Exeter College Engaging Staff & Promoting Interactive Usage in FEChris ChapmanVLE Applications Developer

Ian WallaceIT Lecturer & Improvement Practitioner

Introduction & Institution Background• Outstanding Ofsted inspections 2014 and 2012 No Notice

• SharePoint ‘Portal’ used as VLE since 2006

• Add value with Moodle, after Ofsted No Notice feedback

• Focus on interactive assessment tools

Our Approach• Provide more interactive, assessment and tracking features for

learners and teaching staff

• Enhance, not replace

• Actively involve and consult all customers in development stages

The Project• Formation of the VLE Development Group (July 2012)

•New VLE Developer role created

• Improvement Practitioner roles created

• Initial Staff Training and Resources provided (E-books etc)

• Production Moodle available from July 2013

• SLT Support

Cross College Awareness• Moodle Week• Pot Moodle Campaign• Monthly Moodle Stats (driving force)• Staff Development Sessions• Animation

Additional Plugins/ThemeStaff and Learners had a say in the additional ‘features’ and UI of Moodle giving them ownership.Learners, liked the use of bright vibrant colours and ‘clean’ looking images, and easy access to courses with notifications.

Open door policy to explore adding features and assist in course construction

‘Key features & plugins’Drag & Drop

OU Question types

Progress Bar

Single Sign On

Theme

Lightbox Gallery

Grid Format

Badges

Usage• Allowing staff to assess in a range of different ways• Use of quizzes, forums and assignments• 1,114 questions added in September 2013 alone (First Month)• One lecturer commenting a 40% time saving in the marking of a single assignment

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300000August 2013- April 2015 Total Monthly Activity

Staff Learners

Top 10 Most Active Courses in June 2013 Position Faculty/Subject Course Activity Students Activity per

Student

1st BIT/Business Unit 01 BTEC L3 90 Credit Diploma in Business (1A) 23516 22 1068.9

2nd EAA/Engineering Level 3 90 Credit Diploma in Engineering 9040 59 153.22

3rd EAA/Engineering Level 3 Extended Diploma in Engineering 8252 48 171.92

4th MAS/Computing AS Computing 5169 36 143.58

5th ILS/Learning Centres

WINK L3-5 (What I Need to Know) 5134 1861 2.76

6th EAA/Aerospace BTEC Diploma in Engineering L3 (Aero) 4713 35 134.66

7th CON/Plumbing Level 1 City & Guilds 7202 Diploma (Plumbing) 3003 32 93.84

8th SPO/Outdoor Adventure

BTEC L3 Extended Diploma in Outdoor Adventurous Activities

2914 52 56.04

9th MPA/Performing Arts

BTEC Level 3 90 Credit Diploma Performing Arts 2563 53 48.36

10th BIT/Business Unit 01 BTEC L3 Certificate in Business (Column 1) 2320 33 70.30

Our first year with Moodle…• Ofsted impressed with VLE after demonstration with lead inspector • 893 Quiz activities containing 11,956 questions in 189 courses • 373 Feedback activities in 130 courses• 221 Forums in 178 courses• 2,769 Assignment Activities in 266 courses • By September 2014 Moodle had 1025 courses, and 30,000+ logins (+250%)

Challenges – Teaching & Learning• Staff time

• Training (especially new staff)

• Avoid high percentage of static content (gamify course standards for staff)

• Exam boards and the use of VLE for assessment

• Driving access in classrooms with mobile devices. (bring your own device)

• Keeping up/Providing new features Vs User familiarity

• Providing useful and reflective Learning Analytics

• Developing an effective year end rollover process

• Down time for Bug fixes/upgrades

Challenges – Development

What’s Next?• Integration with other services (Office 365, MIS)• UI Bootstrap Redesign with Moodle 2.9 ready for Summer 2015• Anti-Plagiarism Tools• Complete SharePoint course migration and introduce ‘Course Standards’

Any Questions?

chrischapman1@exe-coll.ac.uk

@chappers11050

Chris Chapman - VLE Applications Developer

ianwallace@exe-coll.ac.uk@IanWallace79

Ian Wallace - IT Lecturer & Improvement Practitioner (ILT)