inclusion. The government of Canada has specified a lot of funding to help the newcomers learn English. There is no doubt the need for learning English has made most of the newcomers as ESL ( Or ELSA English Learning services for Adults) students. Accordingly the field of teaching ESL is very active particularly in British Columbia. This situation has encouraged a lot of involved educators to build a learning system that suits such target students. One of the popular educational LMS is the MOODLE. Here in my present proposal, I am trying to get the support financially and technically in order to build a learning station that can cater for the language increasing need of the new comers: MOODLE.
Why Moodle
Moodle is a free, open source course educational system .It is considered to be a software package designed to enable educators to create efficient online work. This work creates interactive and collaborative environment that goes side by side with F2F classes. (Maikish, 2006) One of the expected questions that can be asked at this stage of the proposal is: Why the Moodle? The answer to this question does not depend on how we feel about the LMS in general but on how any elearning platform is used. The Moodle is very convenient when it comes to cost and technical support. If we look at the cost of other LMS platforms and the amount of technical support they require due to the sophisticated software they use, one will quickly point his finger at the Moodle. The cost of such programs plays an important role in choosing them. Actually the cost is looked at in many cases as the main factor in the in the process of decision making (Bates & Pooles, 2003).
The Moodle and other LMS
Like all other platforms, the Moodle has the characteristics of a collaborative learning platform where the learners don’t feel they are isolated. A good teacher would create effective layers of material that can pave the way towards a quick and a efficacious method of language learning. A platform like the Moodle will encourage students to work collectively and this learning trait has proven successful in the realm of education (Chickering &Gamson, 1987).
Depth of project
If most of those who are involved in education believe that good practice is triggered by the use of active learning technique (Chickering &Gamson, 1987), then one should not disregard the psychological and mental benefits of the Moodle on the learners. Niki Lambropoulos in his article “Supporting Social Awareness in Collaborative E-Learning” reiterated the fact that the tools used in Moodle-based platform encourage the learners to be aware of themselves and their ability in the e-learning platform. They also enhance the learners’ awareness of their relationship with other participants ( Lambropoulos et al., 2012). This is pretty important for the ESL learners who are in need of such awareness as they are struggling learning a new language and a new culture as well.
The Moodle through its reciprocal impact on teachers and students alike creates a full circle of communication among all parties involved. The following diagram (figure 1) summarizes this kind of educational link that relates the three (teacher, learners and Moodle) together.
(Figure 1- reciprocal impact)
Potential success
Technology has changed our lives. Nobody can disagree with this fact. The process is still on whether the change is negative or positive. Similarly technology has become an integral part of our educational system. It doesn’t help learners learn only but also it has become a reflective communicative means. The necessity of building a Moodle for the ESL students is based on an essential learning tenet that technology (to be specific, the computer and its teaching programs) have become “an object to think with” (Turkle, 2004). Constructively and cognitively learning a second language depends on the amount of information students receive. This information reaches its maximum benefits if the whole stage here is done through computer-mediated collaboration (CMC) (Warschauer, 1997)
One of the essential aspects of the Moodle is its affordances. ESL learners in general find Moodle an interesting tool that helps them presents active work. Students enjoy using Moodle forums, which are very easy to use, because they encourage they encourage them to communicate with each other. And that is an important aspect of acquiring a language. In fact Moodle forums trigger critical thinking ( Zarkoskie, 2010)
Conclusion
My choice of building a Moodle platform is based on my long experience in the ESL. We are dealing with students who need to learn the language quickly and effectively in order to be a successful member of their communities. The ease of use of the Moodle and the vividness of its contents will contribute a lot in hastening the process of acquiring the language.
References
Bates A. W. & Poole, G. (2003).A Framework for Selecting and Using Technology. In A.W.
Bates & G. Poole, Effective Teaching with Technology in Higher Education (pp. 75- 108). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. 4.
Chickering, A.W. & Gamson, Z.F. (1987). Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate
Education. American Association for Higher Education Bulletin, 39 (7), 3-7. Accessed online 11 Mar 2009
http://www.aahea.org/articles/sevenprinciples1987.htm
Immigration to Canada. (2013, June 10). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 05:17, June 16, 2013, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Immigration_to_Canada&oldid=559150330
Lambropoulos, N., Faulkner, X., & Culwin, F. (2012). Supporting Social Awareness in Collaborative E-Learning. British Journal of Educational Technology, 43(2), 295-306.
Maikish, A. (2006). MOODLE: A free, easy, and constructivist online learning tool. MultiMedia & Internet@Schools, 13(3), 26-28.
Turkle, S. (January 01, 2004). Whither Psychoanalysis in Computer Culture? Psychoanalytic Psychology, 21, 1, 16-30.
Warschauer, M. (1997). Computer-mediated collaboration learning: Theory and practice.
Modern Language Journal, 81, 470-481.
Zarkoskie, L. (2010). Using moodle forums to increase middle school student participation and level of detail in student responses. (1475261, Caldwell College). ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, 41. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/docview/276056857?accountid=14656. (276056857).