Platform Selection

The LMS platform I chose to work with was Moodle. While I’m familiar with Blackboard Connect as a user through the MET program, I’ve never seen a course created in Moodle, so I thought I would give that a try. I realize this lack of familiarity indicates a greater time cost according to Bates (2014), I know that the online school in my school district uses Moodle, and it would be helpful if I were familiar with the platform. If I feel comfortable with it, it may lead to new job opportunities. Also, I liked that Moodle is a free open source LMS. If I were to create an online course for my school, or myself, I would most likely go with a solution that is free (Bates, 2014).

One of the goals I had outlined in my Flight Path early in this course was to explore a variety of features in an LMS. Specifically, I wanted to investigate the assessment features, usability, interface and multimedia capabilities of Moodle.

Course Organization

In creating my Math 8 course, I was influenced by Anderson (2008) and attempted to incorporate his idea that effective online learning must combine four considerations of learning: that it must be community-centered, knowledge centered, learner-centered and assessment-centered. To accommodate the community-centered aspect, I have included an introduction activity so that students and the teacher can get to know each other. I had initially intended to require students to upload a video introduction as the activity because I found in my own experience video really helps to build a learning community. Unfortunately, I was unable to upload my video because the file was too large, and I couldn’t make it any smaller. While I toyed with the idea of uploading the video to YouTube and simply putting a link in the discussion thread, I opted against it. My course is a Math 8 course, and I wanted students to focus on learning the math, and not worry about whether they can correctly upload a video.

The course is knowledge-centered, as it is organized by content module. Students will need to reflect on their learning and share their ideas in the module discussion forms. The course is learner-centered because assessments are designed to allow the learner to demonstrate their knowledge. Homework assignments are scaffolded, and divided into categories of “developing, accomplishing and exemplary”. These levels represent the degree to which the learner chooses to challenge him/herself. There is no judgment or grade associated with each level; it is simply designed to allow students to take ownership of their learning. Choice has been shown to increase student engagement (BCIT, 2003) and provides students the opportunity to work within their zone of proximal development (John-Steiner & Mahn, 1996).

Finally, the course is also assessment-centered, as both formative and summative assessments are used to provide feedback to students (Anderson, 2008). In the introductory module, students are directed to read three pages of information. The first (titled Getting Started) explains the format and requirements of the course, as well as contact information for the teacher. The second page (titled Course Schedule) informs students of the order of content in the course. The third page (titled Assessment) describes in detail, what forms course assessment will take, and the explicit expectations of each. Students should walk away from the introductory module confident that they understand the expectations, satisfied that they are prepared for the course and ready to begin.

Communication

It is important that students feel they can ask questions when they need help (Chickering & Ehrmann, 1987). In the introductory module, I have clearly outlined how they can contact me. I’ve provided my email address on the Getting Started page, and also set up a General Questions discussion board. I’ve suggested to students that if their question is not private, they should post their question in that forum, because their question may be one that another student has wondered. This also provides the space for students to ask questions to each other. Students will feel a stronger sense of community if they are empowered to answer each other’s questions (Chickering & Ehrmann, 1987).

Assessment

For this Math 8 course, I have divided the graded assessment into four categories: assignments, projects, quizzes and tests. The assignments are designed to allow students to practice concepts introduced in the   lesson and encourage them to see patterns of information within each concept. This identification of “meaningful patterns” is a key component of expert knowledge (Bransford and Cocking, 2002). Bransford and Cocking also stress the importantance of compartmentalizing information for ease of recall. This is demonstrated by an expert’s ability to call on chunks of information as related theories, instead of piecing together unrelated sources of information (Bransford & Cocking, 2002). This is why the course is taught in units of related information, e.g. Pythagorean theorem, or Fractions.

Instead of an exam, I’ve added a project component to this course as a way to incorporate a more constructivist approach. This choice was influenced by Gibbs and Simpson’s (2005) contention that students do better in assignment-based courses than exam-based courses. Personally, I’m not ready to make my courses entirely project-based, but it is a goal of mine for future professional development. The projects in this Math 8 course will be designed to reflect a real-world aspect to the information presented in the course. These projects will support student learning as a productive and engaging learning activity (Gibbs & Simpson, 2005). By giving students the opportunity to apply concepts to situated, authentic projects, students will construct a deeper understanding of the material (BCIT, 2003). Students will share these projects in the designated discussion forums, where they build on their knowledge by asking each other questions and sharing their learning.

The quizzes are advertised to students as a stepping-stone to test preparation. They are designed to provide feedback to students on their learning before they prepare to write their test. This is in accordance with Gibbs and Simpson’s (2005) conditions under which assessment supports learning. Feedback on the correctness of a student’s answer, as well as reminders of key concepts are embedded into the online quiz, giving students immediate feedback on their performance. In the quiz created for Unit 4, I referenced a situated example of surface area considerations in the human body. This is included to further the goal of relating course content to the students’ everyday life in an effort to make learning meaningful (BCIT 2003).

I try to incorporate assessment for learning in my teaching practice, and I recognize that all students learn at difference speeds. Some students may pick up the material immediately, while others may not catch on until the day of the test. To accommodate this, I have told students on my Assessment page of the Introduction module, that if tests marks are higher than the quiz marks, I will omit the quiz marks. To me, it doesn’t matter when the student learns the material, just that the students does, and can demonstrate it when appropriate.

Students will complete a summative test at the end of each unit. Ideally, the assignments and quizzes will prepare students for the test. The tests are complete reflections of the content covered in each unit, and there are no surprises. If a student does well on the quizzes, they will do similarly on the test. The tests provide me with concrete data illustrating to what extent a students understands the concepts.

Final Thoughts

When I logged into my Moodle account the first day, I was a bit overwhelmed by the “newness” of it all, I was definitely in foreign territory! I was struck by how “bare bones” it was – there were no easy drag & drop of elements like Weebly or Wix, there was no easy way to make it pretty. Once I got rolling, I became pretty excited about building my course. I got a bit carried away with adding new content modules and uploading assignment lists.

Looking ahead to the next assignment, I’m a bit lost on how to add the new features to my site. I didn’t find the Moodle help website to be all that helpful, so I hope to turn to our course discussion board when I get stuck. The videos uploaded to our discussion board were pivotal in getting me started. To make my course usable, there’s still so much to do. I’m having trouble setting up the grade book and I haven’t figured out how students can submit assignments. I also wonder, in a Moodle course like this, would the tests be conducted online like the quizzes? Or would that still be done via email or mail submission? I guess the answer to that is, whatever I want it to be. I still have so much to learn!

References:

Anderson, T. (2008a). Towards a theory of online learning. In T. Anderson & F. Elloumi (Eds.), Theory and practice of online learning. Edmonton AB: Athabasca University. Retrieved from http://www.aupress.ca/books/120146/ebook/02_Anderson_2008-Theory_and_Practice_of_Online_Learning.pdf

Bates, T. (2014). Teaching in digital age. Retrieved from http://opentextbc.ca/teachinginadigitalage/

Bransford, D., Brown, A.L., & Cocking, R. R. (2002). How people learn: Brain, mind, experience, and school. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.

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. Retrieved from http://www.aahea.org/articles/sevenprinciples1987.htm

Gibbs, G., & Simpson, C. (2005). Conditions under which assessment supports students’ learning. Learning and Teaching in Higher Education, 1(1), 3-31. Retrieved from http://www.open.ac.uk/fast/pdfs/Gibbs%20and%20Simpson%202004-05.pdf

John-Steiner, V. & Mahn, H. (1996). Sociocultural approaches to learning and development: A Vygotskian framework, Educational Psychologist, 31, 191-206. Available online: http://ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/login?url=http://web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=05be1191-dcdf-4158-9657-4d6c4c724148%40sessionmgr4005&vid=4&hid=4109

Learning Resources Unit @ BCIT (2003). Constructivist e-learning methodologies: A Module development guide. Pan-Canadian Health Informatics Collaboratory. Retrieved from:         https://connect.ubc.ca/bbcswebdav/courses/SIS.UBC.ETEC.530.66C.2014S12.33210/download/unit5-construct-method.pdf