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.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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.
