On behalf of the expert trainer at ERIC (English Resource and Instruction Centre) , I would like to propose to ERIC, that we provide online training courses for our in-service English teachers, through the Course Management System “Moodle” . Moodle is a course management system for online learning. MOODLE is both an acronym- Modular Object Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment, and also a colloquial verb that describes the process of creative, nonlinear tinkering that often is a characteristic of online learning (Perkins, M., & Pfaffman, J. ,2006). 

ERIC is a nonprofit organization aimed at improving teaching and learning of the English language at the secondary school level in Thailand. ERIC invites the experts from overseas to come to Thailand and train the English teachers from each region to be ERIC expert trainers. Then these trainers go back and train other teachers in their areas. In this way, an initial ‘stream’ of input from the overseas experts is filtered through a Thai viewpoint and passed on to other teachers in a series of smaller workshops. (Todd,2002) As with most educational projects, budget is a big problem for ERIC. The project has been fortunate in receiving long-term support from the British Council, but the quantity of training courses needs a very large budget.

Why ERIC should choose Moodle as an online delivery platform?

When choosing an LMS, I referred to Bates & Poole’s (2003) SECTIONS framework to examine the options available and make the best possible choice for ERIC, the trainers, and the in service teacher trainees. Some of the key elements of Moodle that stand out and incorporate with the SECTIONS framework are the Cost, Ease of Use, Interactivity, and Novelty

Cost

As budget is a big problem for ERIC, the open source LMS should be our best option. Among many open source LMS, CUE White Paper ( 2003) claimed that Moodle stands out as the one that has come the farthest in approaching the feature sets of a proprietary LMS. Moodle is provided freely; there are no royalties fees or user charges ( Moodle.org). Moodle comes with installers for Mac OS X and Windows that include not only Moodle itself but also the web server ( Apache) and database ( MySQL) application (Perkins, M., & Pfaffman, J. ,2006). There are some costs associated with the infrastructure required to run Moodle, similar to any other LMS software. Moodle is easier to install and there are many books about Moodle , written in Thai Language by reputable Moodle experts. However if ERIC isn’t familiar with web technology then any installation can be daunting.

ERIC can choose to have Thai Moodle.org host the site, or to have the server installed on the premises. I have contacted Wasin Pirom, the web master at Thai Moodle.org and a professor at Media Technology, King Mongkut’s University. I have asked him for the cost for a capacity of six training courses running at one time, each course lasts for three months, with approximately 20 trainees per course. He said, to own a server; the cost will be very high, as high as $ 10,000. There is also an additional cost for the data backup, and for an administrator to look after the server. Since it is very hot in Thailand, there will be a cost of around the clock air conditioning service for the server. But if ERIC wants Thai Moodle to host the site, the cost would be less, ranging from a few hundred ( for 30 GB) to $ 1600/ year, depending on the GB of data required. He suggested that at the beginning ERIC can just start with having Thai Moodle host the site with the 30 GB, and request more if needed. Either option ERIC chooses would be less cost than having foreign experts travel to Thailand, and distribute face to face training courses throughout Thailand.

Ease of Use

Most of ERIC trainers are full time teachers with a full teaching load and other classroom duties, and we do not have much time left to learn the complicated CMS features. Moodle is easy to use. With a few hours training the teacher can facilitate the course with confidence. Recently, I created the moodle course shell for another institution titled Reflective Practice for ESL Educators and I learned that most of my in service teacher trainees familiarized themselves with the interface of Moodle within a few hours. Other than its user friendliness, Moodle can be installed on any computer that can run PHP, and can support an SQL type database (for example MySQL). It can be run on Windows or Mac operating systems as well as Linux. ( Moodle.org)

Interactive

Dr Phithack Nilnopkoon, head of the Academic Supervision Section which oversees ERIC at the Ministry of Education says, ” ERIC is forming networks so that effective teachers can help whole areas, not just their own school”. The workshops provide useful input, a chance to meet other teachers to discuss problems and share solutions, and a support network to encourage teachers to continue striving for a good education for their students ( Todd, 2002). Moodle has a variety of synchronous and asynchronous communication and collaboration tools such as announcement board, discussion forum, chat, private and group email, wiki, and blog. These tools will enable ERIC trainers to deliver the information and the trainees to reflect and share their classroom teaching, therefore meeting the same goals as training face to face, but at the same time offering the flexibility of attending the course.

Novelty

Moodle is very mature. It is translated into 27 languages and this includes Thai language, with more in development. Moodle has been installed at universities and institutions all over the world. There are 67097 currently active sites that have registered from 219 countries, and there are 1537 sites in Thailand (Moodle.org, 2012)

In conclusion, I recommend that ERIC moves forward on this proposal to implement the Moodle Learning Management System for our ongoing teacher development program. Not only will it enable ERIC to manage our budget in training thousands of secondary school English Teachers in Thailand, but it will also allow us more flexibility and choices while sharing our knowledge, reflecting on our teachings, and creating our online English Teaching community.

References

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

Learning Management Systems for the Rest of Us: An assessment of open source learning management systems. (2003) Corporate University Enterprise, INC.

Moodle. org. Retrieved February 3, 2012 from: http://moodle.org/

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

Thai Moodle.org. Retrieved February 3, 2012 from http://thaimoodle.org/

Todd, R. W. (2003). The ERIC model. The Post Publishing Public Co., Ltd Retrieved February 1, 2012 from http://www.bangkokpost.com/education/site2002/cvmy1402.htm