Tech Chance

Presenting MOODLE

Muddling my way through Moodle (Reflection)

It was an experience that will be of great benefit to me for a very long time. Being immersed in the development of a course using Moodle has taught me may useful things. Unlike many of my colleagues, I was unfamiliar with Moodle. Sometime ago, my institution did a four day workshop on using Moodle. Truth be told, I came away with very little. I really appreciated how little when I started working my way through this project. Online learning has its many advantages. However, if not carefully organized, can be challenging for the online teacher as well as the on line student. I gained a deeper appreciation of the need for the proper connections, the whole matter of timing and the relevance of dedication and commitment to online learning. The challenges are many but the benefits far outweigh these challenges. I came to recognize that content and media can be linked together by technology and that there are endless tools available to help make the process manageable even for me.

Setting up my Moodle LMS assured me that my students will be able to benefit. The communication tools I used such as Skype, audacity, discussion forums and chat features are easily integrated into the students learning. The platform allows for students getting in to do their work, rather than being bogged down by features require advanced knowledge of technology to deal with. For me, after musing around and experimenting with various features, I found it was not so bad after all. I can actually do this. Setting up the quiz was particularly challenging for me, I suppose because of the time when that assignment was scheduled to be completed. If it were now, I would not complain, not even a whisper because I have become familiar with the tools and my understanding and appreciation has grown.

The tools that I have included will and can be used in a variety of ways. The assignments can be completed through discussion forums; there are assignments that require responses through writing; tests and quizzes are also included so assessment has been addressed with the added feature of immediate feedback which is integral in the learning process as is supported by Gibbs and Simpson (2004). Including audio, video and as well as other types of graphics adds interest, stimulation and variety to this course I have developed. The students therefore have a multiplicity of ways of communicating during this course.

Being able to combine synchronous and asynchronous tools is useful as it allows for the needs of all participants to be met at any one time or the other as the course progresses as suggested by Anderson (2008).

Anderson also emphasizes the need to consider the social environment when creating an online course. Recognizing that some learners are highly visual or auditory and may need some audio/visual contact, especially so for those that require immediacy in their interaction, the opportunity to interact through Skype and using Audacity has been provided. To ensure that this online course is not just the same chalk and talk in a new format, activities and resources are included to hold interest, stimulate critical thinking and allow for students’ creativity.

Where needed, I was also able to introduce my own material that I created, adding some amount of personal touch to the experience. The availability of Open Source material reduced the challenge of copyright and legal issues. Anderson (2008) also has the view that repurposing material is necessary as we consider online learning and as such is an activity that is considered a part of the teachers’ presence.

I am now anxious to go off and share with the rest of my colleagues Moodle.

Anderson, T. (2008). Teaching in an Online Learning Context.  In: Anderson, T. & Elloumi, F. Theory and Practice of Online Learning. Athabasca University. Accessed online 3 March 2009 http://www.aupress.ca/books/120146/ebook/14_Anderson_2008_Anderson-DeliveryQualitySupport.pdf

Gibbs, G. and Simpson, C. (2005).  “Conditions under which assessment supports students’ learning.” Learning and Teaching in Higher Education Accessed online 11 March 2009 http://www.open.ac.uk/fast/pdfs/Gibbs%20and%20Simpson%202004-05.pdf