Proposal for: Mr. Chris Kelly, Superintendent, Vancouver Board of Education (SD# 39)
From: Ed Leung, Science Department Head, Counsellor, Templeton Secondary School
Re: Recommendation for the Implementation of a Learning Management System (LMS) for Templeton Secondary School
Rationale for the Proposal:
Within the mission statement of Vancouver Board of Education (formerly Vancouver School Board) is a pledge to provide educational opportunities for all learners. In recent years, severe shortage in funding from the Ministry of Education has seriously hindered various programs secondary schools can offer to their students. One area that is in great needs is special education. Many Vancouver high schools, particularly those in the Sunrise region, have a significant number of students with special needs, many of them are learning-disabled, as designated by the Ministry. Unlike other schools in the district, however, these “inner city schools” often lack the corporate and parental support that could help to offset some of the financial challenges they face. As a result, students with special needs are often not receiving the support to which they need to maximize their learning. As Chickering and Gamson (1987) have suggested, good educational practice includes using active learning techniques, and respecting diverse ways of learning – although their framework focuses on post-secondary education, these aspects are generalized goals that any school should adapt to. A Learning Management System (LMS) is one of the educational tools that can help address some of these goals. An economic LMS, meanwhile, would be an ideal application for a school that is strapped for funding.
Proposed Learning Management System (LMS) to Adopt
The Learning Management System I am recommending the VBE to adopt is Moodle, an open source LMS that is developed with constructivist learning principles in mind. As an open source software, schools that choose to employ Moodle need not pay a licensing fee, as long as it does not remove the original license and copyright, and apply the same license to any derivative work. While the minimal cost schools need to adopt Moodle is definitely an appealing feature of this LMS, the reason why I am choosing Moodle as my choice recommendation is because it fulfills the requirements set by the SECTIONS model proposed by Bates and Poole (2003) in a very positive fashion. In the following paragraphs, I will outline how Moodle meets these criteria well:
S – Students
In choosing a proper LMS for the targeted students, it is important to know that the technology chosen is appropriate for this targeted group. As a LMS that offers a variety of learning methods, including synchronous and asynchronous messaging, streaming of audio and video segments, etc., Moodle offers a level of excitement to the students while providing essential learning supplements as well.
E – Ease of Use and Reliability
Moodle was first developed in 2002, and has been used by many educators. With proper training, instructors can learn to operate the basics with relative ease. Students in the digital age generally learn how to use any computer interface extremely quickly. With some support, they would easily access and use Moodle as a powerful learning tool.
C – Cost
As mentioned, Moodle is an open source LMS, meaning that the board does not have to pay for any licensing fee. To pilot the use of Moodle in a school such as Templeton Secondary with 1100 students, the board’s current server capacity and computer hardware should suffice. Because Moodle offers a collaborative community for Moodle users for support through forums and detailed users’ manuals, the resources required for tech support in implementing Moodle would be minimal, if not nil altogether. A more detailed break-down of the cost of implementing Moodle will be given at the end of this proposal.
T – Teaching and Learning
One of the more challenging tasks classroom teachers face in teaching students with special needs is the variety of learning needs that these students have. Moodle offers a wide array of learning platforms to allow students of various talents and skills to learn. For example, visual learners can benefit from video streaming of lessons and demonstrations. Students who are challenged in certain learning areas can also use Moodle to foster development in a non-threatening way, as the learning will not be done face-to-face, reducing their anxiety and their fear of failure.
I – Interactivity
Moodle allows for a variety of ways by which students can interact with their teachers and their classmates. Asynchronously, students can participate in discussion forums, and send messages to their peers as well as teachers. Textual transcripts of lessons and virtual classrooms can also be downloaded by students. Synchronously, students can participate in class or group chat (an excellent place for collaborative learning), and can learn in live classroom and forum.
O – Organizational Issues
As many students in special education are currently traveling in cohorts from class to class, organization is not a big issue when Moodle is implemented. The adapted/modified students in the school can use their skills development class (SDC) to go to the Moodle Room to have a session, in similar ways as how the literacy program Fast ForWord is currently being offered at Templeton. Special needs students enrolled in regular class can also be pulled out should remedial needs arise.
N – Novelty
Though Moodle has been released since 2002, the LMS has been continuously upgraded and modified to meet the needs of its users. The most updated versions of Moodle, Moodle 1.9.5 and 1.8.9, are released as recently as May of 2009.
S – Speed
Downloading and installing Moodle into a school would require minimal time. As for the actual speed in running Moodle, it would be much dependent on the school board’s server’s capability. As the board regularly upgrades its server, so would the speed in using Moodle be enhanced as well.
Cost Breakdown
The biggest cost in implementing Moodle lies not in the purchasing of hardware nor software, but in the training of a staff to set up and run Moodle, and to offer troubleshooting assistance to teachers who are using the LMS. The cost breakdown is as follows:
- EOC Coverage for the Moodle Trainer to install and set up Moodle (estimated to be around 2 weeks, or 10 school days): $200/day x 10 = $2000
- EOC Coverage for the teacher trainer to train teachers in using Moodle (during teachers’ spare blocks): $200/four-block-day x 2 = $400
- EOC release time for teacher trainer to troubleshoot for staff using Moodle: $200 x 3 days = $600 (this amount is the same as that given to the scheduler who creates the school timetable)
- EOC Coverage + Conference Fee to provide teacher trainer with professional development opportunities in using Moodle: $200 for EOC + $300 Conference fee = $500
- Contingency Technology Support = $500
- Total = $4000
Conclusion
Many studies have shown clearly that students with special needs are not intellectually inferior to their peers. The challenge a public school has always faced in the past is that there does not exists the technology and resources that are needed to allow these students to realize their learning capabilities. As a LMS, Moodle does not solve all of the challenges faced by an under-privileged, special needs student in an east-side Vancouver school. It does, however, offer a chance for this student to identify and to foster an area of strength, while providing remedial and practical intervention strategies in helping this student catch up in areas that he/she is challenged.
Reference:
Bates, A.W. & Poole, G. (2003). Chapter 4: a Framework for Selecting and Using Technology. In Effective teaching with Technology in Hihger Education: Foundations for Success. (pp. 77 – 105). San Francisco: Jossey Bass Publishers.
Chickering, A.W. and Gamson, Z.F. (1987). Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education. American Association for Higher Education Bulletin, 39 (7), p.3 – 7.
Moodle.org: About Moodle. (n.d.). Retrieved June 4, 2009, from http://docs.moodle.org/en/About_Moodle
Moodle.org: News. (n.d.). Retrieved June 10, 2009, from http://moodle.org/news/
Moodle.org: Support. (n.d.). Retrieved June 10, 2009, from http://moodle.org/forums/