Moodle Wrap Up

Well the project is done.  I can almost breath again.  It has been quite a project.  I am still trying to see how much I want to use Moodle.  There are many things that I like about the program but the students forgetting their usernames and passwords were frustrating.  They could log in as a guest but that it not the same.  Google Docs has made the project a lot more manageable.  I am really liking the different abilities of the programs and it is all web based so I don't need a flash drive or stuff loaded on a computer.  Check it out.

Time to enjoy the weekend.  Later.

This week’s beta testing with Moodle: Week 10

I started beta testing my Moodle class this week. It has been quite an experience. I have 165 students throughout the day with at least 35 students in each class. Monday was the first day that I had these students set up their accounts through Calaxy. I had the first period watch the training the video to walk them through the steps but there were problems with setting up the account and typing the emails correctly. There were students that misspelled the address so they couldn’t receive the confirmation emails.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, the class was able to log on and I spent time showing the students the different functions of Moodle. We were able to view the assignments. I spent time showing the different parts of the program. I created screencasts of the different skills and am in the process of editing. Moodle has a chat function that I want to utilize for the projects so we spent some time playing with it. The students spent time chatting with each other. Before we chatted, the students created a blog entry on their first impressions. The class needed to have a discussion on the differences between informal and formal writing based on the audience. Students agreed that blogs and chat could be informal while anything turned in for a grade needed to be formal with complete sentences and correct grammar and spelling.

Thursday was spent on the first assignment on day 2 where the students had to download a scavenger hunt to complete. I used the chat function for the students to ask questions on the scavenger hunt. The student had to ask the question on Moodle and I would respond using the chat. Students found this to be awkward at first but began to get used to it. Students also began to talk about the information and share what they had discovered as far as where the information was located and a few answers. There were a few things that I needed to edit on the scavenger hunt. On Friday, students would be watching the video for day 4 that they would be typing the facts into on Monday.

This weekend, I went down to the CLMS Conference in San Diego. It was a very thought prevoking conference. Many sessions were taken up with different discussions of utilizing the different Google Apps. The Apps require a person to have an igoogle account which is free. Once you have an igoogle account, you are able to use Google Docs to create documents or presentations to create a powerpoint type of project without a lot of the bells and whistles that Middle Schoolers want to include. The most powerful part about the Google apps is that you can share the projects online and can edit the projects at the same time. Google tracks the changes and shows the people who made the changes and when. You are also able to set up a chat with partners to go over the changes as you are editing the projects. Google has a forms function that allows you to create a form that can have many functions. The form has an url so that people can link to it without having a Google account. The results are shown as a spreadsheet with the different answers. You are also able to color code the answers for easier grading. I am going to create forms for the scavenger hunt answers and 15 facts. I am excited about this because it will make it easier to grade.

Based on the conference, there will be some adjustments to this Moodle class next trimester. The Google apps are blocked by the district so we will need to figure out how to get around it. I see utilizing the Google forms to make it easier for students to submit work. I am also in the process of deciding what I want to do for the last few days of the project. Currently the students are creating projects independently and turning it into Moodle. The students will then present their person to the class using the chat function. I will probably get rid of day 9 and 10 and do something else with Moodle. Next trimester, I would like to see more student to student interaction if we can get igoogle to work.

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Ten years ago when I stopped working on my project, we were looking at utilizing WebCT for a class. Honestly we saw the value of online learning but thought it was a pipedream. Since I have come back, my courses have all been online. The curriculum has been web-based with instructions written to make it clear for the students. Videos and podcasts have been used to communicate the material. The use of Skype has been a great resource to talk with other students. By being able to speak to the professors and other students instead of reading blogs or discussion boards and papers, you get the human connection. I would have to say that I still struggle with that. As I refine parts of my Moodle project there will be some adjustment in how the work is submitted with the integration of Google forms. This will allow me to check the work with all of the answers in front of me instead of opening each student’s work to grade. I would try to have more chats with the students as a form of checking for understanding. Skype would be a great asset for the class but the district has blocked it. The use of blogs will be used for students to reflect and igoogle will allow students and the teacher to edit and discuss each other’s work. At first there will be mostly the instructor leading the class and having the students complete the work. As the class progresses, I would expect the students to be more willing to help each other and work together.

After the class is created, another instructor will need to decide how much they are willing to do. The instructor may decide to create new videos or podcasts to explain some of the information. I may have too much to do for an assignment so they may change the assignment or the rubric. They may decide that they do not want the students to interact and help each other so they may not use the chat function to allow the students to talk to each other. There are some instructors that do not see the value of blogs so they may get rid of them. They will have to decide what is comfortable for them.


I will link the forms when I am done with them so you can see them.

Project Week

This project has been an adventure. As I am working on the project this weekend, I am on a time crunch. My plan is to beta test this project with my classes starting on Monday. At this point I am not sure if I want to do it with all of my classes or just one or two. I am leaning towards all 5 sessions to see what Moodle can do as well as how I could use it. The project is set up as the first ten days of my class. I teach 7th and 8th Graders different computer programs in a project-based class where they create projects using different software. The first ten days is an introduction to the class and the only whole class activities we do all trimester. Students are introduced to web safety and fair use as well as using power point to research some of the pioneers of technology. In using Moodle, I hope to transfer what we do in class and show how it can be used on Moodle. I am using this project as a test of the program for myself and other teachers. We shall see how it goes.


Links to my project:

Syllabus

Project Description

Moodle Project: If you are curious to see what it looks like, you can log in as a guest with the code smstcl

Video showing how to set up Moodle Account and log in

I will be curious to see how the test goes tomorrow.  I want to include a video clip of the tour of the site but decided that I am going to do that as I take the class through it.

Wish me luck.

Week 8

A quick status report:


I have been working on Moodle setting up the class. It is quite a process to set up the class. You have to register for the Moodle account and begin to set your class sessions up. You have total control on what you want to include and I am still trying to figure out all of the ins and outs. Moodle allows you to use Hot Potatoes to set up quizzes. If you have not checked out Hot Potatoes, it is a free program that allows you to create quizzes that can be multiple choice, matching or a variety of them. Once you set up the quiz, you can save it as a webpage that keeps track of the score.

Registering students for Moodle is a chore. You have to sign up for a log on at the Moodle site. I am using k12hsn.org that is for teachers to set up the account. It is through the state. You register and they send you an email that you have to confirm. You then give the students the enrollment code to join your class. I was hoping it was easier but no luck. My son’s school has moodle on their server so they must have been able to register the students on their end and all the students needed are the enrollment code.

Ok now to this week’s post

As I set up my project I am looking at having it set up for my classes that start after Thanksgiving. I have been working on the pages and will beta test it with my students this trimester. I know that I was able to log onto Moodle through my account but am curious how it will work on the student’s end with the firewalls from the district. This week I will be having both of my kids test the program at home as well as a student account that I created. I have linked to videos on Youtube but the district blocks it so I was hoping to download the movies using Youtube downloader but it says that the program cannot find flash movies. I may need to use CamStudio to record the movies off of the screen and save them and upload them. I know I can use Teachertube at school so I am searching for videos on there.

I am currently working on the content and will use web pages and podcasts to share some of the information. I will use Audacity to create the podcasts and will create the videos on Camstudio with the narration as we go and place the video clips into Movie Maker with text. Moodle allows you to embed video into the web page so I am interested in including it on the page.

I will be using Hot Potato for the quizzes because I have the quizzes that I have created before that can be included. I will also be using web pages, videos, podcasts and chats and blogs. I also set up a discussion forum for the class. I will be the first to admit that I still have to learn more about Moodle.

I am planning to use Moodle for my class for the first two weeks of my class for the trimester. The online class is set up to go with the curriculum. After I beta test Moodle with my classes for two weeks I will modify the lessons to make it better and introduce it to other teachers at my campus. We are operating on a shoe string budget so I am trying to make sure that I am using free software. Audacity, Camstudio, Hot Potato and Movie Maker are installed on my computer and I signed up for a free Moodle account on k12hsn.org. As I set up the curriculum for the class, I want to keep the costs to free or a minimum because of my budget and how long it takes to purchase new software.

I will be testing the class on my wireless network at home with different speed computers and Internet Explorer, Firefox and Safari to see if it affect the appearance. My class has a faster network that is hardwired on the network so I shouldn’t have a problem. My concern is that Moodle could be blocked on the network so all of this could be for naught.

To test media fidelity, I will test the different media on different computers here at home. I have a wireless network and wired network that I have access to. I have 4 laptops on a wireless network and 2 computers on a Fios network. I am also going to test the Moodle pages on Internet Explorer, Firefox and Safari.

To test instructional quality, I am going to review all of the directions myself before having my kids test the directions. I will have my students test the directions when I have students log in after Thanksgiving. I will be having the different testers look at the directions and let me know if anything needs to be changed.

I am not sure how I could change my project if I was going for a wider audience. Currently most of my class is on web pages on the network at school. I don’t see the reason to change the web pages to Moodle because they are already on the network and don’t require use of Moodle. After I create and test my class, I know there are a few teachers that are interested in using Moodle in their classes so I would help them set up their classes and test it with them.

Week 7 Status

I am working on setting up my Moodle class for my plan.  I am looking forward to learning more about Moodle and setting up the class.  I just hope it works at school.

responded to Angelica and Grace.

New Media in Online Learning

          Web 2.0 technology is becoming popular because of availability of bandwidth, ease of production and changes in the attitudes about creating and viewing new media. All of these factors have led to the creation of “new” ways to use the Internet to reach people. The Media Readiness theory states that every media has the ability to transmit information and invites feedback, show cues, natural communication and personal focus. It goes hand and hand with why people like web 2.0 technology. It allows the creator to post their production at low cost and have it seen by people that can respond to what it being shown or heard. If you just spend 10 minutes in Youtube, you can see this at work. Along with Media Readiness theory comes the Social Presence theory which says that a media must be able to transmit a message and allow people to feel satisfaction. We look at the interaction that can happened with the Web 2.0 technologies and people are satisfied because they can interact with what is being said. You can’t do that to a book or a static web page.


Video: When I first started at CSUSB almost 10 years ago, I took a video class that required us to record a lesson on a VHS tape to be loaded on the computer to be edited. We would have to edit the tape on the computer and then edit it on the computer that had specialized software and hardware. I remember it was difficult and the finished project was saved on a zip disk. When Adobe Premiere came out it was a major change in how videos could be edited. It was hard to use with the cameras we had. Currently I am teaching a technology class that has the students create movies that can be loaded to the computer and edited in either Windows Movie Maker or Adobe Premiere Elements. One of the factors that have made it easier is that the camera is digital so we don’t have to worry about converting the video to digital like we did before. The videos are saved as a mpeg or wmv file that can be uploaded to our website so they can be viewed.

We are also using videos from Youtube, Teachertube and Discovery Streaming that can be downloaded and shown to students on the computer. Youtube is blocked on our server so they must be downloaded by some software I found. Discovery Streaming is a video site that the district subscribes to that allows teachers to search for videos related to their topic and view it online (it can slow down the network) or download. I use the downloaded videos for sub plans or supplements.

Up to this year we also had Atomic Learning that used video to teach different skills to the students on the computer. We subscribed to it and it would play the video with screenshots and a description of what was being done. I did a project last year that linked the lessons to the NETs.

I think you can see how teachers can use video with their students. Currently I have my students create videos creating LEGO movies or movies relating to curriculum. This trimester I started having my students use Story Telling Alice to create action movies to explain different concepts in class such as Aesop’s Fables. After the students create the movie we are recording it using CamStudio to make it a movie of screenshots. We can then go in and add voices and sound. I had some students create mini tutorials of different skills on different programs. I plan to create movies of different skills in Moodle as I become more familiar with the program.

Podcast: The podcasts that I use are audio. I first learned about podcasts four years ago at a conference. The presenter made it seem so easy that anyone could do it. Guess what, it is. I experimented with podcasts and created some sample podcasts for my class to show them how to do it. I use Audacity in my class to record the project and have the students edit the clips to prepare it the way they want it. When it is done, I can upload it to our website. I have had students do voiceovers for their Movie Maker projects or Camstudio movies.

I plan to integrate podcasts into my Moodle project to explain concepts and lectures. As my students create more podcasts, they like the fact that the podcasts are free and can be uploaded to itunes and such. I now have teachers interested in creating podcasts for the students to share the information online.

Skype: Skype is something new for me last trimester. I like the fact that you can log on and communicate with people from anywhere as long as you have a computer with Internet and a microphone. More people are beginning to use the program to communicate with family and friends. My next door neighbor is in Russia for a month and is communicating with his family on Skype and help his son with homework. The newest version of Skype also has a chat function which works great when you can not get into the phone call.

My district blocks the installation of the software so it wouldn’t work for me but I can see how you could use it for an online class like we are taking now.

Bulletin Board/Blogs: Bulletin boards and forums are a great way to communicate ideas as long as people are willing to respond. I began using Bulletin Boards while I was in the JASON Project and it was a great way for students to discuss different ideas. I put blogs in this because it can be considered the same thing. We post assignments on the blogs and respond to different posts. I think blogs allow students to be more expressive than a bulletin board.

I am going to use bulletin boards and blogs in my project because it is important for students to be able to read what other students are writing and respond to it. I prefer the blog because students may be more willing to respond to it when it is a blog which is a journal, than a bulletin board.

Second Life: I have no experience with Second Life. I tried to download the software last year to try it as I did my 644 project but I couldn’t get it to work. I agree with Dr. Newberry that it may not be the best method for classes to use. Through my research, I did find out that there are many versions of virtual reality software that are in beta so it will be easier for the instructor to control the environment and interactions with the students.

Flickr: Flickr seems a lot like paintbucket.com. You are able to post pictures online and tag them and discuss them. I have not used Flickr with my students because it is blocked by our district. Students mostly use google images to get the pictures they need.

I could see using this for different projects such as pictures of a field trip. Students could go to Flickr and get the pictures and save them to their computer and create a project. Also students could respond to the pictures and it would create a digital photo album.

Adobe Acrobat Connect Pro: http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobatconnectpro/

I was exploring the CTAP website http://www.myctap.org/ and found the online workshops. These are workshops that people can sign up for and log on. The website uses Adobe Acrobat Connect Pro and allows the people in the workshop to log in and see the other attendees. The instructor can have a webcam hooked up so the students can see them or hear their voice. There is a chat section so the attendees can discuss what is going on and ask questions. There is a window where the instructor can show PowerPoint or videos for everyone to see. It also has a transcript section so you can see what you missed or review the information. I have not done a workshop but was excited about the possibilities of this because it would link all of the different components together (text, graphical, voice and video).

Week 6 links

The assignment for week 6 was very relevant to what I have been dealing with at school.  We have files all over our server that are misnamed and it is taking a lot of time to go through them.  I like the idea of doing a podcast for the information.  I have used podcasts in the past as well as had students create them but have never done a transcript of the podcast.  That is something I need to work on.

As far as my links, I am including a link to the list of links I could use for my project.  I have been searching through Youtube and found many tutorials on Moodle that will help me.  My plan is to download all of the youtube clips and save them on my computer to upload to Moodle and the district server so the students can view them.

I am getting excited about the project because the pieces are coming together.  I know that I will be creating movies and podcasts to help my students navigate through Moodle when I am comfortable.

My Session Links