Taking your Moodle for a walk

What is Moodle?

Moodle is an open source course management system (CMS) - a software package designed to help educators easily create quality online courses. Such e-learning systems are sometimes also called Learning Management Systems (LMS) or Virtual Learning Environments (VLE)

Why do I care?

Dr. Stuve made me…Moodle allows for a great deal of

flexibility to add or remove functionality at many levels

Great supplement for face-to-face learning

Managing accounts

･ Standard email method: students can create their own login accounts. Email addresses are verified by confirmation.

Students are encouraged to build an online profile including photos, description. Email addresses can be protected from display if required.

Flexible array of course activities - Forums, Journals, Quizzes, Resources, Choices, Surveys, Assignments, Chats, Workshops

Full user logging and tracking - activity reports for each student are available with graphs and details about each module (last access, number of times read) as well as a detailed "story" of each students involvement including postings, journal entries etc on one page.

Assignments

Students can upload a file from their computer. Teachers then provide feedback and grades

Students can enter their assignment online using the default text editor. Teachers then read and make comments right on the site

Assignments cont.

Even if an assignment is given offline, the teacher can still enter the grade in Moodle so that the students can access their grades

Chatting

Teachers can post times and forums that students use to guide these sessions

There are also open chat sessions…this would be a good way for students to communicate outside of the classroom

Forums

Again…lots of choices. The teacher can decide how many posts/replies are required and can rate them later or while the posting is going on.

Glossary

A teacher can add words to the glossary that can be accessed at any time by the students. Teachers also have the option to make any glossary term a hyperlink that will take the student to the respective place in the glossary if clicked

Students may create their own glossary

Lessons

Too many options to explain…if you can think it up…moodle can do it

Quizzes

Settle down!!! I made you a flippin’ handout. Gosh!

Moodle advantages over Blackboard:

Providing individualized feedback easily to all assignments

Easier to track each student’s activity in class

When and how often parts of class accessed the course

Blackboard advantages over Moodle

More polished appearance Better gradebook Threaded discussions easily

differentiate between read and unread posts

Announcements are more prominently displayed upon entering the course

Don’t get whipped by a wet moodle…

This site is huge…but don’t freak out.

Resources

Moodle has made it very easy to create web pages that match your needs as the teacher. There are workshops as well as demo courses.

Check out Moodle and don’t do drugs fool!!!!

Resources

http://www.humboldt.edu/~jdv1/moodle/all.htm

www.moodle.orgwww.moodle.com