Moodle in the Classroom: An “in the trenches” perspective - Mark Bailye
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A teacher implemented Moodle at a high school to enhance student learning. Initially, Moodle was underutilized with no clear support structure and grades tracked separately in Excel. After redesigning courses to be more visually appealing, relevant, and easy to navigate, engagement and time spent with students increased. A Moodle working group and administrator were created to provide top-down support. The teacher found that tailoring learning activities, monitoring progress, and rewarding engagement helped improve the student experience with Moodle.
Moodle in the Classroom: An “in the trenches” perspective - Mark Bailye
- 1. Moodle in the Classroom: An “in the trenches” perspective Mark Bailye, Senior Consultant, NetSpot
- 2. Overview Background The current practice The key question Key findings What was achieved
- 3. Background Education degree at Flinders University Final year placement undertaken at Heathfield High School – Great emphasis on the use ICT – A 1:1 wireless laptop program – An e-learning program, use Moodle
- 4. So what did I teach? Robotics Adv. Tech Digital Photography
- 7. What did I find? E-learning coaches Issues with using Moodle − No defined support structure Local network drive used as a repository Work submitted as hardcopy, email or USB Excel spreadsheet used to track grades
- 8. Key question How well can Moodle be used to support, enhance and extend student learning? − Six weeks to find out!
- 9. First impressions – make them count Look & feel must be visually appealing − Vanilla Moodle − “Wasn’t user friendly … must be simplified” Tailored to the user – must be relevant − “See old courses and courses I can’t access” − Old dates Easy to locate content − “Confusing at times like a giant maze”
- 11. Course design – it is important Better experience & increases enjoyment − “Things that made me enjoy Moodle was the user friendly interface” − Course layout changed to avoid confusion Perceived usefulness – a big motivator (Arteaga Sanchez & Duarte Hueros 2010) Don’t use the same course design all the time “Students may get bored”
- 15. Pedagogy – tailor accordingly Keep asking yourself, why & how Adapt learning resources & activities to different learning styles to improve results (Despotović-Zrakić et al. 2012) Closely monitor progress and be prepared to change & tailor approach − Confusion over release of activities & resources
- 17. Engagement – a must have Must be more than just “dump & pump” Interactivity & autonomous learning can influence learning (Drennan, Kennedy & Pisarski 2005) − “I have never seen Moodle used in that way” Most tools were well received Reward engagement
- 20. What was achieved? 3x courses = ↑ student-centred learning, ↑ engagement & ↑ time spent with students Site reconfigured & restructure in progress Top-down support from Principal − Moodle working group created (1 day workshop) − Moodle administrator (part time) employed − Staff development sessions undertaken
- 21. Questions
- 22. References Arteaga Sánchez, R. & Duarte Hueros, A. (2010), Motivational factors that influence the acceptance of Moodle using TAM. Computers in Human Behavior, vol. 26, iss. 6, pp. 1632-1640. Despotović-Zrakić, M., Marković, A., Bogdanović, Z., Barać, D., & Krčo, S. (2012). Providing Adaptivity in Moodle LMS Courses. Educational Technology & Society, vol. 15, iss. 1, pp. 326–338. Drennan, J., & Kennedy, J., Pisarski, A. (2005), Factors affecting student attitudes toward flexible online learning in management education. The Journal of Educational Research, vol. 98, iss. 6, pp. 331-338.