Teaching with Moodle in a Multipoint E-learning Environment

Kazunori NozawaRitsumeikan University, Japan

nozawa@is.ritsumei.ac.jp

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At-a-Glance A multipoint environment solution for distance int

ra-communication Brief review of Social Constructionist Pedagogy Moodle as a good e-learning environment Two graduate classes at an independent Ritsume

ikan University Graduate School– SLEIS (Studies in Language Education and Information

Science) IV– ICC (Intercultural Communication) II

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A part of the multipoint Environment

Originating Site RU Biwako Kusatsu Campus (Shiga) 　　　　↓ ↑

↓ ↑ RU Kinugawa Campus → Osaka Satellite (Kyoto) 　　　　　　← Office (Osak

a)

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Specifications

Maximum of 42 Windows PCs at CALL Labs for each campus

Hitachi Multi-point Video-Conferencing System with own direct network connections + the Internet

Moodle on my own Windows 2000 server

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E-learning Platform（ CMS, LMS, VLE, OTF)

WebCT BlackBoard　　　↓ No budget! Can not persuade your bosses

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Open-Source　 CMS

GNU-based free software– Claroline– The Manhattan Virtual Classroom– A-Tutor– Xoops– WebOCM– Moodle

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Software Reviews Edutools

– http://edutools.info/course/index.jsp TESL-EJ vol. 7. No. 2

– http://www.kyoto-su.ac.jp/information/tesl-ej/ej26/m2.html

XPLANA– http://www.xplana.com

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What’s Moodle? Modular Object-Oriented Dynamic Lear

ning Environment Developed by Martin Dougiamas in Au

gust, 2002 167 countries 18652 registered sites （ As of Nov.

28, 2006 ）

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Moodle: Features Martin Dougiamas developed Moodle for e

ducators from the beginning under a philosophy so-called social constructionist pedagogy

CALL Researchers and practioners in the world have been participating in the further development and improvement of Moodle in a collaborative style.

Teachers/practioners are NOT required to have advanced knowledge and skills while Moodle is easy to use and stable.

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Social Constructionist Pedagogy

Constructivism– Knowledge is created through the interaction wit

h the environment. Constructionism

– Learning effectiveness can be observed when something is usefully created for people.

Social Constructivism– Movement toward a whole community forms cult

ure and meaningfulness. Connected Behavior

– Thoughtful actions stimulate learning.

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Moodle: Features Moodle is multilingual and many languages

can be used. Problems for displaying two-byte languages such as Japanese have been solved in March 2004 with English （ en_jp ） language package.

Although the log-in check is done by e-mail account and course key (password), you can use it as a guest under the limitation.

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Moodle: Features Posted information in forums is automatically

sent to registered people by email. The participants’ activities can be

understood by reading “recent activities” Posted information in forums are displayed

in layers so that you can read it without clicking each title and understand the relations among articles.

Posted information and mails are basically provided with the sender’s photo so that more realistic communication is done.

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Moodle: Features

With the tracking function, all of each student’s learning processes can be traced.

Quizzes and questionnaires can be easily made, answered on line, and automatically calculated. Hot Potatoes exercises can also be provided. In addition, modules for attendance, calendar, resources, chat, Wiki, etc. are preset and usable while new modules are being developed.

Search function can be used to collect necessary contents, articles, mails, and individual student’s information.

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Moodle is a solution To provide a common e-learning or

communication platform in a multipoint environment

To allow only students who enroll for a particular course

To motivate students in a different style of learning or presenting their ideas to share without any hesitation

To provide downloadable e-documents to students without having printing and shipping them out in advance

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SLEIS IV To lecture CALL theories and practical

approaches with updated ICT in English To provide a reviewing chance on software or

courseware and an academic journal article To experience a peer-to-peer online

evaluation To discuss the related topics in a forum

format for mutual understanding To provide an experience as a multimedia

project for teaching a foreign language and culture

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SLEIS IV

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SLEIS IV

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SLEIS IV

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SLEIS IV

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SLEIS IV

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SLEIS IV

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SLEIS IV To participate in either online or offline tasks of

the course, the upper intermediate level of computer literacy is required. Some students sometimes have struggled to complete their specific IT tasks, but they managed to complete them in their own way.

The number of the enrollment was unfortunately small (7 in 2003; 5 in 2004; 6 in 2005; 2 in 2006) because technical topics are covered in English. There is a possibility to change the instructional language into Japanese in the future.

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ICC 2

To provide the basics of NVC as a part of intercultural communication study

To enhance cultural awareness of the students

To review Japanese behavioral problems in communication and seek for more efficient ways to communicate with non-Japanese

To apply NVC features for language teaching and learning

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ICC 2

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ICC 2

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ICC 2

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ICC 2

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ICC 2

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ICC 2

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ICC 2

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ICC 2

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ICC 2

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ICC 2

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ICC 2

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ICC 2

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Conclusion There are many advantages to use Moodle as a c

ommon platform in a tertiary education setting, in particular in a multipoint e-learning environment.

There are still some unknown functions or unused modules of Moodle, it is quite ideal for the author to use Moodle for teaching and sharing information purposes.

The author will continue to teach both SLEIS and IC2 or conduct collaborative research projects with a more stable and updated version of Moodle and try for an efficient, communicative way to interact with students.

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Selected References Brandl, Klaus. (2005). Are you ready to “Moodle”? Language learning and techn

ology, 9(2), 16-23. Retrieved Nov. 18, 2006 from http://llt.msu.edu/vol9num2/ review1/

Gonzalez, Dafne. (2005). Blended learning offers the best of both worlds, Essential teacher, TESOL, December, 42-45.

Hinkelman, Don. (2005). Blended learning : Issues driving an end to laboratory-based CALL, JALT Hokkaido journal, 9, 17-31.

Robb, Thomas N. (2004). Moodle: A virtual learning environment for the rest of us. TESL-EJ, 8(2) Retrieved Nov. 3, 2006 from http://www.kyoto-su.ac.jp/ information/ tesl-ej/ej30/m2.html.

Harashima, Hideto. (2004a). "A blended learning environment using Moodle" Collected Papers, 2004 National Conference of The Japan Association for Language Education & Technology. July 28-30, 2004. 181-184.

Harashima, Hideto. (2004b). "Creating a blended learning environment using Moodle" The Proceedings of the 20th Annual Conference of Japan Society of Educational Technology, September 23-25, 2004. 241-242.

Melton, Jay. (2004). The CMS moodle: A heuristic evaluation. Retrieved on Nov. 7, 2006 from http://jklmelton.net/2004/jaltcall/

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Snail Mail: Prof. Kazunori Nozawa, College of Information Science and Engineering, Ritsumeikan University, 1-1-1 Nojihigashi, Kusatsu, Shiga, 525-8577 Japan

E-mail: nozawa@is.ritsumei.ac.jpHP: http://www.ritsumei.ac.jp/is/~nozawa/index.htm

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