Course Site
Moodle Course Reflection
It seems ages ago that we posted the estimated effort for Benoît to create a course in Moodle. At the time, I calculated how many hours would be required, but caught myself thinking, “Surely that’s too many!” So, I cut my estimate almost in half. That initial estimate makes so much sense now!
Developing my course Source, Search, Evaluate has been a chance to explore Moodle and also try a slightly different model for online learning than I usually use.
Previous Moodle Experiences
This is the second time I’ve created a Moodle course for a MET class, but the first time there has been emphasis on exploring the specific functions or tools. As a result, I have been pushed to use features I wouldn’t usually consider or investigate. Previously I believed that Moodle was a very limited system. I had not previously looked at the Groups functionality, the different set-up options for discussion forum, or the more complex administrative features. Now, although I’ve bumped up against a few of its limitations, I realize it is a powerful system and great value for money.
The HTML Editor to Moodle Workflow
While Moodle has many positive attributes, beauty out of the box is not one of them! I was very glad that we were pushed to use external HTML editors to create our pages, and that we learned how to upload them en masse. This provides much greater control over the design process, as well as being a great learning experience! Navigation and planning how people will use the pages we create is such an important part of online design, yet it is so often neglected.
My plan had been to create pages in the HTML editor and then paste the code into the Moodle web pages. However, this process proved clunky. The fonts didn’t transfer properly, and all images had to be uploaded and reinserted. Uploading via ZIP file also helped me appreciate how our MET courses are managed.
Course Design Process & Learnings
Working as the lone instructional designer in an organization can seem to be a very solitary role. Completing this course on my own, however, has reinforced the importance of collaboration and multiple perspectives. I now realize how much input I receive in my workplace, and how important this is to the development of well-rounded and widely accessible course. In retrospect, I wish that I’d corralled a few friends or co-workers into acting as a sounding board and testers during the development process. As I approached the end of the development timeframe, I began to see holes that no doubt other people could have spotted much earlier. In addition, I suffered from the dreaded scope creep. Because it was my job to set the topics and determine the limits of the course content, I was constantly adding tidbits, thinking of additional topics that would be useful, and breaking from my storyboard. Alas, it was necessary to scale back somewhat given my ‘resources.’
This course has also marked an interesting shift for me. One of the goals I set in my Flight Path was to look at ways the structure around the course could support interaction and social presence even when the module content did not. In some ways I did not stay true to this goal. Instead, I’ve built a course with discussion forums and even a couple of collaborative activities. More than ever I see the importance of these kinds of interactions, and so I have created a hybrid course. Much of it could be done independently, at the learner’s own pace. However, there are some components which would require connecting with others and collaborating. This isn’t a model that we use now in my workplace but I have begun thinking about the feasibility of this approach, and some of the ways we could test and implement it.
In Conclusion
Using Moodle so extensively this term has added to my own e-learning toolkit, and reinforced my belief in open source systems.
