Hello Frank
As you know, a group of our Science teachers has been developing units for the Grade 9 Science course, to match the expectations of the revised Science curriculum. The typical student in our Grade 9 Science course is school-aged, since our adult learners usually achieve their grade 9 and 10 credits through PLAR assessments. Until now, the courses we have been using are print based, and accommodate our alternative learners by allowing them to enroll in and complete courses on their own schedule. However, our present courses do not encourage students to interact with each other – in fact, because most of the campuses of our school are quite small, a student is likely to be the only one at their campus working on the Science course. If a student has questions about their Science work, they ask staff at their local campus, but in many cases, there is no Science specialist available. The courses are static, and if any alterations are necessary, staff at each campus has to make changes to each individual copy of the course. Students complete written assignments, and receive feedback on their completed assignments, from local staff.
In the new units we are developing, we have incorporated computer-based activities, including simulations, in order to provide a variety of learning activities for our students. We are also producing materials in diverse formats (text, audio, graphic and video), and developing a choice of assessment tasks, in accordance with the principles of UDL (universal design for learning) and DI (differentiated instruction) [1]. We are designing the course for use in conjunction with the online textbook, which our school recently purchased.
I am proposing that we put the course into a learning management system, Moodle [2]. Moodle offers a number of advantages, both to our students, and to our school, when evaluated according to a framework for selecting and using technology [3].
For our students, Moodle allows interaction with other students who are taking the same course. Moodle has a number of synchronous and asynchronous tools for communication [4], including discussion boards, chat, messaging, wikis and blogs. Other communication tools, such as email and Adobe Connect, are available as plug-ins for Moodle. With Moodle, we will be able to design activities for our students, which allow them to collaborate with other learners, and benefit from a constructivist approach to learning [5].
With Moodle, students will also have increased contact with staff, including Science specialists at other campuses [6]. Students can ask for help and get feedback on their work, and staff can model effective use of online communication tools.
Lessons in Moodle provide choice and feedback to students. The lessons can have branches, which allow students to choose between options, and select their path through the learning activities. Lessons can also require students to answer a question correctly before they proceed to the next part of the activity. The lesson tools in Moodle will allow us to present case studies and simulations to our students, to encourage their active involvement in learning.
Moodle is easy to use for both staff and students. We can design our courses to have a graphic use interface, which students and staff can navigate intuitively. Our school-aged students are very comfortable using the computers available to them at school, and familiar with using online communication tools for social and entertainment purposes. A Science course on an LMS will give our students the opportunity to extend those skills, which will be important to them as they make the transition from secondary school.
Moodle is free and open-source, and can be loaded onto our board’s server by the IT department, at no cost. Each of our campuses has sufficient computers for the number of students who require grade 9 Science. Students would still enroll at, and attend their local campus, and would still have a local staff member who evaluates their work.
Staff would participate in the online course as either editing, or non-editing teachers. Non-editing teachers at the local campuses would only require several hours of training, which could be part of a PD day. Staff members who are developing the course materials should have more familiarity with Moodle, in order to make the best choice of course tools and activities. Two days of release time will provide sufficient familiarity. Online manuals are available for those staff members who need to be able to edit the course. Additional release time – beyond what you have allocated to develop the new Science course – is required to put the course materials onto the LMS. Based on my experience using Desire2Learn, and my familiarity with Moodle, I estimate it will take 10 days to put the Science courses into Moodle. We can expect savings from not printing and distributing paper versions of the course.
As you can see, there are a number of advantages to putting our Science course onto a Moodle server. If you are interested, I can put some of the activities we have developed into Moodle, so you can see the advantages a course based in a Moodle has for our students.
Janice
References
[1] Education for All (2005). http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/document/reports/speced/panel/speced.pdf , accessed Oct 8 2010.
[3] 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
[4] Dawley, L. (2007). The Tools for Successful Online Teaching. Hershey PA: Information Science Publishing
[5] Ally, M. (2004). Chapter 1: Foundations of Educational Theory for Online Learning. In: T. Anderson & F. Elloumi (eds.), Theory and Practice of Online Learning. Edmonton AB: Athabasca University. Accessed Online Oct 10 2010.
[6] 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.