A little knowledge is a dangerous thing:

Supporting staff through the transition

to Moodle when they’ve already been

teaching online for years

Louise Drumm @louisedrumm &

Anne Jamie, a.jamie@napier.ac.uk

Learning Technologists

Faculty of Health, Life and Social Sciences

VLE History / Faculty Modules

Most of our modules incorporate elements of online learning

Many modules are heavily blended

A number of fully online modules and growing

WebCT Vista adopted in 2005 with additional tools such asTurnitin, Blackboard Collaborate, Respondus, WebCT portfolio

Moodle 2.2 replaced WebCT in Trimester 3 2012

The task facing us in January 2012 ...

300-400 modules running each trimester

Most have existing content migrated from WebCT

On-going in-house development of Moodle

Encouraging continued good practice in technology enhanced learning

The WebCT Legacy ...

Lots and lots of content ... all displayed on the module home page

The ‘learning module’ tool

Staff well trained but in the wrong VLE

Examples

Where’s the student view tab?

How can I lock a discussion?

The Plan ...

Rolling programme of scheduled training sessions and dissemination events

Step-by-step PDF guides and videos

A bit of preliminary tidying up

Advance warning given to staff of what needs to be done

The Reality ... Well attended training sessions

Limited roll-out of guides due to time constraints

Replicating complex activities takes a lot of support

Laborious book conversions & formatting

High volume of 1:1 support

Staff and student enrolment problems (various reasons but not Moodle’s fault)

Still a lot of content

The Saving Graces Were ... The Book plugin

Staff attitudes to change

Student feedback

Turnitin plugin

In-house support & team work

Customised blocks e.g. enrolled students,random glossary, RSS feeds, library

Course Overview Plus plugin

And for us ... Moodle docs

A Selection of Common Queries ...

Hide / reveal course to students

Add or remove topics / sections

Email subscription to forums

Setting up groups and group activities

Activating the ‘link’ button in the WYSIWYG

How to rollover contents from one module to another

The Training Programme ...

Level 1

Introductio

n

• Developing Your Migrated Module• Moodle Induction (New Staff)

Level 2

Intermedia

te

• Compiling a Book in Moodle ... The Story So Far• Using Tracking & Reporting Tools• Creating, Using & Managing Groups

Level 3

Intermedia

te/ Advanced

• Setting & Releasing Quizzes / Assessments• Using Communication & Collaboration Tools

Other Events & Collaborative Activities

Presentatio

nQ&A

• Moodle in a Flash ... Migrated Module Overview

Workshops

• Moodle in a Flash ... Checking & Preparing Your Module

Presentations & Informal Chat

• Midday Moodle (opportunity to share experiences and showcase good practice)

Question 1: What have you found hardabout the transition from WebCT to Moodle?

Q1: A few comments from staff ...

“I need to structure

information differently

i.e. move from deep to

surface level file

structures.”

“Totally different layout.”

“Having to reorganise materials,

e.g. change learning modules to

books. Links not working when

material moved. Different

functionality...”

Question 2:What do you like about Moodle?

Q2: A few comments from staff ...

“The structure.

More intuitive for

students to use.

Easy to organise

materials.”

“Quicker navigation and able to see an overview easier. More user friendly in general.”

“I love the fact that I can post a news item or announcement and it is automatically emailed to all the participants.”

Question 3: What do you wish you knew then that you know now?

Q3: A few comments from staff ...

“The time it would

take to reorganise

materials when

transferred over.”

“That Moodle would not be anything to fear.”

“I think that how to use the book application was handy and that would have made a big difference early on.”

Question 4: Other Comments

Q4: A few comments from staff ...

“Local assistance has

been essential at school

level and there are

excellent resources on

Moodle staff site.”

“Support from Moodle team during the transition from WebCT to Moodle has been very, very good, I don't know how I would have managed without the support of this team.

“Good proactive support made the transition much easier.”

What We’ve Learned ... Best to tidy up content before it leaves old VLE or

in Moodle before staff see it

Encourage deleting of redundant content

Show example modules / consider design & layout

Have stock answers to common queries (FAQs)

Identify champions and make sure they are spread throughout offices

Manage expectations ... it’s never going to function exactly the same as another VLE & it’s going to take a bit of getting used to

Future Plans

Moodle 2.4

Develop additional focused trainingsessions & events

More staff help materials

ePortfolio

Customised bank of activity icons for embedding in content pages