Moddle – LMS
The leadership of the Faculty of Human Services, Health Sciences and Nursing has recognized the need for everyone to become digital literate and use the Web 2.0 tools in work and classroom environments.
I propose we use Moodle server software to attain higher degrees of digital literacy. Moodle, is an open source software package for creating a web site and courses for classroom teaching and training, blended learning, and distance learning. Moodle is an Open Source development project, licensed under the GPL and is completely free to use, modify and customize. (Moodle, 2010) Moodle has proven to help educators create an effective collaborative online-learning community and has a rich community where information, support, and community discussions are available for all organizations. Moodle’s worldwide use in universities, colleges, schools, and companies is providing reliable learning solutions. (Learning Solutions Magazine, 2008)
Target Audience/Students
In our case, the audience are all the contributing members of our Faculty. This includes the Dean, Chairs, faculty, field placement supervisors and support staff. Their education ranges from college diplomas, to Post Doctorial degrees. They have various degrees of digital literacy from barely able to use email to more sophisticated abilities like creating databases. Due to IT and Human Resources restrictions, our field placement supervisors cannot access our Learning Management System, FanshaweOnline (FOL). An external system must be used to accommodate all our audiences. It should also be noted that access to FOL is restricted to members of our faculty. Therefore, inter-professional interactions, which our faculty encourages, are inhibited
Costs
Since Moodle licensing is free, the cost of a site would be the cost of a service provider, maintenance, customization, if needed, and the costs of developing and designing digital literacy courses. Fanshawe does have it’s own servers but there is heavy resistance to hosting Moodle internally since we already have a Learning Management System fully supported by IT; FanshweOnline (FOL). External hosting packages can run from $3.95 per month to $60 per month. According to Learning Solutions Magazine (2008), the average total cost of ownership per learner is $16.77. (Learning Solutions Magazine, 2008) There would be no other costs as maintenance, upgrades, and course development can be added to the FOL administrators’ responsibility since educating faculty and staff is already in their job description.
Pedagogy
Moodle is designed on social constructivism principles focusing on shared experiences and community of practice. Our site will provide: blogs for reflective journaling, step-by-step instructions for learning specific processes, wikis for terminology, online quizzes for assessment, groups for e-learning program projects, links to online resources, and FAQs.
Possible Organizational Issues
Our moodle site will need the participation from all employees in our Faculty. Leadership will have to find incentives and rewards to get all members involved. Professors, in particular, will need time scheduled into their SWFs for learning digital literacy. There may need to be discussions with IT leadership about the use of an external LMS.
The next few years will be critical in developing digital literacy for staff, faculty and students. I recommend Moodle as the tool necessary to allow us to reach this goal. In partnership with our community industries and businesses, we can meet the student’s demands for more technology in education while not compromising our current high standards.
References
Bates, A. W., & Poole, G. (2003). Chapter 4: a Framework for Selecting and Using Technology. In Effective Teaching with Technology in Higher Education: Foundations for Success (pp. 77-105). San Francisco: Jossey Bass Publishers.
Learning Solutions Magazine. (2008, Nov 10). Moodle: A Low-Cost Solution for Successful e-Learning. Retrieved Feb 6, 2010 from Learning Solutions Magazine: http://www.learningsolutionsmag.com/articles/71/moodle-a-low-cost-solution-for-successful-e-learning
McMaster University – Office of Research Services. (2010). Quick Guide to Research: How to Write a Good Proposal. Retrieved Feb 2, 2010 from McMaster University: http://www.mcmaster.ca/ors/guide/successful_proposal.htm
Moodle. (2010). Moodle Services. Retrieved Feb 6, 2010 from Moddle.org: http://moodle.org/