Open Source, Open MindsBy
What is Moodle?
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
Student access
Assignment availability
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
Glossary
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
Ability to provide feedback and set parameters
Wiki
Ideal for team proofreading/editing
Can be setup by
Benefits of Moodle™
easy to use grade book
ability to provide feedback and comments on assignments
variety of learning tools
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/