open source, open minds

OPEN SOURCE, OPEN MINDSUsing Moodle™ to Become an Effective Educator

By

Tracy Magin and Allen M. Ford

What is Moodle?

Modular Object-Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment

Open-source course management system (CMS)

Designed by a teacher for teachers

Course Formats

Social

• Most likely to be used for courses where social interaction happens through Forums, Wikis, Workshops, or Chats.

Topics

• Best for courses with several topics or themes, as it allows separate sections for each topic being taught, and ability to add learning tools

Weekly

• Good for courses that have a specific start and stop date. Learning tools can be added here as well.

• Like Topics, ideal for highly structured courses.

Content/Resources

• used to organize the sections in the course; (ex. assignments, tests, quizzes)

Insert a Label Ex: "Drop Boxes"

• create plain text on a page using very basic formatting (ex. directions)

Compose a

Text Page

• create test on a page using a variety of formatting options using HTML editor (ex. directions). Allows for freedom to create "almost anything--including JavaScript"

Compose a

Web Page

• provide documents to students from Moodle™ resources that have been uploaded or linked to web sites

Link to a File

or Web Site

• creates one folder that students can click on to review or retrieve all documents instead of individual links to files. Instructors add content.

Display a

Directory

Activities and Learning Tools

Assignments Glossary Forums Quizzes Wiki Grade book

Popular Learning Tools

Assignments

upload a single file

offline activity online text advanced

uploading of files

Grade scale to be used Student access Assignment availability Student comments on work submitted Maximum size of the file uploads Number of files allowed to be uploaded permitting, deleting and resubmission of

student homework files Email notices when files are uploaded

Options Parameters that can be controlled

Glossary

Setup glossary specific to course needs Students can add definitions as well (secondary

glossary) Encourages social interaction and critical thinking

Forums

• for general use• useful for large discussions that will be monitored by the

teacher• useful to allow students to get to know one another in a social

situation

Standard Forum

• Limited to one discussion topic• can create a new discussion for each topic in the course• helps keep students focused

Single Simple Discussion

• middle ground between a large discussion and a single simple discussion

• no limit to student responses• possible for peer rating after student posts

Each person posts one discussion

• Ability to pose a question to the students• Student responds and then will be able to see others responses• Encourages independent thinking

Question and Answer Forum

Quizzes

Evaluate student learning Quiz options

Multiple choice True/false Short answer Matching Short answer matching Essay

Import questions from book test banks

Ability to provide feedback and set parameters

Wiki

Allows students to work collaboratively on an assignment

Students can work in teams and create projects Ideal for team proofreading/editing

Grade book

Easy to setup and use Can be setup by

Weight Points Percents Letters

Ability to create categories Ability to curve and drop lowest grade Ability to see statistics and print reports

Benefits of Moodle™

Moodle Benefits

easy to use grade book

ability to provide feedback and comments on assignments

variety of learning tools

collaboration among students

FREE! friendly interface

customizable

ability to import and export data

enhances teacher effectiveness

enhances student learning

Moodle™ Resources

General Information: http://moodle.org/about/

For Teachers: http://docs.moodle.org/en/Teacher_documentation

Books and Manuals: http://moodle.org/mod/data/view.php?id=7246

Open source leads to Open Minds, effective teaching and enhanced student learning!

Questions?

Recommended Readings

Cooch, M. (2009). Moodle 1.9 for Teaching7—14 Year-olds: Beginner’s Guide. PackT Publishing, Birmingham, United Kingdom

Stanford, J., (2009). Moodle 1.9 for Second Language Teaching. PackT Publishing, Birmingham, United Kingdom

Wild, I. (2009). Moodle 1.9 Math. PackT Publishing, Birmingham, United Kingdom

Wild, I. (2008). Moodle Course Conversion: Beginner’s Guide. PackT Publishing, Birmingham, United Kingdom

Bibliography

Cole, J., & Foster, H. (2008). Using Moodle: Teaching with the popular open source course management system. Sebastopol, CA: O'Reilly Media.

Elliott, D. G. (2010, April 8) We must learn to put the virtual world at the heart of our education system. Retrieved April 15, 2010, from walesonline.co.uk: http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/education-news/2010/04/08/we-must-learn-to-put-the-virtual-world-at-the-heart-of-our-education-system-91466-26195263/

Moodle.org. (2010). Moodle statistics. Retrieved May 5, 2010, from Moodle.org: http://moodle.org/stats/