FLIGHT PATH         PLATFORM EVALUATION 

INTRODUCTORY MODEL       CONTENT MODULE           SYNTHESIS

Moodle Website: Imagination Quest- A Journey From Space

Assignment #1- Reflection:

I found this assignment useful as I have not used many LMS’s before, and we need to use one for Assignment #2. At first I was quite nervous to use Moodle as I just got familiar with WordPress, but I found that Moodle absolutely supports “hands-on” learning for both the administrators and learners. Moodle is a free platform that is affordable to blended classrooms, while providing a secure server, where users must enter their username and password upon login. The platform is easy to navigate, while offering a variety of features such as: uploaded documents, embedding media and URL’s, and a forum for collaboration to happen. What I was most impressed with is how this platform offers a variety of assessments, where instructors can create quizzes, assignments and wiki projects for groups (such like ours) can work collaboratively. The gradebook option allows students to access their marks, allows parents/students to communicate with the instructor through chat messaging, and allows students to read feedback that is given to them. Our group implemented Bates and Poole’s ‘SECTIONS’ assessment model, which provides a framework for making effective decisions about the choice and use of media for teaching and learning. At this point, our group feels confident in moving forward with Moodle as the Learning Management System we use for our course.

I found that this project was a tad confusing at first, because our group was unsure about what the assignment was asking us to do. It took a while for us to meet about this project, but once we assigned roles to one another, the assignment became more clear and manageable. Our group comprised of people in the lower mainland mostly, where we collaborated through Skype, emails, and in-person. I’m very fortunate because a couple members of the group had previous experience with Moodle. In addition, the course that we discussed in our ‘Platform Evaluation,’ is one that will actually be taught this summer in the Surrey School District. Lastly, Google Docs allowed our group to organize, analyze, and edit our assignment together. Overall, I am convinced that Moodle lives up to its high ranking amongst other open source Learning Management Systems.

Assignment #2 Self Reflection:

Moodle was the LMS chosen by our group because most members have experience with this platform. Personally, I found that it was very difficult to navigate on the teacher side, because the formats had no preview button, the edit button is sometimes turned off, creating assessment has been difficult. When editing the course as the teacher, I found that Moodle was very restricting, where I wasn’t able to personalize the course aesthetically. I couldn’t add blocks (until a fellow classmate told me), I wasn’t able to change font or colour to the text, and every time I edited and saved, I would have to click the “turn edit on” widget again to enable editing.

The only type of assessment allowed on Moodle is quizzes and tests, which is definitely not my style of teaching. I’m a strong believer in formative assessment, especially since BC’s redesigned curriculum focuses more on the ‘Big Ideas’ and core competencies, rather than the Performance Standards. Also, since I want my students to focus on the process rather than the end product, I find myself assessing them throughout the project. Students also should have input on assessment as well, something Moodle does not allow. My assessment portion is still developing as I’m learning what other students in the course are doing and how I can replicate creating assessment within Moodle. Currently, I have assessment rubrics attached, rather than just embedded within the LMS.

As I spent more time navigating and familiarizing myself with this LMS, I was happy to learn that Moodle has the layouts pretty much sorted out and done for me. I like that I can choose and option and everything is laid out nicely in a readable way. I also found that embedding videos and importing PDF files was simple, because all you needed to do was enter the URL for videos, and there was a drag-and-drop option for attaching PDF’s. I think that giving students the option to download the pdf files allows them to access information anywhere, even if they do not have internet connection (can print it out or save the file on computer).

Overall, I’m pleased with the progress my group and I have made thus far with our course shells. Moodle has too many restrictions, which makes it hard for instructors to develop courses. I’ve had little exposure to other LMS’s, but the one many of my colleague’s use is Google Classroom. Since the course is still under construction, not all documents are uploaded and the assessment portion is incomplete. I will be getting suggestions from my cohort and my professor in the next couple of weeks which will allow me to discover some options that I have no knowledge about yet. I’m looking forward to complete this course so that I can use it with my students next year.

Assignment #3 Reflection:

Of the assignments that I’ve completed for this course, I found assignment 3 to be my favourite so far because I had the autonomy to design a course that fits my philosophy of teaching and learning. Over the past month, after I had the chance to re-submit my course shell, I found myself learning so much about Moodle’s LMS platform and what it has to offer. After receiving constructive feedback from the instructor and my peers, I used the feedback that I’ve received to pay attention to linking my course shell to the objectives of the course – I now have a clearer direction of where my course is going.

Since I have never created an online course before, perhaps it would have been better for me to develop a course where I knew the content of the subject matter; rather than create a course from scratch. Creating a course where I had to find sources, learn the tools of the LMS, and make decisions about the design elements was quite overwhelming at times. At first, I found myself frustrated because I couldn’t figure out how to make the page how I envisioned it, but with the help of my fellow classmates and my awesome partner Danielle, we began to develop fun and interactive activities. Most of my choices for elements that I selected were based on the elements that I enjoyed in some of the online courses I have taken in Blackboard. Learning how to embed videos and other multimedia resources to create the five units in our course was truly an asset to me.

Although I used the feedback and ideas for how my course should be constructed, I realized that I can’t base my decisions solely on what is “fun/easy” or what I preferred about design elements. Rather, I have to ensure that all the content provided to my students has a purpose. I need to ensure that my choice for design elements are grounded in scholarly research, while following proper licence procedures.

Assessment was a big red flag for me, as you can see in my Assignment #2 reflection. After having a chance to see the different assessment tools Moodle offers, I was able to create quizzes, polls, questionnaires, chats and online discussions to go along with the assignments. In addition, Moodle allows a dropbox option, where the teacher is able to upload pdf documents to be shared with the students upon opening up their assignment folders. I was able to attach pdf files to my assignments that clearly showed the objectives, what questions needed to be answered, and how the assignments were to be marked.

As I move forward I am considering collaborating with other teachers in my district to create more blended courses for our students to enrol in. I hope to seek more knowledge on other LMS’s being used by teachers in the Burnaby School District, so that together we can share the joys and wealth of using interactive technology with our everyday teaching. My hope is that the district will see the importance of investing time and money into creating these online platforms. Having said this, I do wish that teachers team up with technologists to build these courses, due to the lack of ability and knowledge we have about using LMS’s.  With their expertise in developing/coding websites and our wealth in creating curricula, the possibilities are endless.