MOODLE& EDUCATION

Elainna Kish

EDUC-W 200

Summer 2009

CONTENTS What is Moodle? & What is Moodle? “Got Moodle?” by Susan Brooks-Young

Summary Slide 1 Summary Slide 2 Personal Reflection

“Creating a Collaborative Syllabus Using Moodle” by Emmett Dulaney Summary Slide 1 Summary Slide 2 Summary Slide 3 Personal Reflection

“Teachers and Technology: Eric Brewer” by Neal Starkman Summary Slide 1 Summary Slide 2 Summary Side 3

Personal Reflection Conclusion Slide Works Cited

WHAT IS MOODLE?

WHAT IS MOODLE?

GOT MOODLE? SUSAN BROOKS-YOUNG

Moodle is a free and open source course management system.

It “enables educators to manage all aspects of course content and delivery using one integrated system” (Brooks-Young, 2008).

Moodle can be used for quizzes, tests, attendence, grading, assigning and collecting work, and collaboration among other things

Moodle itself is free, however the people required for training and maintenance are not

GOT MOODLE? SUSAN BROOKS-YOUNG

Useful in all settings, including homeschooling because students can work at their own pace from any location with internet

Allows students to share their input about the class; one teacher allows his students to create a database of questions he uses to make exams

Moodle is constantly being upgraded, adding more modules to make its effectiveness in the classroom even better. Got Moodle? Article

PERSONAL REFLECTION Moodle is incredibly useful. It was interesting to see how much

you can do for free to improve your classroom. Even though Moodle itself is free, you have to have a server that

can support it and someone to provide training and maintenance. Even if there is some expense, the benefits outweigh the cost.

Moodle can make teachers’ lives easier and it can also make students’ lives easier. I think it provides a vast improvement in the way assignments and grades are delivered.

One teacher lets “his students create and update a database of questions he uses to build class exams through the system’s Quiz module” (Brooks-Young , 2008) I think more teachers need to start implementing the input students give them into lessons & assessment.

CREATING A COLLABORATIVE SYLLABUS USING MOODLE EMMETT

DULANEY

This article shows that Moodle is not only for K-12, it can also be used in the college setting

Having only 15 or 16 weeks in a semester does not leave much class time to spare – Moodle helped one professor save class time, that would otherwise be spent discussing the syllabus, by letting him collect input from his students outside of class.

He used a survey and then a quiz through Moodle that future students could access to find out their opinions about what the class should cover, how he should cover it, and what weights the grades should have.

CREATING A COLLABORATIVE SYLLABUS USING MOODLE EMMETT

DULANEY

One of the surveys the professor used (directly from article)

CREATING A COLLABORATIVE SYLLABUS USING MOODLE EMMETT

DULANEY

The image on the previous slide shows one of Moodle’s many capabilites –creating surveys that can be answered by “strongly disagree, disagree, neutral, agree, strongly agree”

This survey and the following quiz helped him to create the syllabus quickly and easily

“After only 20 minutes, the discussion ended with the syllabus being left as it was prior to the start of class” (Dulaney, 2008)

Only 20 minutes were spent reviewing the syllabus as opposed to several sessions!

Creating A Syllabus Article

PERSONAL REFLECTION This article proves that Moodle can be used at every level of

education- I think it is great that Moodle is so versatile. Even if you can’t find an exact way to do something on Moodle,

there are ways to work around it to get what you want – a great feature.

Moodle provides opportunities to save class time for things that actually matter in class. Instead of spending class sessions debating over the syllabus, it can be taken care of outside of class. More time for learning is always an improvement to education! “The more input students could have in the process outside of class, the

more class time could be saved for covering the material” (Dulaney, 2008)

TEACHERS & TECHNOLOGY:ERIC BREWER NEAL

STARKMAN

Eric Brewer teaches grades 9-12 at a high school in New York

He uses the Moodle course management system in his classroom, and is very pleased with the results that it has brought.

“It enhances communication, it gives quicker feedback, and it even motivates students to finish assignments quicker!”

(Starkman, 2008).

TEACHERS & TECHNOLOGY:ERIC BREWER NEAL

STARKMAN

Teachers have the ability to work on grades and assignments anywhere with internet access

Students and parents can see grades and assignments using Moodle.

A positive result is increased communication: students can no longer say they don’t know their standing in the class & it “eliminates complaints of not knowing when students’ assignments are due…” (Starkman,2008).

TEACHERS & TECHNOLOGY:ERIC BREWER NEAL

STARKMAN

If teachers are able to use technology, it creates another connection between them and their students.

Many students today are avid users of technology – teachers should take advantage of this opportunity to connect with their students! Moodle is a great way to do that.

Teachers & Technology Article

PERSONAL REFLECTION I like that this article included a testimony from a real teacher. I have

never used Moodle, and hearing a person talk about their experience made it seem more real to me.

Giving parents the ability to see assignments and also their children’s grades would reduce the amount of time spent on the phone discussing these matters. It also could help reduce confusion when students play the middle man from parents to teacher. I think this is one of the most helpful features Moodle provides.

Being able to work on assignments anywhere in the world would greatly benefit teachers who are sick, on vacation, or absent for any other reason

Brewer said, “Embrace the new communication tools – once you get past the learning curve, it makes your job easier!” (Starkman,2008) Moodle provides great opportunities for teachers to improve communication and their classrooms in general!

CONCLUSION Moodle provides great

opportunties to improve many aspects of classroom management, including communication, grading, and time-saving.

Moodle is free, and many school districts are choosing to incorporate it into their systems.

Moodle is becoming more and more popular, and anyone going into the field of education should at least be familiar with what Moodle is.

Many teachers that use Moodle have found many improvements in their classroom once the system was introduced.

WORKS CITED Brooks-Young, S. (April 1, 2008). Got Moodle? THE Journal.

Retrieved August 2, 2009 from http://thejournal.com/Articles/2008/04/01/Got-Moodle.aspx?sc_lang=en&Page=2

Dulaney, E. (March 24,2008). Creating a Collaborative Syllabus Using Moodle. THE Journal. Retrieved August 2, 2009 from http://thejournal.com/Articles/2008/03/24/Creating-a-Collaborative-Syllabus-Using-Moodle.aspx?sc_lang=en&Page=2

Starkman, N. (July 10, 2008). Teachers & Technology: Eric Brewer. THE Journal. Retrieved August 2, 2009 from http://thejournal.com/articles/2008/07/10/teachers--technology-eric-brewer.aspx?sc_lang=en