vicki's e-portfolio

Dear Dan Turner (director), and

Colin McLellan (manager),

IMS (Information Management Systems, SD36)

Re: Integration of Moodle as an LMS at Fraser Heights Secondary

I would like to propose integration of a Moodle server at Fraser Heights Secondary to create a blended learning environment for our high ELL population.  As you know, we have highly academically minded students with a large percentage of those being English language learners under tremendous pressure to excel in a language they do not yet know well.  Most are quite motivated to expedite the typical language learning rates of five to ten years (Collier, 1987, Cummins, 2009, VSB handout, 2004) while also needing to master the content areas.  As such and in line with current literature (eg: Mirriahi, 2004) and IMS’s Vision & Mission, I plan to implement a blended environment using Moodle to facilitate their educational journey.  My local administration supports my following the trend of online and blended learning using appropriate software.  I would like to confirm that this LMS (Learning Management System) meets your approval.

While the Moodle platform is still quite new to me, I have learned basic skills with relative ease and evaluated Moodle with the SECTIONS model in mind (Bates & Poole, 2003).  It meets criteria, being quick to set up, easy to use for teachers and students with minimal organizational demands, offering flexibility and promoting interactivity, and it is free.

While my preliminary experience with Moodle does suggest relative ease of use, it is preliminary, so I also present Perkins and Pfaffman’s (2006) article as evidence recommending Moodle as a time-saving device, convenient for students, improving teachers’ efficiency (Perkins and Pfaffman, 2006, p. 36).  As open-source software, licensing is free, whereas many other systems such as WebCT Vista/Blackboard require unrealistic investment (eg: Dean’s Meeting, 2005, p.4, 6) given our district’s current budget constraints. Site-branding and customization are unnecessary, so Moodle costs are comparably reasonable (edutools.com) with benefits to both teachers and students.  Accessibility for students without home computer or Internet access is eased via prior investments in in-school computers in the LST room, library, and computer lab, laptop carts and our wireless network, so integration with teacher time-management should make Moodle projects feasible.

Given that on-line learning is still quite novel in itself for many teachers, my hope is that with my success with Moodle, other teachers will join me in integrating methods to “advance student learning, creativity, and innovation in both face-to-face and virtual environments” as per ISTE’s NETS.  For all intents and purposes, Moodle, already used by many teachers (statistics), sufficiently serves this niche with the desired benefits and few shortcomings (Open Source Review). Demand on IMS should be minimal with Moodle’s support and community pages though initial trouble-shooting assistance may be required.

I’m looking forward to implementing a process that will enable a higher degree of relevant (Christensen, 2000, Mirriahi, 2004) and active learning to which I will be able to give more prompt feedback (Chickering & Ehrmann, 1996) than paper allows, enhancing Fraser Heights’ ELL education with your blessing.

Sincerely,

Vicki Schrader

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 Bass Publishers. Retrieved from https://www.vista.ubc.ca/webct/urw/lc5116011.tp0/cobaltMainFrame.dowebct

Chickering, A.W. & Ehrmann, S.C. (1996).  Implementing the seven principles: Technology as lever. American Association for Higher Education Bulletin, 49(2), 3-6. http://www.aahea.org/bulletins/articles/sevenprinciples.htm

Christensen, L. (2000). Unlearning the myths that bind us: Critiquing cartoons and society. Custom Course Materials ETEC 532. Vancouver, B.C.; University of British Columbia, Bookstore. (Reprinted from In reading, writing and rising up: Teaching about social justice and the power of the written word (pp. 40-47) A Rethinking Schools Publication.

Collier, V.P. (1987). Age and rate of acquisition of second language for academic purposes. TESOL Quarterly 21(4), 617–641. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/stable/pdfplus/3586986.pdf

Considering an enterprise course management at UBC: Summary for deans meeting, January 12, 2005. Retrieved from http://www.e-strategy.ubc.ca/__shared/assets/ECMAC-Course_Mgmt_System_Summary_CoD_Jan_12_200519883406.doc

Cummins, J. (2009). Literacy and English-language learners: A shifting landscape for.students, teachers, researchers and policy makers. Educational Researcher 38(5), p. 382-4. Retrieved from http://edr.sagepub.com/cgi/content/full/38/5/382?ijkey=pd5FZxPquRcOE&keytype=ref&siteid=spedr#B4-0380382

ESL Consultant (2004). Fast Facts about ESL Learners. [handout]. Vancouver School Board.

Hendriks, E. (2008).  Open Source Web CMS: Open Source Content Management Reviews. http://www.opensourcewcms.com/moodle/

Mirriahi, N. (2004). Weblogs in a grade 6/7 classroom: A new vision of technology and humanities integration. Course materials ETEC 532. University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada. Retrieved from https://www.vista.ubc.ca/webct/RelativeResourceManager/Template/download/casestudy-mirriahi.pdf

Moodle Statistics.  http://moodle.org/stats/

International Society for Technology in Education (2008).  National Educational Technology Standards for Teachers. http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForTeachers/2008Standards/NETS_for_Teachers_2008.htm

Perkins, M., Pfaffman, J. (2006). Using a course management system to improve classroom communication. Science Teacher, 73(7), 33-37.  Retrieved from Wilson Web database. http://vnweb.hwwilsonweb.com.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/hww/results/external_link_maincontentframe.jhtml?_DARGS=/hww/results/results_common.jhtml.42