moodle for small business

YES! IELTS c T i s h K i r k l a n d w w w . y e s - i e l t s . c o m

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Moodle for a Small Business

1. Creating my small Moodle-based business

context – reason – starting up

2. Running it

activity choice – making it pretty –communicating

Tish Kirkland

@YES_IELTS / @YES.IELTS iMoot16mm


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The Context


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JH: Have you heard of this thing called Moodle?

Me: No.

JH: It’s really cool. I think you’d really like it.

mid 2008

Uh... OK. Well... sign me up! (1.9)


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2007

20072005 2004


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Teacher (2002)

Senior Teacher, Resource Coordinator

Accommodation Coordinator

Activities Coordinator

Assistant Director of Studies

Director of Studies

School Manager (2007)

... School Director?

... School Owner ?


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early 2008

Image source: http://gbaustralia.wikispaces.com/GreatBritain-Imperialism-In-Australia


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First Site

dabbling with Moodle

school computer room


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2008

“e-learning” •  1.9 •  reliable contingency plan •  topic-based •  easy access •  quality materials •  photocopy-free


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New Site


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The Reason


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The Reason

The Bad Shit


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‘... moderately infiltrating ductal carcinoma in situ

and ductal carcinoma in situ.’

early 2009


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Bugger.

‘... moderately infiltrating ductal carcinoma in situ

and ductal carcinoma in situ.’

early 2009


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Diagnosis 30/Jan/2009. First surgery (wide local excision, sentinel node biopsy)13/Feb/2009. Second surgery (WLE, axillary clearance) 27/Feb/2009. First chemotherapy 27/Mar/2009 (3 infusions of FET, 3 infusions of Taxotere, spread over 18 weeks). Final chemo 10/Jul/2009. First radiation session 3/Aug/2009. Thirty sessions over six weeks. Final radiation 16/Sept/2009. Zolodex started pre-chemo in March 2009. Treatment side effects included: fatigue, inability to think straight, word loss, nausea, constipation, achy legs, achy joints, dry eyes, body and scalp hair loss, body and facial hair thinning, mucositis, neutropenia, blotchy rash, menopause, hot flushes, oral candidiasis, loss of some tastes, odd metallic taste in mouth, burnt feeling in mouth and digestive system, depression, anxiety, radiation burn, and tinnitus. Tamoxifen started October 2009. Tamoxifen ceased October 2010. Arimidex started November 2010. Zolodex & Arimidex ceased August 2013. Tamoxifen re-commenced. Tamoxifen ceased Sept 2014. All treatment at the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.


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July

July

Sept

SeptSept


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mid 2009


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I needed to do something


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private students

short teaching stints

one-to-one students

conversational English

small groups

IELTS test preparation


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private students

short teaching stints

one-to-one students

conversational English

small groups

IELTS test preparation

fatigue

hospital appointments

fatigue

recovery from treatment

uncertainty

fatigue

confidence


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I need to do something

Moodle!


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Starting up


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Text source: Burkinshaw, V. (2011) The Bizness Book. Australia: Affirm Press. ISBN 9780646561431 Image source: http://superhypeblog.com/marketing/how-body-shop-founder-anita-roddick-taught-businesses-to-do-good

Dame Anita Roddick (1942 – 2007)


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Text source: Burkinshaw, V. (2011) The Bizness Book. Australia: Affirm Press. ISBN 9780646561431 Image source: http://superhypeblog.com/marketing/how-body-shop-founder-anita-roddick-taught-businesses-to-do-good

Dame Anita Roddick (1942 – 2007)

Never stop asking questions and always look for better ways of

doing things.

1.  Have a vision of something new and believe in it so passionately it becomes a reality.

2.  Stand out from the crowd. Set your sights and skills on an idea, do the research, see what others are doing and see how you can be different.

3.  Seek knowledge – observe, read, listen. Knock on doors and ask for as many opinions as you can and as much help as you can muster.


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Have a vision of something new and believe in it so passionately it becomes a reality.


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Turn your talents into business

Things I am good at Things I love to do Talents I have made money with in the past

Create a ‘vision board’ •  cut outs from magazines •  pinterest



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•  teaching English •  writing courses •  online communication

•  help others •  work with people •  create things •  work with computers •  explore language

•  English language teaching •  examining •  management roles •  training & customer service




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Limitations




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the need to sleep; uncertain timetables


Limitations



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Stand out from the crowd. Set your sights and skills on an idea, do the research, see what others are doing and see how you can be different.


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Identify your business skills and abilities (strengths and weaknesses):

•  product/service knowledge

•  business development

•  cash flow management

•  profit and loss analysis

•  marketing

•  sales

•  customer service

•  business plan writing

•  recruitment

•  staff management

•  design

•  market research

•  negotiation

•  contract management

•  governance

•  OH&S

•  planning (time & resources)



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product/service knowledge

•  an easy ‘go-to’ resource site for my class

•  7 years’ experience of teaching IELTS

•  knowledge of options already available in language schools

•  Australian visa & registration requirements



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product/service knowledge

•  an easy ‘go-to’ resource site for my class

•  7 years’ experience of teaching IELTS

•  knowledge of options already available in language schools

•  Australian visa & registration requirements

market research

•  target market

•  requests for help with IELTS writing

•  lack of one-to-one resources available

•  limited resources for advanced-level students

•  surveymonkey



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business plan

•  USP (unique selling point)

•  business name

•  location-based – website name – search rankings

•  business ‘personality’

•  logo / colours / fonts / vision board

•  Moodle 1.9 theme constraints

•  business cards

•  vistaprint, moo business cards

•  time – don’t underestimate or undervalue this

•  revisit, re-evaluate on a regular basis



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money

•  PayPal & plugin

•  Excel or similar

•  cost of goods sold (COGS) – breakdown of manufacturing costs

•  Xero / get a book-keeper

•  tax: keep 30% of each payment aside for tax, any excess into superannuation fund

•  opt to pay tax quarterly if you can

•  GST registration: only if annual/ 12-month turnover (business’s gross income)

�Aust: $AU 75,000 or more; �NZ: $NZ 60,000 or more

•  Set up a separate bank account. It doesn’t have to be a ‘business’ account.



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governance

•  ABN (Australian Business Number) from the Australian Business Registry abr.gov.au

•  business, not hobby

•  business structure: individual sole trader / partnership / company / trust

•  business name registration

•  Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) asic.gov.au

•  ideas for names

•  Business name vs Trading name (YES! IELTS – Tish Kirkland)

•  domain name registration

•  e.g. Crazy Domains – .com? .com.au? .net? .co.nz?

•  DNS



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marketing

•  the 6 P’s

•  personality – educational, values, bright, simple

•  product – Moodle site; features & benefits

•  price – look at the competition; value your time

•  place – online, Moodle site

•  position – high end, advanced

•  promotion – online

•  cultural considerations

•  gumtree, sunbrisbane, featured service, guest blog, guest article, word of mouth



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marketing

•  social media

•  your website

•  facebook

•  twitter

•  Google plus

•  Wordpress

•  your blogs

•  other people’s blogs

•  YouTube

•  scribd

•  LinkedIn


Google Plus page

• QR code (google)

•  instagram

•  ScoopIt

•  Feedburner

•  IFTTT ‘if this then that’

blogspot wordpress

facebook twitter

#IELTS


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Seek knowledge – observe, read, listen. Knock on doors and ask for as many opinions as you can and as much help as you can muster. Never stop asking questions and always look for better ways of doing things.


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Moodle

•  Moodle.org (forum)

•  Moodle docs (‘manual’)

•  Google search ‘moodle x’

•  MOOC LearnMoodle

•  MCCC, HRDNZ

•  iMoot

•  MoodleMoot

Other courses & resources

•  FutureLearn, Khan Academy, Lynda.com

•  Free trial versions e.g. Camtasia

•  Purple Pyjamas .com.au (Melbourne-based)

Books

•  ‘The Bizness Book’ by Vickie Burkinshaw

•  ‘Body and Soul’ by Anita Roddick

•  ‘Business as Unusual’ by Anita Roddick



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Official Assistance - Australia

•  Web search ‘small business’ + name of state

•  Look for .gov.au e.g. www.business.qld.gov.au

•  Australian Tax Office ato.gov.au

•  Australian Business Register abr.gov.au

Official Assistance – Aotearoa / New Zealand

•  Citizens’ Advice Bureau www.cab.org.nz > starting a small business

•  Look for .govt.nz e.g. www.business.govt.nz

•  WINZ www.workandincome.govt.nz > start your own business

•  Te Tari Taake / Inland Revenue www.ird.govt.nz



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2.7


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Questions / Comments

(Not finished yet!)


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Running (with) it


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Imagesource:h9p://www.jawfish.net/wp/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/wizard_oz.jpg


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YES! IELTS

What?

• writing courses, speaking practice, reading practice

• original content

•  friendly and easy to navigate

Who?

• 1 Admin / Teacher

•  teacher as ‘expert’

• L2 students, IELTS level 6.5 +

•  independent, one-to-one students Imagesource:h9p://stock-clip.

com/video/317521-green-curtain


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YES! IELTS

How?

• continuous, ongoing enrolment

• Paypal enrolment

• email-based self-registration

What else?

• as little management and monitoring as possible

• grades not important for course progression

Imagesource:h9p://stock-clip.com/video/317521-green-curtain


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YES! IELTS

What else?

• course settings: topics based

• quiz settings: adaptive mode – no penalties

• no focus on grades – but use grades for course completion

tracking & restrict access

• asynchronous feedback via message / assignment

• no or very few plug-ins

• careful activity choice

•  incorporate themes of social justice, human rights, peace education

Imagesource:h9p://stock-clip.com/video/317521-green-curtain


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Activity choice

keeping it simple and manageable


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Imagesource:h9ps://blog.liip.ch/archive/tag/moodle

Assignment Pros

• asynchronous • email notifications •  rubrics

Cons

• no timed option, only dates • no template (e.g. ‘Essay’

question in Quiz)

Comments

• PDF feedback files

Chat Pros

•  real time

Cons

•  text only •  timezone inequality • challenging for L2 speakers

Comments

• Skype is easier


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Choice Pros

• good for quick feedback

Cons

•  limited layout options

Comments

• pre-learning task to focus • gather info. about student

Feedback Pros

•  easy to set up

Cons

• students don’t do it

Comments

• good for quick feedback • offer incentive • use for marketing/research


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Forum & Database Pros

• searchable • good for interaction &

sharing Cons

• concerns about spam • monitoring required Comments

• clickable list of tags would be good

• my students don’t seem to use forums

•  too ‘hands on’ for Teacher/Admin

Glossary Pros

• great resource • can keep adding to

Cons

•  takes a while to set up

Comments

• check for auto-linking and disable as necessary


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Survey Pros

• good to think about own learning

Cons

•  too hard for L2 students

Comments

• agree with concept • distraction from main

content • make as optional extra in L1

Lesson Pros

•  responses take you to certain pages

•  less ‘linear’ than quiz Cons

• not enough flexibility in layout

• wanted more than one question per page

• no cloze questions

Comments

• “too-hard basket”


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Quiz Pros

•  several questions on one page, like a worksheet

•  create interaction when and where you want it

Cons

• no notifications to student after teacher has checked the quiz

Comments

•  re-named within language pack to ‘Tutorial’

Quiz Question Types Cloze

•  tricky at first •  lots of flexibility

Essay-Type

• utilise templates •  rubrics would be good

Settings

•  restrict access • check as you go (‘Adaptive

mode – no penalties’)


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Wiki Comments

• better suited for a set group (not continuous enrolments)

Workshop Comments

• students want teacher (‘expert’) feedback

SCORM Comments

•  I want all my own content • costly

IMS Content Comments

•  I want all my own content • costly

External Tool Comments

• want all own content • costly


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Book Pros

•  table of contents • not as easy to share as PDF

Cons

•  time consuming to set up • not particularly interactive

Comments

• use instead of PDF for longer documents

• would be great if searchable

File Pros

• easy to download •  read offline •  flexible layout & images

Cons

• easy to download & share • student may not be able to

open • can navigate away from site Comments

• want to keep students enrolling in my site, not downloading & sharing for files free



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Label Pros

• very flexible • utilise hidden until student

meets completion criteria

Cons

•  limited to Moodle editor’s capabilities unless you know some HTML (3schools.com)

Comments

• used for front page

Page Pros

• not as easily printable • good for info pages

e.g. ‘About’, ‘Links’ • easy for me to edit Cons

• can still be copied and pasted

•  ‘scroll of death’ •  limited to Moodle editor’s

capabilities

Comments

• pop-up page in a quiz



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Folder Pros

• good for organising several files

Cons

• an extra step to open • could take extra time for

slow internet

Comments

• use for downloadable files

URL Pros

• great for extra information • already written / assembled

Cons

• needs monitoring for broken / changed links

• other info. not important • navigate away from my site

Comments

•  I tend to use hyperlinked text in a Page instead; it looks prettier


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Blocks Essential

• HTML - photo • Course Categories • Participants, Online Users • Messages • Course Completion

Recommended

• Calendar • Blog

Questionable

• Navigation • RSS


Plugins Comments

• Avoid unless: •  absolutely necessary •  you have time to monitor

Themes / Layout

Comments

• Let CSS become your friend • Appearance > Theme • search (e.g.) ‘moodle

change background colour questions’

• www.w3schools.com


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Messages Pros

• use instead of email • keeps everything within site

Cons

• emails don’t always come through (hotmail?)

Comments

• definitely link to email • have a messages block for

easy checking

Blog Pros

•  link own blog to blog • good for tips and hints

Cons

• blog only available to users

Comments

•  timed release would be good


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Making it pretty


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Making it pretty

• Pictures as clickable links

• Different fonts: Word text box >

‘save as picture’


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Making it pretty

• HTML block with picture

• Progress

•  ‘Choice’ as a pre-learning task

• Renamed ‘Quiz’ as ‘Tutorial’

• Hidden activities


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Making it pretty

• Pop-up Page in Quiz

• Breadcrumbs for navigation

• Quiz question background colour

using table

• Change colours using Appearance

> Theme

Check www.w3schools.com

• List of other courses on every page


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Making it pretty

• Essay type question in a Quiz

using a template


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Communicating


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Communicating

• Rubrics for grading assignments – refer student questions to criteria

• Messaging to tell a student you have graded their quiz

• Copy and paste ‘review’ URL in a message (hyperlinks ‘on’)

Dear Sylvia,

Well done on Tutorial 1! You can view my feedback here: http://yes-

ielts.tishkirkland.com/mod/quiz/review.php?attempt=1234.

Warm regards,

Tish


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Summary


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Summary: Top Tips

• pictures within labels – use for hotspots and links

• quiz

– rename to suit your site’s needs

– use tables & CSS to change layout & colours

– get to know Cloze question types

• assignment – rubics are awesome & make life easy

• blocks – have a welcome block and a photo

• course completion – a visual record of progress

• activity restriction – create surprise and discovery

Imagesource:h9p://images.staJc-bluray.com/reviews/8818_4.jpg


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The Good Stuff


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YES! IELTS •  one-to-one online students in Australia and overseas •  courses for use in language schools


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Questions / Comments

(That’s all, folks.)


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Thank you