Topic outline

  • General

    Teach with Moodle

    Developed by Pascale Colonna

     

  • Topic 1

    Part One: the basics


    Login/logout

    1. Start your computer. Use Firefox to log in to mytrainingsite.me/moodle using your Username/Password.
    2. Are you new to Moodle? Have you used other Virtual Learning Environments before? What will you need to do with Moodle?
    Discuss with the person sitting next to you (5 minutes) or answer below online using the following two activities:

  • Topic 2

    Getting Started

    Find your module; Turn editing on; Structure your module; Make changes



    Edit your page

    1. Open to your playspace an open a second tab with mytrainingsite.me/moodle and open Teach with Moodle.

    2. Turn the editing on in your playspace. Do you notice anything? Rename your playspace module with one of your modules' course code, and name. For instance, OV2218 Work placement. Add your name and contact details. Save your changes. Rename your topics (topic-based or weekly-based, have a separate assessment area, a course information area, including links to support)

    Go further: In your playspace, correct spelling mistakes in topic 3

  • Topic 3

    Finding your way around

    Navigation; add a block, move, hide content, change roles


    Navigation
    Add a block and move items,
    Hide content, switch roles
    Overview of resources and Activities

    1. Navigate your way back to your home page then back to your playspace.
    2. Add an activities block and move it from the right-hand bar to the left hand-bar, or the other way around.
    3. Use the eye icon to hide topic 3, then check to see what it looks like in the student view. Return to your normal role and turn the editing on again.

    Go further: Add two blocks, for instance the Online Users block to see who is online right now and another one of your choice. Click on the edit button to have a look around.

    Overview of Resources (Upload Files/Link to file, Compose a page, a book etc.) and Activities (Chat, Forum etc.)
    4. Go to your playspace and take a quick look around the activities and resources (read their description)

  • Topic 4

    Add a link to a website

    Link to website (URL)


    Link to website

    In your playspace use a new topic to create links to useful resources.

    1- Rename this topic 'Useful Resources'

    2- Add links to:

    • Learn with Moodle Student induction module
    • Library e-resources in your institution
    • Learning support available to students

  • Topic 5

    Profile and formatting

    Update your profile (upload a picture, add your biography, create a link to your blog); copy and paste from another source (clean code); format within Moodle


    Update your profile

    1. You first need to write a few lines about yourself (a short biography) and save a picture of yourself on your desktop.
    2. Go to your profile, add your picture and add your biography which you have copied and pasted from another source. Clean your code. Add a link to a your blog (if you have one)
    3. Format your page accordingly (Use accessible colours!)

    Go further: Upload other relevant files (such as lecture notes, course handbooks etc.)

  • Topic 6

    Uploading resources and other tools

    Upload a file; delete; highlight


    Upload a file
    Delete
    Highlight
    PDF file
    Zip file

    1. In your playspace, add a Word document to a topic of your choice, or a Powerpoint presentation, for instance lecture notes.
    2. Delete (imagine this is the wrong file) and upload another document.
    3. Highlight this topic for your students to see.

    PDF files
    You should ideally upload PDF formats of documents (unless students need to make changes to the document, such as Assessment Guidelines). You will need Word 2007+ to do that.

    Go further: Add another document of your choice to this topic, such as a current handbook. If you have several files to upload, you could consider using a zip file.

  • Topic 7

    Webpages and Books

    Compose a Webpage
    Webpages are definitely better than uploading Word documents if you have to make changes to them later.


    Create a webpage
    Create a book

    1. In your playspace create a web page from one of your lessons (with a lot of text). Add a copyright-free picture (see right-hand block)
    2. In your playspace create a book from lecture notes with at least two pages. If you have time, add some copyright-free pictures to illustrate your pages

  • Topic 8

    Add a Chat, create a Forum and use video chat


    Chatroom
    Forum

    1. Add a Student Common Room somewhere on your playspace.  Add the Users online block. 

    2. Create a forum where you invite students to discuss an issue discussed in your module (or a future lecture). Give your students a timeframe (The forum is open until.... We will discuss your findings on....)
    Students should post at least one posting and respond to at least one posting by fellow students. You should also aim to respond to all posts to make the exercise worthwhile. You should also start the conversation by posting the first post.

  • Topic 9

    Pictures


    Add a Picture
    Creative Commons explained
     

    Insert an image
    It's important to follow copyright regulations. Only use your own pictures or Creative Commons pictures.


    In your playspace insert a picture in one of the topics you have worked on. Choose a relevant picture from these websites:


    http://search.creativecommons.org/     OR     http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Main_Page


    Click on your picture, align your picture right and create Spacing (5 vertical and 5 horizontal)

  • Topic 10

    Settings

    Admin


    Add a Topic
    Make your module available to your students

    1. In your playspace, change the settings to 11 weeks and hide week 11.
    2. Check to see if your playspace is visible to students. If not, make your course available to students now.

    3. Go to Users and check who is enrolled on this course (enrolled users)

  • Topic 11

    Part Two: Assessment and activities


    How will you assess your students' progress?
    Have you considered Formative over Summative Assessment?

    Pair work in class: Discuss with the person sitting next to you (5 minutes) then explore your options in the book below. Which of these tools are you interested in? Discuss again with your partner.


    Online participants: First read the 'explore' book below (4 pages) and share your initial thoughts with other online students in the following forum:

  • Topic 12

    Choice

    Only used for multiple choice questions, usually for brainstorming activities or short recaps.
    Take a look at an example below, then go to your playspace to have a try.

  • Topic 13

    Quizzes

    quizEvaluate prior knowledge, gauge students' understanding of key points, assess them informally (formative assessment) or formally (summative tests or exams) in timed or untimed quizzes.
    There many types of questions: MCQs, true/false, mutiple answers, short answer, Drag and drop etc.


    Set a quiz up
    Add a True/False question
    Create an MCQ Part 1 and Part 2
    Create a Matching question
    Create a Drag and Drop question
    Allow a student to resubmit (delete)

    A hands-on area has been set up in your playspace. Open your playspace in a new window to follow the instructions. You may watch the video guides (left) to help you with the exercises.

  • Topic 14

    Glossary



  • Topic 15

    Wikis


    Create a wiki 


    Wiki, like Glossary, is an activity which your students can collaborate on. Wikis are interesting for your students to do project work, to co-ordinate or plan work in different locations, or to build a piece of work together.
    This short presentation should give you a better idea: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dnL00TdmLY

  • Topic 16

    Gradebook


    Part 1
    Part 2

    The gradebook allows you to include formative assessment (activities online included) easily into your assessment and make it count.

    Some teachers do not like the idea of assessing participation.Your students are more likely to take part in the activities you ask them to complete online before and after your session if they are given some weight, some intrinsic value though. (Alternatives are to make this self-directed work highly relevant and/or fun, of course)

    If you decide to grade a complex array of activities, course work and tests, then the gradebook, once set up, will do all the calculations for you.

    (An example of a calculation below)

  • Topic 17

    Online assignments

    Instructions, create a link to file/web page; settings; release results on a set date

     

    watch this
    Set up your assignment
    Hide results while marking and
    release results on a set date

    A hands-on area has been set up in your playspace. Open your playspace in a new window to follow the instructions. You may watch the video guides (left) to help you with the exercise.


    The comprehensive book below will tell you more about other questions you may have. (You may want to leave this for later!)

  • Topic 18

    Mark online assignments

    View and open assignments; provide a grade and feedback to students; mark offline; quick grading


    View, mark and provide feedback
    Quick grading

     

    The book below will tell you more about other questions you may have.

  • Topic 19

    Lesson

    watch this
    An overview
    Set up Part 1 and Part 2

    A 'lesson' is ideal for self-directed learning where students are asked to make choices along the way. It can be used for case studies, for instance, or for informal (or formal) assessment.

    Open the lesson example below on Global Warming  to get a better idea.


  • Topic 20

    Part Three: Effective blended learning

     

    What is effective blended learning?

    In a nutshell, it is about using a variety of teaching methods and a range of activities face-to-face and online, engaging your students with the learning process as much as possible.

    It usually implies transferring some of your delivery from a traditional teacher-student approach to a student-focused one, both online and in class.

    Below are some tools and ideas to make this happen, such as getting students to study in groups, provide different tasks to different groups, move away from text by using online presentations or videos, or interactive lessons (topic 19). Also consider using classroom technologies to get your students more engaged, and think about ways to make these easier to manage with tools such as the Gradebook, Calendar, Attendance or Scheduler.

  • Topic 21

    Groups and Groupings

    Enabling your students to study in groups, both in class and online, is one of the best ways to engage your students with the learning process, and help them acquire transferable skills (working in teams, having clear roles within teams, collaboration, time-management etc.).


    Create groups
    GroupChoice

    Groups are excellent for assessment too, usually for formative assessment.

    First decide whether groups will be set up specifically by yourself or at random, or whether you would like students to be able to join a group of their choice.

    1. Create 4 groups in your playspace (name them). You can add students to each group if you have previously added students to your playspace.
    2. Now set up a group choice activity for groups of 4 students.

    • Watch
      Groupings

      Groupings, as opposed to groups, are for resources or activities that are restricted to a number of students in a module. So this would be typically used when there are different cohorts or levels in a course, or tasks for sub-groups only.

      Groupings tend to be used for resit assignments (only visible to those who need to resit) or in workshops (where groups are given different tasks).

      3. Go to your playspace. Duplicate an activity of your choice. Make some changes to it and assign it to a grouping which you have created beforehand. Imagine this grouping needs to retake an activity or that it has been assigned a task the rest of the class does not need to do.

  • Topic 22

    Video and Audio files

    Both audio and video files will make your content less text-heavy and allow you to move some of your delivery from face to face to online.
    watch this
    Embed a video
    The video left shows you how to embed a video which you have uploaded onto a server. You can embed a video into your front page module, a Page, an HTML block, a Lesson or even a Wiki. The process is the same for any page for which you can access the HTML code.
     
    Find out how to add resources to your videos, and how to use audio files in innovative ways in the book below.
     

    1. Embed a video from Youtube into your playspace, either in the front page or in an HTML block. Be careful that the width does not exceed 400 in your front page or 200 for the HTML block.

    2. Download Audacity & LAME on your computer and  make a recording and save this MP3 onto your computer. Upload this in to your playspace as a normal File or as an Assignment feedback audio file.

    3. Think of a way this could be useful for your course and share it in the forum below.


  • Topic 23

    Classroom technologies

    Classroom technologies are about engaging your students and making them more active with their learning. Here are examples of tools you can use to support this- do think of activities and how they fit best. (Don't let technology dictate you)

    Open the Turning Point  link below to find out more

     

    'Clickers' aka as PRS

    •  

      BYOD
      BYOD stands for 'bring your own device'. If the vast majority of your students own an iPhone or iPad and if your students are happy to use them and bring them into class, then you could consider using the following tools.

      These are emerging technologies still, so your feedback in how you use them would be useful for you to share with us.

       

      Example 1- Augmented Reality
      This is a vastly fascinating area at the moment. Originally used for marketing purposes, there are now many projects underway looking at how you can use AR for educational purposes.
      Briefly take a look at AR here or find out more here.


      Example 2- 360 Panorama

      If you like the idea of getting your students to take pictures of a specific environment with their iPhones or iPads, and share them in Twitter for you to display in your module (for instance on a trip, or on a landscape design project) then this free app could be an exciting way to get student contributions. Look at an example here first: http://cornerbrooker.com/2011/03/glynmill-inn-pond-360-panorama/. This looks better if you flick the gyro icon on: 360 Panorama Giro icon and turn around on yourself. Download the app on your iPhone/iPad if you want to give it a try. It's possible to share the published panorama on Twitter so you could create a hashtag for this and ask students to contribute that way. (Example in the right-hand bar)

  • Topic 24

    Online presentations

    There are a number of tools 'out there' that allow you to publish a Powerpoint presentation along with a voice-over narration and webcam recording. It's perfect for 'flipping' your content (ask students to watch before the face-to-face session) or for after a session, as revision or a way to consolidate key points.

     

    Try Brainshark, which you can embed into Moodle, or with some budget, Adobe Presenter. (I used myBrainshark in the presentation below on social media in Topic 25)

     

    The lecturer below talks about how online presentations helps her students.


  • Topic 25

    Social Media

    watch this
    Twitter
    Blogs
    RSS feeds

    Watch the presentation on social media below first then discuss tools which you find interesting and how you could integrate them into your course.

    Use the forum below to share your thoughts.

     

    • Twitter

      There are two examples of Twitter widgets in this module: one on the left, called 'Good read', based on Lists, one of the right based on a Search hashtag called '360panorama'.

      Set up a a relevant Twitter widget in your playspace, either based on your tweets, or on a list of people you follow that contribute interesting articles for your students to read, or on a search hashtag you have set up for your module. Set up an activity based on this regular reading. (This will boost your students' interest in reading them regularly.)

       

      Blogs
      A blog menu can be found in the left hand bar. Take a look at the existing entries. Start a blog inside your playspace by going to 'Add a block'. Either select a personal or private blog for yourself or start a blog that will be available to all course participants in that module. Explain in your first post what your objective is: a place to reflect on focused  areas, or to bounce off ideas, or to practise a specific writing style, etc. (If you'd like to reach people outside of Moodle, then choose Wordpress or Edublogs.)

       

      E-portfolio
      Mahara is probably the most exciting e-portfolio around, from a user's perspective both for your students and yourself to showcase content, skills and other assets. Exciting because it's a very flexible and user-friendly tool. Watch a 5-minute presentation here, then have an initial taste here at: http://demo.mahara.org/


      RSS feeds
      You can see an example of this in the left hand bar (ALT News). Set up a relevant RSS feeds for your discipline in your playspace- regular reading which would be useful to your students. (You can even create forum discussions or other activities based on this regular reading. This will boost your students' interest in this reading.)

    • Case Study: Writing for 'reluctant' writers URL

      A rather good article (I am thinking blogs)

  • Topic 26

    Course management tools


    Scheduler
    Attendance
    Calendar/Upcoming events
    Sending a message

    There are many ways Moodle can help you manage your course, your teaching and make you save time.

    Scheduler allows students to book themselves into appointment slots; Attendance allows you to check who is present/absent/late electronically within your module and the Calendar combined with Upcoming events blocks can help you and your students keep up-to-date with key dates in the course. Quickmail (in the left-hand bar in this module) can be added as a block and quickly used by yourself and your students to email participants on the course. Messages can also be used for instant messaging, as well as other notifications. And Doodle (external tool) can be used to mutually agree a meeting time with several people.


    1. Set up a Scheduler activity in your playspace based on dates of your choice over consecutive weeks. Switch to student view and check out other features not presented in the screencast.

    2. Set up an Attendance area in your playspace and follow the same instructions as in the exercise above.

    3. Add a calendar and an upcoming block in your playspace and create a couple of imaginary events and follow the same instructions as in exercises 1 and 2 above.

  • Topic 27

    Peer and self-directed learning


    Activity completion and access on condition

    Permissions

    Workshop Part 1, Part 2, Part 3

    Peer and self-directed learning is arguably one of the most interesting areas in education the moment.

    Technology has made learning from other students and from external sources a lot easier, as well as enabling self-assessment of one's own progress. It can even allow students to create questions and answers...

    Find out more about peer learning, peer assessment, and self-assessment in the Active learning book below.

    • Example workshop (grading peer or self assessment)

      The workshop activity module enables the collection, review and peer assessment of students' work. Students can submit any digital content (files), or type text directly into a field using the text editor.

      Submissions are assessed using a multi-criteria assessment form defined by the teacher.

      Students obtain two grades in a workshop activity - a grade for their submission and a grade for their assessment of their peers' submissions. Both grades are recorded in the gradebook.

    • CONGRATULATIONS. You have completed the course.

      How did you rate?
      If you have taken all the short tests above, then check your Grades (in the Settings block).
      If not you may want to take the Parts 2 and 3 test below: