Currently, with the exception of a few instructor-led initiatives to move some course content online, all of the coursework being conducted by students in the Global Leadership Program (GLP) at Seokyeong University (SKU) is face-to-face, classroom-based instruction, while under our feet a growing number of useful alternatives are emerging as the impact of the Internet on communication and education grows.
Course Management Systems (CMS) such as Blackboard, Web CT/Vista, Desire2Learn, and Moodle have become essential components of both classroom-based blended learning environments and fully online courses at universities across the globe, allowing students to interact with course content, other students, and faculty.
While many of these programs offer similar features, commercial options may require a school or program to enter into contractual agreements and can be expensive. For this reason as well as others which I will outline below, the GLP program here at SKU would benefit most from adopting Moodle – a free, open-source CMS with over a million registered users worldwide (Moodle, 2011).
I will employ the seven principles for effective undergraduate education described by Chickering and Gamson (1987) and illustrate how Moodle supports these concepts which can put our students on the path towards becoming intelligent, effective business leaders with technological savvy and advanced communication skills, principles which are directly in line with the goals of the GLP program at SKU, which “aims to promote a leading edge education and raise professionals with a multidisciplinary global perspective in this era of globalization” (Seokyeong, 2011).
According to Chickering and Gamson (1987), “Good practice in undergraduate education:
1) Encourages contacts between students and faculty.
2) Develops reciprocity and cooperation among students.
3) Uses active learning techniques.
4) Gives prompt feedback.
5) Emphasizes time on task.
6) Communicates high expectations.
7) Respects diverse talents and ways of learning.” (p. 3)
The benefits of the Moodle CMS are evident in each of these points, as shown below:
1) Moodle will help to increase contact between the students and faculty by supplementing classroom-based learning techniques and giving students access to faculty through email and discussion forums, in a safe, secure environment.
2) The use of Moodle for outside-the-classroom learning facilitates cooperation and collaboration among students, skills which will be essential once they arrive in the business community, where groups and teams of individuals working together to solve problems and meet deadlines is the norm.
3) Students who communicate with each other outside the classroom and work collaboratively online in a Moodle course employ active learning techniques. “(Students) must talk about what they are learning, write about it, relate it to past experiences and apply it to their daily lives. They must make what they learn part of themselves” (Chickering & Gamson, 1987, p. 6). Moodle allows students to reflect on their learning processes and discuss with their peers as they go. In doing so, they share knowledge and develop as a group.
4) Moodle allows the instructor to view and assess the interactions taking place in discussion forums, monitor chat sessions, and provide prompt feedback (Chickering & Gamson, 1987), which will help the students to refine their approach to interacting, supporting, criticizing, and praising the work of their peers or colleagues.
5) Time on task is essential for effective learning, and “Technology also can increase time on task by making studying more efficient” (Chickering & Gamson, 1996, p. 5). An online learning environment such as a Moodle course offers another space in which students can work productively, already connected to the World Wide Web, with everything they need at their fingertips, with the additional advantage of being well-supported by faculty and their peers.
6) The online Moodle environment helps to communicate high expectations to students by forcing them to think carefully and considerately before submitting their ideas to the group and providing feedback on the work of others (Chickering and Gamson, 1987). Submitting ideas and assignments in a semi-public space is not the same as quietly submitting a half-hearted attempt directly to your instructor. Working in a collaborative space elevates the output of students and faculty alike.
7) Finally, Moodle would allow students of various and diverse learning styles to flourish (Chickering and Gamson, 1987). Moodle affords a wide range of educational tools which can meet the diverse needs of our student population. It has the flexibility to support a wide variety of teaching and learning styles, and can deliver content through nearly any means one could think of, employing wikis, discussion forums, external Web links, as well as supporting embedded videos, images, and podcasts (Brooks-Young, 2008), along with tools to help instructors detect and prevent plagiarism (Moodle, 2011).
One of the most obvious hesitations about adopting any CMS is of course the cost. This is where Moodle has a decided advantage. Unlike Blackboard, WebCT/Vista, Desire2Learn, and others, Moodle is a free, open-source program. While there are some costs involved in setting up and maintaining a server, as well as the disk space required to host Moodle courses and content, these costs are minimal compared to other commercial solutions, and proportionate to the size of the program being supported.
In order to bring a Moodle server online, we would need the support of the IT department of SKU, especially someone with existing knowledge of how to set up and maintain a Web server, in order to host content for our courses. Alternatively, SKU could hire an outside company such as Classroom Revolution (2011), on a trial basis at first, which could host courses for 1 instructor, up to 5 courses, and 150 students for a year, at a cost of $150 USD per year.
Students here at SKU deserve the best education we can provide, and Moodle can help us achieve that goal, not only providing these students with a significantly expanded set of tools which they would be able to apply immediately to their academic careers, but increasing their potential for successful careers in the business world and raising elevating the status of the GLP program and SKU in the process.
References
Brooks-Young, S. (2008). Got Moodle?. T H E Journal, 35(4), 28-29.
Chickering, A.W. & Gamson, Z.F. (1987). Seven Principles for Good
Practice in Undergraduate Education. American Association
for Higher Education Bulletin, 39 (7), 3-7.
Chickering, A.W. & Ehrmann, S.C. (1996). Implementing the Seven
Principles: Technology as Lever. American Association for
Higher Education Bulletin, 49(2), 3-6.
Classroom Revolution: Moodle Made Easy (2011, June 11) Retrieved
from http://class roomrevolution.com/crteacher/
Moodle Website. (2011, June 10) Moodle Statistics.
Retrieved from http://moodle.org /stats/
Seokyeong University Website. (2011, June 11). Undergraduate
academics program descriptions. Retrieved from http://eng.skuniv.ac.kr/
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