Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Moodle


Our school has offered Moodle to our teachers for the past 6 years.  Moodle is a free open source for online learning.  The State of Maine will host a Moodle server for a school or the school can host their own.  I have done research on Moodle to find that its root are in distance education from the developer, who, was part of an aboriginal tribe in Australia as a child and wanted to learn any way possible and took correspondent courses.  I jumped right on board the moment it was offered to our school through the state.  Although it took a lot of time to develop my courses to be effective on the Moodle server, it was well worth the effort.  I have taught teachers on how to set up a Moodle course but it does take time and teachers always are complaining about never having enough time.  I tried to sell it as, if you take the time now, it saves you time in the future, but they just can not see the way technology can make our lives easier if you invest in it. 

Using the ARCS model, it was brought to the attention of the educators, technology can enhance educational experiences.  The relevance in technology applications can be used for students to increase their technological skills for the future.  Confidence was built with the ease of use of the software and satisfaction is shown when the course is complete and usable.  Even using this model, teachers whine and complain about time.  For the teachers that have moved forward, their students love using technology as a part of their learning experience. 

Moodle.  http://moodle.org/
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3 comments:

  1. weave1May 11, 2012 at 7:01 AM

    Sherri,

    Though I have yet to use Moodle, I hope to soon. I agree that students get excited when they are "allowed" to do different things in the traditional boring classroom.

    The whining and complaining from professional educators probably stems from the fact that nature dictates teachers want to instruct in the same way they themselves were taught. The inclusion of technologies is confrontational to this nature of teachers, especially the more experienced teachers. To me it is a case of introverted experience where the more experienced teachers could learn a few things from younger, less-experienced professionals who have more recently entered the field of educational instruction. That is, if they allow it to happen. It takes a "big" professional to admit that their may be a better way of transferring knowledge.

    Nice work.

    Tim

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  2. Ennis BrinsonMay 13, 2012 at 12:20 AM

    Sherri,

    I like your post, great job. It seems like Moodle will help to enhance the experience of staff and students. It is very important as educators and technologists we help to diminish the reluctance to adopt technology. This can be done by focusing on, as you spoke about articulating how technology can augment educational experiences.

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  3. UnknownMay 15, 2012 at 8:04 PM

    Sherri,
    I am a big fan of Moodle myself. In fact, I have developed a couple of college courses using this amazing free software and my students loved it for the most part. My question to you regarding the ARCS model is this: Did you strategically use the model to break the resistance or did it work itself out with time?

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