Using Moodle: lessons from the first year

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Mike Betts on October 15, 2007 at 9:41am

Hi Chris,

You do not say, but I assume from your post that you are a teacher in a school rather that FE or HE. I am a teacher in further Education (work based learning) and have responsibilty for the learning environment at my institution. I am at the very early stages of getting a system up and running and I am using moodle. This decision was not made just because moodle is free but because I saw it as easy to use. I do not know how easy the bought systems are, because have not been able to try them but they are all and 'empty box' when you get them so it's better to see an empty box that cost nothing than an empty box that cost several thousand pounds! However, all parties do need to get together to ensure that one system is chosen so that students can become familiar with it.

Permalink Reply by Joseph Thibault on October 25, 2007 at 10:31am

Chris,
That's crazy (but somehow typical in education). It's interesting to find similarities between the US and the UK in terms of their willingness to try open source over proprietary (read: expensive) alternatives.
What type of advocacy would help the BECTA see Moodle as a viable resource?
Very best,
Joe

Permalink Reply by John DeBruyn on October 29, 2007 at 3:20am

Hi Chris, Mike and Joe:

Perhaps there needs to be a Moodle among the Classroom 2.0 communities to help promote Moodle's adoption, Just snipped this form the Classroom 2.0 wiki:

Community Resources: Click on the Community link to the left to access Classroom 2.0 communities in Google Groups, Facebook, MyBlogLog, and Ning.

John

Permalink Reply by Joseph Thibault on October 31, 2007 at 11:32am

John,
Excellent idea...could you expound a bit though?
I host several sites and would be happy to create a Moodle for Classroom 2.0 to use...it wouldn't be any problem at all (is that what you mean--> creating a open Moodle for anybody from C2.0 to use?).
I'd be happy to provide that (I love Moodle!)
-Joe

Permalink Reply by Ann Bell on October 31, 2007 at 12:12pm

Joe,
I would be interested in previewing a Moodle layout, if it wouldn't be too difficult to create one for C2.0.

Ann

Permalink Reply by Joseph Thibault on October 31, 2007 at 12:16pm

Ann,
I will take a week to get my colleague to build the Classroom 2.0 Moodle, in the meantime, we have free sites for every state where you can take a peak at Moodle, access some free tutorials and browse other created courses (that are open for enrollment). To register just visit http://globalclassroom.us/a_register/?account=teacher.
Let me know if you have any trouble or if you'd like to see some other courses that I have access to (or have created myself).
Thanks,
Joe

Permalink Reply by Ann Bell on October 31, 2007 at 12:38pm

Thanks Joe,
I'll check it out.
Ann

Permalink Reply by Chris Bradley on October 31, 2007 at 2:18pm

Hi Joseph and others,
I had a look at the link but it appears to be for US teachers which is a pity as I would really like to know how you deal with online learning.
At my school and Mike is right it is a school, we have been using Moodle for just over a year. There have been some suprises during that time. Some students - about 5% access it from outside schoool. The big suprise is the change in teaching style. Students older than 14 years take to the idea of working at their own pace fairly readily. Younger than that and the pace tends to be set by the teacher. Classes of older students fragment with students in different places and it would be difficult to control in exam centered classes. The key to student motivation is in rapid marking. If the marking and feedback is prompt then the most able students move ahead quickly. If marking is slow then they can't see any advantage to it.
Costs in time and treasure are higher than I expected. We have hired a talented recent graduate to head the technical implementation. He has created a new 'block' for assesment and is pushing the envelope of what is possible. Adding content is time consuming but as we are now beginning the second year modules need improving or upgrading rather than creating, so the time needed is lower.
I am now so thoroughly commited to Moodle that we will stay with it and decline the counties recomended VLE. We are setting up a development group with other schools in the county. Moodle is changing quickly and its adoption by the Open University has given it a real boost in status and development.

Permalink Reply by Chris Bradley on October 31, 2007 at 2:26pm

Joseph
bizzare but true. Moodle does not have an army of salesmen on commision who have a real incentive to persuade. There are 2000 moodle installations in the UK but no centre, no one who has a motive in persuading BECTA to adopt it. Moodle is very close to meeting the BECTA shopping list of requirements. There will never be a Moodle call centre to answer installation or teaching problems, I can't see how to resolve this problem at the moment. Logically the money saved from paying for a commercial system could fund a development centre that would provide support and create content. The North West Grid for learning has created some fabulous resources for moodle. They are either free or very cheap.