Slides supporting an introductory workshop on deciding how to use Moodle for blended learning. Includes levels of blends and a metaphor of Moodle as an airport

1. Great Use of Moodle David Sturrock, NMIT david.sturrock@nmit.ac.nz | @dnsturrockhttp://www.delicious.com/dnsturrock/OP-SDDay

2. Not a total online campus management solution for your institute. Not an excellent content development tool. Not a concurrent users’ king. Not a Web 2.0 sensation. Zaid Ali Alsagoff (2009) What Moodle is not:

3. Useful package of tools with common interface Tracking & other tools to reduce administrivia Tools to support peer-learning. Institution support services. Easily embed & link to external content Quiz engine. Calendar. Glossary. Strengths of Moodle:

4. How will we know our Moodle course is great? Starter for 10

5. Meets the needs of the learners A great course...

6. Putting up the handouts (Resources, SCORM) Providing a passive Forum (unfacilitated) Using Quizzes and Assignments (less management) Using the Wiki, Glossary and Database tools (interactive content) Facilitate discussions in Forums, asking questions, guiding Moodle Docs - http://docs.moodle.org/20/en/Pedagogy Typical Moodle teaching progression

7. Combining activities into sequences, where results feed later activities Introduce external activities and games (internet resources) Using the Survey module to study and reflect on course activity Using peer-review modules like Workshop, giving students more control over grading and even structuring the course in some ways Conducting active research on oneself, sharing ideas in a community of peers Moodle progression cont

8. Your Moodle Course is an Airport http://zaidlearn.blogspot.com/2009/11/moodle-is-airport-not-total-solution.html

9. 2a-e-Filing Cabinet: Passive repository of resources, enabling on and off campus access to baseline course information. 2b-Technology Supported: Courses using a few active online elements in addition to passive resources. 3-Technology Enhanced: Courses with significant online activity using a range of online tools to support class work, independent study and peer interactions. Online activities required. 4a-Blended: Courses with a blend of online and classroom learning activities with compulsory components in each mode. Online activities extend class work and support significant independent student work on both individual and group tasks. 4b-Fully online: As for blended mode, but emphasis on full distance delivery NMIT Levels of Blended Learning

10. Purpose

11. Purpose – where do you fit?

12. What are the important factors that will determine whether the Moodle course is great? Task: Split into level/visitor groups 5 minutes to come up with 5-10 critical factors or elements of course design Important factors

13. Knowledge of teacher/designer Quality Simple to use: clear instructions, navigation, consistent layout, intuitive Activities Knowledge of Moodle Time efficient Less emails Great resources – quality, time & money issues Sharing resources Track students access Communication File sizes & formats E-Filing cabinet (group feedback)

14. Less emails/easier to keep track Quizzes online helps with marking Knowledge of Moodle Student participation/student tracking Prior knowledge before a course starts Version control/updating content Tech-support

15. Individual & group involvement Student led & selected activities Less text-rich media Not too overwhelming – depends on student profile Skills-access issues: support, orientation Range of resource types for different learners Scaffolding tasks Clear instructions Tech enhanced

16. Navigation/layout, Organised Rationale for being online/blended Interaction & Engagement Pastoral care & developing a community Connectivity – feel part of the group Monitoring – participation Technical specifications & training/support Less is more Take account of past experience Assessments online: assessment formats Feedback: quick, can be automated Different types of activities Flexibility: access Sense of connection: social learning environment, personal, students-teacher, student-student, community Blended / online

17. Group 1 summary

18. Group 2 summary

19. OP guidelines & NMIT guidelines Best practices for course design - Michelle Moore E-Filing cabinet template Online course template Moodle demo – sample courses Course format cheating – Moodle Fairy Course formats – more coming in Moodle 2 Programme/school home pages Cool Moodle Courses (requires Moodle.org account) Rubrics – OP & Moodle Course Creator Challenge Tips for course layout/format

20. The name of an activity module doesn’t need to define it’s function OP activity descriptions Creative uses of Moodle modules 47 interesting ways to use Moodle Best ways of using Moodle Moodle Database & Glossary examples Moodle Tool Guide Moodle and Blooms Taxonomy Designing eLearning – Flexible Learning Framework Matching learning tasks with Moodle modules

21. Database: Book reviews, critical analysis templates (arts), simple photo gallery Glossary: students sharing and critiquing images/artists, students defining course terms Forum: private/public “blogs” Wiki templates Turnitin: students take responsibility Examples from NMIT

22. Is your Moodle Course an Airport? http://zaidlearn.blogspot.com/2009/11/moodle-is-airport-not-total-solution.html