Presented at the Moodle Research Conference in Sousse, Tunsia - 4-5 October 2013. The full paper can be viewed at http://research.moodle.net/mod/data/view.php?d=7&rid=130.
3. Background
Education degree at Flinders University
Final year placement undertaken at
Heathfield High School
– Great emphasis on the use ICT
– A 1:1 wireless laptop program
– An e-learning program, use Moodle
8. So what did I teach?
Robotics Adv. Tech
Digital
Photography
9.
10.
11. What did I find?
E-learning coaches
Issues with using Moodle
− No defined support structure
Local network drive used as a repository
Work submitted as hardcopy, email or USB
Excel spreadsheet used to track grades
12.
13. Key question
How well can Moodle be used to
support, enhance and extend student
learning?
− Six weeks to find out!
14. First impressions – make them count
Look & feel must be visually appealing
− Vanilla Moodle
− “Wasn’t user friendly … must be simplified”
Tailored to the user – must be relevant
− “See old courses and courses I can’t access”
− Old dates
Easy to locate content
− “Confusing at times like a giant maze”
15.
16. Course design – it is important
Better experience & increases enjoyment
− “Things that made me enjoy Moodle was the
user friendly interface”
− Course layout changed to avoid confusion
Perceived usefulness – a big motivator
(Arteaga Sanchez & Duarte Hueros 2010)
Don’t use the same course design all the time
“Students may get bored”
17.
18.
19.
20. Pedagogy – tailor accordingly
Keep asking yourself, why & how
Adapt learning resources & activities to
different learning styles to improve results
(Despotović-Zrakić et al. 2012)
Closely monitor progress and be prepared to
change & tailor approach
− Confusion over release of activities & resources
21.
22. Engagement – a must have
Must be more than just “dump & pump”
Interactivity & autonomous learning can
influence learning (Drennan, Kennedy & Pisarski 2005)
− “I have never seen Moodle used in that way”
Most tools were well received
Reward engagement
23.
24.
25. What was achieved?
3x courses = ↑ student-centred learning,
↑ engagement & ↑ time spent with students
Site reconfigured & restructure in progress
Fantastic support from Principal
− Moodle working group created (1 day workshop)
− Moodle administrator (part time) employed
− Staff development
27. References
Arteaga Sánchez, R. & Duarte Hueros, A. (2010), Motivational factors
that influence the acceptance of Moodle using TAM. Computers in
Human Behavior, vol. 26, iss. 6, pp. 1632-1640.
Despotović-Zrakić, M., Marković, A., Bogdanović, Z., Barać, D., &
Krčo, S. (2012). Providing Adaptivity in Moodle LMS Courses.
Educational Technology & Society, vol. 15, iss. 1, pp. 326–338.
Drennan, J., & Kennedy, J., Pisarski, A. (2005), Factors affecting
student attitudes toward flexible online learning in management
education. The Journal of Educational Research, vol. 98, iss. 6, pp.
331-338.
Editor's Notes
So here’s what we end up with
*Animation Slide*Purpose of Slide:Shows what makes up the Joule build. Talking Points:Joule, fits much like a puzzle piece with Moodle. Joule is a set of enhanced features that sit on top of Moodle. Moodlerooms has not touched the code that is core Moodle, but instead has taken this code and created enhancements on top of it. The puzzle starts with the stock features available in Joule such as Personalized Learning and our Enhanced ReportsThen it is matched by enhanced Administrative functions such as course conversion utilities and Express for branding your site. Additional integration options are available through Conduit to draw a connection between your SIS/CRM and Joule to allow for ease of enrollments. Finally, it’s easy tto add additional features into Joule through add-on modules to increase the functionality of your site.
*Animated Slide*Purpose of this Slide:To draw back the pain points from the start of the conversation and how we put the pieces together to find a fit. Talking Points:Moodlerooms provides the benefit of security for an open source product. We have 3 main components that we look at:Moodle Core at the Foundation: Open Source Moodle provides us with a tremendous basis to begin our services. Out of the gate, Moodle provides strong features for content management, assessments, and various plug-ins to enrich the teaching and learning experience. Where we step in is taking that foundation and kicking it up a notch by adding our enterprise services. The first of those services is our Cloud Hosting. One of the benefits of being a part of the Blackboard familyis the ability to use their industry-leading infrastructure to provide cloud hosting services, which provides on demand scalability, prevents any issues with lag, and meets the needs if a consumer base continues to grow. Second, we provide what we refer to as Managed Open Source, so our team controls the necessary upgrades, security pushes, and code that is needed to maintain and manage an open source LMS, allowing you to focus on the teaching and learning. Add in our unique Training, Client Engagement, and Support models and you’ve got a team ready to work with you no matter the configuration. Finally, speaking of the teaching and learning, our Products team has developed additional features for Joule that enhance and simplify that process. Features such as action-oriented reports and automated learning paths allow for ease of use for educators and users alike.
Purpose of Slide:Demonstrates flexibility of Joule to meet all varieties of users.Purpose of Slide:People use Joule in different ways. Let them know Joule is flexible enough to support all kinds of users. Due to having Moodle at the core of Joule, the features in the system are modular so you are able to enable or disable features so that the system can accommodate the most casual of users, to the most complex configurations Therefore, Joule remains a sustainable LMS for your teaching and learning needs.
Purpose of Slide:Provide a highlight of the benefits of using Joule*Very similar to slide 23. Use one or the other and hit on the same bullet points. Talking Points:Goal-SpecificAuthentication & Enrollment - Automated Batch AdministrationEnhanced Functionality + FeaturesBranded Themes & Advanced UIEnd-to-endService OfferingsSecurity, Interoperability,Stability, FlexibilityAffordabilityIndividualized InstructionContent Sharing Network Improved Communicationtools for teaching, learning, communication and assessment