Mr. Don Fairbairn,

Director of Instruction, School District 47 Powell River

With declining enrollment in the district there has become a need to deliver content in ways that can meet flexible timetables yet provide a balanced course offering to our students. Traditional learning labs can be difficult to manage when scheduling multiple language courses into a single block, however, I believe that the use of Moodle as a electronic Learning Management System will help us meet the needs of a changing school landscape, while also providing a robust environment for students to learn a second language.  As part of this proposal I will discuss several key aspects of the Moodle environment that I believe show the value of using it for language delivery.

Introduction to Moodle

Moodle is an open-source online Learning Management System that was designed to provide a simplified object orientated programing experience for teachers, as opposed to a code-based XML environment, which traditionally has made online learning difficult to manage, and required the use of a trained programmer (Brandl, 2002).  As an open-source project there are no cost for licensing, however, the system will need to be hosted on a district server to comply with provincial FIPPA regulations that stipulate we maintain control over our student data (FIPPA Section 30.1).

Infrastructure Requirements

Moodle requires little modification, and can be run natively across all platforms that support PHP (Brandl, 2002; see also http://docs.moodle.org/25/en/Installing_Moodle).  I have spoken with the IT department they have assured me that they are aware of the server requirements for both the platform, and backend databases, and they currently have the infrastructure in place to support a Moodle environment.

Cost

As mentioned in the introduction there is no licensing cost associated with the implementation of a Moodle site, and the infrastructure needed is still currently in-place at the district, however, I will require approximately four weeks of time during the summer to compile my current materials and modify them for an online environment. This time will also be spent on developing online activities that will both supplement and enrich language learning online.

Advantageous using Moodle as an Online Learning System

Online learning is not a new technology, there has been abundant research showing the advantageous of using online learning in an educational setting. Some of the benefits include: increased motivation, improvement in the mastery of basic skills as well as self-concept skills, student-centered and improved student engagement in the learning process, more active processing which often results in higher-order thinking skills and improved recall (Brownlee-Conyers, 1996; Dwyer, 1996; McGrath, 1998; Weiss, 1994, as cited by Stepp-Greany 2002).

By choosing to deploy Moodle as our schools Online Learning Management System is its ability for peer collaborative work among students, as well as on-time communication between teacher and student. (Perkins and Pfaffman, 2006). To assist in the presentation of the course Moodle is designed with two options: Resources, and Activities. Resources are objects within the course that are designed to support learning, such as a page, file, folder, or link. These resources are simple to both build and modify. A teacher could use a folder resource to distribute audio files for students to listen to regarding unit vocabulary (Godwin-Jones, 2005). Activities are added to the course to allow students to interact with teachers as well as other students. Out of the 14 types of activities that are available out of the box in Moodle below are six examples that could be useful in a language-learning environment (http://docs.moodle.org/23/en/Activities):

1. Assignments, Throughout the course students can receive feedback to individual assignments that they submit online. This communication is beyond the normal scope of a simple drop-box that simply allows students to submit an assignment electronically.
2. Chat, Moodle provides the ability for students to practice oral assignment synchronously, which is often considered one of the downfalls on standard online programs. This option also enables the teacher to have online discussions with students who are unable to schedule an “in-person” conversation with the teacher.
3. Choice, As students work through learning modules teachers are able to deliver reflective questions to provide formative assessments throughout the modules. These questions can provide immediate feedback and allow students to assess their learning activity.
4. Forum, The forum activity provides a place for students to discuss cultural, as well as other, discussions relating to modules throughout the course. These discussions can happen asynchronously and teachers are able to monitor the discussion while at the same time allowing students the ability to converse freely about the points that stick out to them.
5. Quiz, At the end of each module teachers are able to provide formative assessments that can be automatically graded and feedback provided to ensure that students are cognizant of their progress. Written and recorded work can be sent to the teacher to assessed and feedback can be sent back via the system.
6. Wiki, Teachers can create Wiki spaces to provide a collaborative place for students to work where they can add and edit pages without needing access to site settings and without any programming knowledge. This can be used for students to work on group projects, or as an online space for students to present personal projects.

Moodle has been designed to be template based, which allows teachers to create their resources and activities from basic learning building blocks. Although this structure does not lend itself to a wide variety of visual options, this simplified presentation methodology allows for teachers to focus more on their content rather than exerting unnecessary effort on the presentation of their pages.

Conclusion

Moodle as a solution provides an opportunity for teachers to participate in the student learning activity through feedback and communication, rather than simply delegating language instruction to technology (Stepp-Greany, 2002), which has traditionally been the drawback to using technology in language instruction. By providing an online environment, such as Moodle, that provides both collaborative and instructional learning activities, we will be able to meet the needs of our students, while also reconciling some of the classroom problems associated with declining enrolment.

Resources:

Brandl, K. (2005). Are You Ready to “Moodle”?. Language Learning & Technology, 9(2), 16-23. Retrieved from http://llt.msu.edu/vol9num2/pdf/review1.pdf

Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA) RSBC 1996. Retrieved from http://www.bclaws.ca/EPLibraries/bclaws_new/document/ID/freeside/96165_00

Godwin-Jones, R. (2005). Emerging Technologies Skype and Podcasting: Disruptive Technologies for Language Learning. Language Learning & Technology, 9(3), 9-12. Retrieved from http://llt.msu.edu/vol9num3/pdf/emerging.pdf

Perkins, M. & Pfaffman, J. (2006). Using a Course Management System to Improve Classroom Communication. Science Teacher, 73(7), 33-37.

Stepp-Greany, J. (2002) Student Perceptions On Language Learning In A Technological Environment: Implications For The New Millennium. Language Learning & Technology, 6(1), 165-180. Retrieved from http://www.llt.msu.edu/vol6num1/pdf/steppgreany.pdf