Proposal

To: Patient Voices Network Management Team
Re: LMS for online learning  community

The goal of establishing an online learning community for Patient Voices Network (PVN) is to provide our volunteers with timely and convenient access to interactive learning materials, support them to direct their own learning, and create an online networking space. To deliver this kind of portal we require a robust learning management system (LMS) to support:

• Self-directed modules through SCORM-compliant SWF
• Asynchronous discussion boards
• Wikis for volunteers and staff collaboration
• Private blogs for volunteers to share their health care and health care improvement stories with one another

While it is outside of the PVN initiative, this platform will also deliver the Heart Manual course, which uses a cohort structure, is authored by non-technical staff and facilitated by external experts.

Because budget is of primary concern – in particular being able to add users without incurring additional costs – we limited our inquiries to open source LMS, in particular Moodle, OLAT and Dokeos. We evaluated them on characteristics loosely based on the SECTIONS model (Bates & Poole, 2003), and Moodle has emerged as the leader. Given our limited technical resources I propose an affordable hosted solution that will enable our in-house team to focus on the learning material development.

Ease of use for students

Criteria: Intuitive; Built-in help; Reliable

Bates and Poole (2003) point out that “technology in teaching is generally a means, not an end” (p. 87). Getting orientated to the Moodle environment takes less than 20 minutes (a rule of thumb suggested by Bates and Poole). Many PVN volunteers are technology savvy, but others have expressed an interest in improving their skills in this area. The discussion forums, blog and wiki tools offer learners a safe environment in which to try these, as well as facilitating collaboration and reflection. The context-sensitive help provides clear instructions.

Ease of use for facilitators and instructional designers

Criteria: Intuitive WYSIWYG authoring environment; Customizable permissions; Easy uploading and modification of learning objects; Teachers can independently do day-to-day course management

Moodle has a straightforward authoring and teaching environment. Perkins and Pfaffman note that, “Because what the teacher sees is so similar to what students see, managing a course in Moodle is quite intuitive” (2006, p. 35). We can use customized roles to give facilitators access only to specific courses, which will be essential for working with external experts on the Heart Manual course. We can also integrate our existing videos, interactive SWF, and PDF resources without using HTML or having extensive system administration experience, ensuring we can quickly populate and launch our site.

Teaching, learning and interacting with the online environment

Criteria: Hosts interactive learning objects; Tools for collaborative and cohort model or self-directed content; SCORM compliant; Quiz or test templates that can track user responses, provide immediate feedback, and direct students to supplemental materials

Moodle has a number of ways to create interactions “of a learner with the learning material” and “social activity…between two or more people about the learning material” (Bates & Poole, 2003, p. 99). In addition to discussion forums, it supports self-directed learning with reflective activities such as blogging. Research has shown that students use blogging “for community building, resource consolidation, sharing ideas or as a personal journal” (Saeed, Yang, & Sinnappan, 2009). An important part of learning is assessment, and Moodle quizzes are “robust online testing system that provides not only for automatic grading but also gives students formative feedback” (Perkins and Pfaffman, 2006, p. 36).

Communication and Community

Criteria: Supports development of community; Enables communication with other users

Discussion forums will be a central aspect of the online community where volunteers can network and support one another, communicate and collaborate. The RSS block in Moodle will add to the sense of community by featuring volunteers’ blog posts, administrator-generated news items, or even articles from health care improvement organizations. Using RSS and discussion forums will help us to keep our site active with limited effort from staff.

Reporting and Tracking

Criteria: Can generate specific reporting data; Tracks individual user interactions

One concern about implementing Moodle is whether its reporting capabilities will provide us with the kind of information we need for monitoring how people are interacting with the system, improving the system accordingly, and reporting to our funding organization on the use of this resource. To overcome this, I propose budgeting funds for creating custom reports. Investing now in better reporting will ensure we are able to apply our own quality improvement techniques to our site and measure the results.

Support

Criteria: Support provided; Active support community; Ongoing improvements to the site

No system is perfect, and a quick look at the Moodle discussion forums reveals it is not without bugs or administrative challenges. However, Moodle boasts an active support community and with a hosted solution we have the benefit of additional support.

Resources Required

The Vancouver-based Lambda Solutions offers hosted Moodle packages (Lambda Solutions, 2010). It will be useful to invest in a few additional features to support the launch of our volunteer community, including branding the site with the PVN logo and colours. The Aardvark series of free Moodle themes have a clean, attractive design and support web menu functionality (Daubney, 2010).

Here is an outline of the costs for the coming year:

• Lamda Solutions annual hosting fee (1000 users): $1500
• Level II Add-on (configuration and implementing 5 Moodle modules): $750
• Customized reports: $750
• Theme installation: $750
• TOTAL: $3750

The in-house staff time required will be about 70 hours to:

• Establish report specifications and collaborate with the host on testing.
• Review and test the template installation and work with the host on site branding.
• Test any modules installed through the Level II Add-on package.

Conclusion

A hosted Moodle solution provides a cost- and resource-effective way to create a rich online community. The platform provides features that support both the self-directed content and cohort-model courses equally well.

References

Bates, A.W., & Poole, G. (2003). Effective teaching with technology in higher education:  Foundations for success.  New York, NY: Wiley, John & Sons, Incorporated.

Daubney, S. (2010, January 15). Aardvark 1.2 Pro (Original). Retrieved from http://moodle.org/mod/data/view.php?d=26&rid=2618.

Lamda Solutions Inc. (2010). Moodle Hosting Plans. Retrieved from http://www.lambdasolutions.net/files/u1/moodleServices_HOSTING.pdf.

Perkins, M., & Pfaffman, J. (2006). Using a course management system to improve classroom communication. Science Teacher, 73(7), 33-37.

Saeed, N., Yang, Y., & Sinnappan, S. (2009). Emerging web technologies in higher education: A case of incorporating blogs, podcasts and social bookmarks in a web programming course based on students’ learning styles and technology preferences. Educational Technology & Society, 12 (4), 98–109. Retrieved from http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.170.1615&rep=rep1&type=pdf.