Teachers+using+Moodle

=Teachers Using Moodle= by Dawn Hogue I asked teachers from the [|engteach-talk] listserv sponsored by [|Interversity] several questions about Moodle. Below are the questions and their responses. Thanks to Carla, Cindy, Bud and Ted! back

Why do you like it?
>> it is free and does everything BB and webct do and more. it is a very user friendly environment. does not require a great deal of administrative attenntion, for instance users login and create their own account. the teacher merely add those members to hir class. the moodle environment could be a one stop shopping for the teacher who merely wants a web presence without too much fuss. it allows for web pages, uploading of texts, provides for quizzes and tests, chats, wiki, and so much it could be overwhelming and yet it is not esp if one selects certain tools to use. but i like it most because i dont have to maintain it, i have an account that offers moodle and someone else manages the tech while all i have to do is use it. much better than the days when i had to maintain my own servers and use them. because of all the options, diversity in literacy happens. it is easy to pass on to other teachers
 * From Carla Beard of [|Web English Teacher]:
 * [Students] like the way things are organized. Our kids come into the room, log in to Moodle, and take ownership of the day's lesson. They feel empowered. Empowered kids are engaged in the lesson.
 * Moodle offers new Web technologies in a safe environment. Kids can use wikis, forums (bulletin boards), and chat rooms that are password-protected. As the teacher, I can turn each of those features on and off as they are needed. And Moodle logs everything, so I can check for inappropriateness if I need to.
 * Moodle saves paper! I don't have to run off quizzes or handouts.
 * Moodle saves time. It grades quizzes for me. Kids can sign in to do make-up work after school, during study hall, at their convenience, if I set it up that way.
 * Moodle enables collaboration through its wiki.
 * Moodle has a journal feature that encourages writing fluency.
 * Moodle offers an e-locker feature that makes it possible for kids to save their work at school, access it from home, save it to Moodle again, and then work on it some more from school the next day.
 * From [|Cindy Adams]
 * We call them super-charged web sites. Without knowing any html coding or needing a web design program (DreamWeaver or FrontPage), teachers can set up online learning environments that are firewalled with passwords, but accessible from anywhere you connect to the internet. Students can download and UPLOAD assignments into the moodle. Teachers can respond to uploaded student work, and the students get automatic emails that a teacher has looked at their work. Students can chat, forum, and journal in a blog, upload PowerPoints and audio files. Wiki capabilities, too—all behind the firewall. Foreign language students can upload audio files of their speaking assignments, for example.
 * From Bud Hunt [|http://www.budtheteacher.com]
 * I love Moodle, and have been using it for the last year and a half for precisely the reasons other have suggested. The ease of use factor is huge. I can set up a teacher with a Moodle in about an hour -- and then the system is user-friendly enough to take the lead in providing help and support. I've got teachers using our Moodle who would NEVER in a million years consider themselves tech-savvy. It's just that easy.
 * From [|Ted Nellen]

What aspects of a Moodle do you use most?
> >> because there are so many useful tools, this one is tough. i have a webpage, so i dont really use this feature. others do because they don't have webpages. i use my webpage to do many of the things moodle does. the wiki is great esp for my slang dictionary, now. i have a blog on blogger.com, so the blog feature isnt used. though it couold be and is good. the quiz feature is good and the fact that it records the grades is useful for students to see progress. however, the main reason i am using moodle is to create an on line school or cyber school for our school. i'm in such an alternative school now. >> >> the other day one of my better students left cause she gave birth that afternoon. i get other girls back after they give birth. i get kids who have just come out of jail. 60% of our students live in foster homes. they all work, they are all over 17 and as old as 22. they need credit for graduation. the key is they have chosen to finish HS, so they have an appetite. we can get rid of miscreants who balk on their agreements. so the moodle environment is being developed to provide classes much like what i did with classroom connect many years ago. this is hard work, let me tell you.
 * From Carla Beard:
 * It's too soon to tell, because I am still learning the different capabilities. At the moment, I use the quiz feature the most because of its flexibility. Used one way, it's an assessment tool. Set up differently, it's a review activity. I am getting more practice with the Moodle wiki, and my kids are showing me possibilities there that I hadn't considered.
 * From Cindy Adams
 * Posting assignments and documents and having kids send in assignments. Because it is firewalled, we can upload copyrighted material (following all the rules for such activity) for a limited amount of time, to a limited audience, using a limited piece of an author’s work. In December, we’ll have an elem. kid in the district going on a true “round the world” cruise that lasts over 6 months. The student will send in assignments and interact live with the class on a regular basis via the moodle from the ship to the classroom.
 * From Bud Hunt
 * As for options and ways to use the tool, I keep finding new ones. Moodle is widely used and is regularly updated by teachers all over the world -- there are more features and potential uses now than there were a year ago. I can't fathom what will be available a year from now. We use the tool as a place for conversation, posting assignments and handouts, giving building wide math assessments, and as a place for sharing and responding to student papers. There are lots more ways to use Moodle, and it's very flexible in terms of customization and options
 * From Ted Nellen

Do you feel it’s a safe environment for students? How?
> >
 * From Carla Beard:
 * It would be difficult to find a safer online environment. All work is password-protected and logged.
 * From Cindy Adams
 * Password protected. I can see the activity of any of my students online. Totally housed and administered within the district.
 * From Bud Hunt
 * I don't understand the security concern. It's very flexible to create different levels of access for different students and teachers (I even have one of my classes set up with a student "aide/teaching assistant" who has the ability to create content -- I don't track grades in that particular class's Moodle, so security's no problem there.)
 * From Ted Nellen
 * yes it is safe since it is a closed environment and only a teacher can open up a class to outsiders. we dont.

Is it time consuming to set up and administrate class work on the Moodle?
>
 * From Carla Beard:
 * It is no more time-consuming to set up and administrate class work on Moodle than it is to type a handout, print it, wait in line at the copy machine, and make the copies. Some aspects of Moodle actually SAVE time, such as automatic quiz grading, item analysis, and the capability to regrade quizzes in just a couple of clicks if I happen to make a mistake on the key.
 * From Cindy Adams
 * Minimal set up time and minimal teacher time to administrate.
 * From Ted Nellen
 * in one respect it is administratively free of labor. the administrator merely sets up a teacher account and the teacher then customizes hir environment. setting up a class is intense. but like any 1 our class we teach we require anywhere from 1-6 hours to prep it. that of course depends on years of experience and what other tech skills are brought to the table.

Add anything else that you have to say about Moodle.
> >> i thinkn one of the strongest aspects of moodle, is that is very easy to use, unlike its predessors like BB and webct. it also puts more of the onus of work on the student and less on the teacher, which i thinking was a major drawback to BB. oh did i say it is free, but not cheap, haha. and as you are finding the wiki tool is fabulous. back
 * From Carla Beard:
 * I can't imagine teaching without Moodle now. It's a fantastic resource.
 * From Cindy Adams
 * Open Source version of Web CT/Blackboard. The moodle set up is going to meet our guidelines for the federally-required education plan in case of pandemic outbreak. We are moving the school district’s moodle onto a bigger server due to assure compliance with the federally required pandemic plan for schools.
 * From Ted Nellen