ETEC 565 E-Portfolio

Re: Proposal for a Moodle English 10 Course Online

Date: June 6th, 2009
Rationale:

The current English department is constantly seeking different ways to attract English as Second Language (ESL) learners to the acquisition of the English language and create consistency between its programs from year to year. As an offshore school, the high turnover rate of teachers is a constant battle for a stable curriculum because of the nature of this context. The need for a learning management system allows for education to be delivered automatically through a platform selected by the school and solve this problem of consistency. With a higher level of consistency, students and teachers will benefit from this initiative. For a developing school like Sino-bright with a limited budget dedicated to technology, the selection of a suitable learning management system with lower operating costs with effective results is vital.

Statement of Need:

Therefore, I request permission to create an online English 10 pilot course by utilizing the open source learning management system (LMS) Moodle to support this initiative hence minimizing costs for maintenance and sustainability. The learning management system will support the distribution and presentation of the course. The creation of a Moodle English 10 course will allow the course to be reused in future years by different educators coming in creating a sense of consistency in the curriculum to aid newcomers to the school. In selecting and using this technology, the SECTIONS criterion suggested by Bate and Poole (2003) will be used to assess Moodle for the needs of the school and its learners. This will be a first attempt at integrating an online component to the curriculum of the school.

SECTIONS Criterion Suggested by Bates and Poole (2003) for LMS Selection

Student Needs
The student population of Sino-bright consists of mostly students from a Chinese or Korean descent who have been exposed to the social networking trends and entertainment of technology. This prior knowledge will assist the students when they are working with an online course that requires them to apply their computer skills in a educational context.
As part of their language arts program, these students are required to write a final exam online where they need to type their writing. These students are talented at typing in their native language, but typing English is a battle for students who are used to a different keyboard setup. The Moodle Initiative will prepare students with an English keyboard and familiarize them with using a computer. Many of the students in the school have access to a desktop or laptop computer but are only skilled in Asian websites and technological trends.

Ease of Use and Accessibility

For students, working in Moodle will be challenging at first because the vocabulary needed to access and use the website is a lesson on its own. However, the students do need to engage in authentic language experience and the use of a Moodle site will enable students to engage in a genuine experience where knowing the language has a deeper purpose. It will also encourage their confidence with using technology in a new language. In addition, the language level of the features within Moodle are minimal compared to the content of English 10.

With the inclusion of their technological support period, teachers will be able to explore the Moodle site directly and experiment with the platform but also seek out the numerous online resources available.

Costs
The costs for setting up Moodle will be minimal with the support of our Chinese institution to support this LMS intiative. The server space will be provided by our partner and the cost of setting up the course will be included into the teacher’s technological support time. The computer lab at the school will provide each learner with the necessary equipment to participate within this Moodle site. The teacher’s preparation period will give sufficient time for working with the available resources online, our technical expert and the Moodle community. Moodle itself is downloadable onto the web server and can then be used “free of charge” (Moodle, 2009).

Teaching, Learning and Interaction

Moodle offers a variety of activities including lessons that are able to support short answer questions, multiple-choice, essay questions, assignments, chats and wikis. With the importance of standardized online testing for our student population, this online course will prepare them with the necessary technological foundation they need with typing skills and navigating through the links provided by Moodle. The variety of options available from Moodle allows the educator to create different activities to promote a variety of participation levels.The control Moodle gives its administrator will provide opportunities for educators to find a suitable fit of activities for the dynamic of the class (Moodle, 2009).

Organization and Novelty

Organization will not be an extreme problem because Moodle has made it very simple to enroll participants to the course and communicate with them. The preparation beforehand will ensure organizational isssues are kept to a minimum. Our students are exposed to language learning for most of the day through conventional methods and the novelty of this medium will spark their interest in language learning. As the students gain familiarity with Moodle, other courses can become a possible option for the future.

Speed

Courses can be mounted with Moodle in approximately two months with the given technological support time alloted for this semester with approximately 1 hour per day with five school days in a week. The materials and content can be easily modified to the specific class.

Conclusion:

The selection of a learning management system is vital for a suitable fit between the learners and the content. The selection of Moodle with its minimal operating costs is sufficient for a developing school like Sino-bright International School. The English department is in need of curriculum consistency and using Moodle to create a pilot English 10 online course that will be available for the future classes will solve this problem. The selection of Moodle as an LMS for this context is highly recommended.

I am looking forward to hearing your reply regarding this proposal. Please do not hesitate to contact me with any further questions or suggestions.

Iris Chan

References

Learning Management System (May 19, 2009). Retrieved June 5, 2009 from UBCWiki
https://www.vista.ubc.ca/webct/urw/lc5116011.tp0/cobaltMainFrame.dowebct

Moodle (May 24, 2009).Retrieved June 5, 2009 from UBCWiki: https://www.vista.ubc.ca/webct/urw/lc5116011.tp0/cobaltMainFrame.dowebct