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Closer to the Dream:
Letting Pedagogy Transform Learning Management Systems
Ryan Gjerde – Luther CollegeBob Puffer – Luther College
Dan Beach – St. Olaf CollegeBarron Koralesky – Macalester College
Seven Elements of LMS Transformation
RecognitionInclusion
SelectionConversion
IntegrationImplementationAdaptation
Luther College - Recognition
• Increases in software licensing• Concerns about software quality• Barriers to adaptability and
integration• Need for increased capability
Luther College – Selection1. WHAT DO WE NEED?
Faculty survey of LMS usage
2. WHAT’S OUT THERE?Edutools – www.edutools.info/course/compare
3. WHERE’S THE BEST FIT?• Xplana evaluation – reduce to top six• Reduce to top three and test on-site for:
Functionality Ease-of-use
Adaptability Supportability
Administration burden
Integratability
Luther College - Selection
• Commercial or opensource?• Barriers to opensource adoption:
– Support– Stability– Longevity– Accountability– Modifying complex code
Luther College – Adaptation
• The ‘M’ in Moodle – “Modular”
• Moodle development community - “Martin and the Twelve Heads”• Owner-enhanced
Blocks Language packs
Course formats Assignments formats
Import/ Export Themes
Filters
Selection• Determined what faculty were using
and why• Asked what people wanted• Compared several systems via
www.edutools.info/course/compare/• Moodle stood out• Set up a testing server
Integration/Implementation
• Database choice (PostgreSQL)• Authentication via LDAP• Create a Moodle course for every
class
Integration/Implementation
• Automatically enroll students into classes
• Import college ID photos • Training sessions for IT support
group
Implementation
• Announced decision to the campus
• Offered training seminars• Self-taught• Quicklink
Outcome
• Students grabbed onto it first– "I think Moodle is interesting and I wish
more classes would use it. It’s easier to have assignments posted online …”
– "It’s kind of cool to see who’s in your classes. It seems like it’s still a new thing for professors, since I have only one class using it. We use the forum for class a lot and it seems like there’s a lot of possibilities with Moodle."
-from the Manitou Messenger (student newspaper)
Outcome
• 65-75 faculty currently using it• 150+ classes this semester• Just-in-Time-Teaching (JITT)• FERPA • Expanding uses
Recognition – Motivation
• Macalester didn’t have a CMS• New faculty arrive expecting
CMS• Students too!
Inclusion - Campus-wide collaboration is critical
• Instructional technologists• Web coordinator• Librarians• Central IT – Networking, Database• Faculty development center• Early adopter faculty
Selection – Why Moodle?
• Needed a CMS to try• Rising use in our peer group• Open source
– Apache, mySQL, PHP
Selection – Pilot program
• Started just two weeks before fall semester 2004
• Few hour initial setup• LDAP authentication = piece of
cake
Selection – Pilot program
• Grew fast – outgrew server right away
• 1st semester = 20% of our users!
• 2nd semester = 50% of our users!
Inclusion–Faculty Development
• Fall Teaching & Learning Seminar – Moving your courses online– Pedagogically (not technically) focused– Why you want to use the method, less on
how– Get faculty “talking about teaching”
• Fluid syllabus• Web-based reading reflections• Facilitating out of class discussions• Online assessment
Inclusion–Faculty Development
• Faculty Moodle Workshop– ½ hr pedagogically focused
introduction•Led by faculty•Again, more why
– 1.5 hr hands-on with IS support– Lunch– ~20% faculty in 2 sessions
Integration & Adaptation
• Pilot to fully supported• Automatic course creation• Automatic course enrollment• Bring content into courses
– e.g. relevant library links
• Other modules
Integration & Implementation
• New faculty/student orientation• Information Fluency program• Use by other campus groups• ~75% of students using Moodle
More information
• http://moodle.org• http://moodle.macalester.edu• http://moodle.stolaf.edu• http://katie.luther.edu
– Username = educause– Password = educause
