Post any questions, debate, feedback, requests that have come to mind as a result of being involved in the Mark Drechsler workshops.
Well, I guess I'll get started... Firstly, a big THANK YOU to Mark, Sarah, Cherry and the behind-the-scenes organisers who facilitated the sessions. It was quite a luxury to be able to focus solely on Moodling with food and equipment provided! Mark's article on what makes a good Moodle course was a really great break-down of the approaches to using Moodle (for those who haven't read it yet... http://www.markdrechsler.com/?p=281 ). The demonstration of group forum usage was very cool (after helping create a gazzillion discussion boards for group work in one unit, I was sighing with relief over how Moodle makes it sooo much easier!), as was managing chat. Being a hands-on type, I like being able to get in and work with something to learn how to use it. Building on this, I'd really like some regular time to have an expert available while I'm trying out content moving and building. I have some confusion still over what content will be migrated, and what won't, and how migrated content will be "workable" in Moodle. Some clarification around this would be good, but as we're still in the figuring out stage of things, I'll sit tight :)
There are a few things that came up for me as a result of the training:
1) File management is a concern, but one I'm hoping gets better addressed before Moodle is fully rolled out (which, let's face it, is not til mid-next year, so there's time!). I think the implementation of Moodle is an opportunity to revise lengthy topic notes (whether in word, PDF or HTML format) with a view to putting concise summaries in the Topic fields of Moodle, rather than linking out to documents. The use/storage of media files (such as video clips and podcasts) is still not well understood on my part though... Do I recommend staff use the media server (and if so when, because its not especially functional yet)? Perhaps they should be storing media on YouTube or Slideshare (are there copyright issues here?)? The potential to have several different versions of files (when not using the Share File area) without being aware of it is also quite a worry. Can anyone confirm who can see the Shared file area (setting aside students "guessing" the addresses to files, can they actually access the shared area?)
2) Student privacy options - are there any? How does a student know/implement them? (There's been some discussion on Yammer Moodlites regarding this, so I've left it pretty short here)
3) Although tool skills are rapidly improving, I for one am still having trouble shifting from Blackboard thinking to Moodle thinking. Maybe some discussion around breaking down the processes into chunks would help? How do we take the content-delivery mode of Blackboard and create an effective Moodle presence?
4) Moodle bug reporting - a few things came up with the training that we haven't experienced before (essentially, the more eyeballs on something, the quicker the flaws are picked up!). We have a lot of choices for communicating bugs back to the team, meaning its possible for them to get missed in an inappropriate communication stream. How do we report things, and how do we know when to report, and when not to?
I'm sure more ideas will occur to me as the dust settles from the training. How did everyone else find it? Is what I raised above issues others share?
Thanks Lindy, for your feedback. We will look at each in turn and may be discussing in future LD&D meetings.
Hi Lindy,
1. The use/storage of media files (videos and images in my case) on the UNE media server bothers me as well, or better storage on YouTube because of several functional problems?
I could set up my 'Shared files' folder under 'Administration' in 'My Site'.
2. How do we take the content-delivery mode of Blackboard and create an effective Moodle presence?
Yes, that is a worry for me as well. Starting with our Bb zip file(s) what should be the precise procedure to go through for creating Moodle units?
Cheers
Karola
Hi Karola,
Thanks for your response!
I am wondering if both those issues (file management and Moodle Mind Shifting), come down to a similar resolution - that instead of the content heavy Bb units we've worked hard to build in the past (let's face it, writing copious topic notes is no funfair), we're moving to locating and linking to external resources.
I think (forgive my naivete), that instead of content production, we are aiming to demonstrate to students how to evaluate sources related to their field. In a world where information changes rapidly, and frequently overloads the senses, how do our students determine what is reliable, and what is less useful? Our academics, as leaders in their fields, have an integral role to play in demonstrating how to locate and evaluate resources, and how to form opinions based on those information streams, and interract with peers in the field.
So it would be helpful to be able to use and demonstrate external repositories of resources, and how to sift through them for reliable information.
Can we momentarily set aside our Bb zip files, and start afresh, listing our topic headings, and an indicator of the "taster" content we could link to for students, be it a video on YouTube, or a more traditional reading of a current journal article or seminal paper on the topic? How can students then incorporate this new information into their own world views? What issues come up for them, and what resources can they bring to assist them in clarifying those issues?
I'd be interested to hear the views of the other Ed Developers especially on these comments. I am providing technical support in my school, but am keen to learn more about the whys? of learning and teaching styles.
Cheers,
Lindy
Hi Lindy,
teaching styles differ according to the field of study. Teaching Medicine might be one extreme in comparison to say philosophy, religion...... And the era is over for traditional reading material as study resource only. I myself like media to help me with studying, experiencing new things, even if I get lost sometimes on the internet etc.. Evaluating the quality of resources might be difficult even for the academics, yes, and time consuming. How students can manage this immense (also technical) information transfer? Maybe teamwork, well organised, might lighten the increasing workload of following the right information streams.
Cheers,
Karola
Thanks folks for organising this. I found it very helpful and found the level very appropriate for me; only felt out of my depth on a few occasions! Acknowledging the need for prior Moodle knowledge was important and using the quiz tool as a starter was a good idea.
I liked the way we were given decent slabs of time to just play around with the tools, certainly helped me understand how it all worked. The conversations about how to make the interface look less cluttered were very helpful
Here's my comment about an issue with extensions that I posted to Yammer (yesterday??). Hopefully the development team can have a think about this before we go live or before eSubmission is turned off.
- About the assignment submission feature in Moodle. In eSubmission I can, on the basis of a student's request, provide a revised submission date (an extension). I then don't need to ask them to provide any emails as confirmation of the extension. When I receive the paper, I can see the due date, the received date and the extension date. I know whether the fact that it arrived late is OK or not OK. If the Moodle option is either accept after due date Y/N, I don't know whether an assignment that arrives late is OK or not.
Cheers
David