20 Wicked Ways to Use Moodle Forums Joyce Seitzinger (@catspyjamasnz) Based on presentation at...
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Transcript of 20 Wicked Ways to Use Moodle Forums Joyce Seitzinger (@catspyjamasnz) Based on presentation at...
20 Wicked Ways to
Use Moodle Forums
Joyce Seitzinger (@catspyjamasnz)
Based on presentation at Moodle Masterclass in Hong Kong, March 2011for moodle.com.hk / moodle.com.au /Pukunui Technology
Most people are familiar with Moodle forum
• Easy to set up (default settings are usable)• Arguably the most flexible learning
activity tool in Moodle• Needs guidance / modeling / instructions
/ motivation for students or else…
“I set up a forum, but no one used it…”
Forum activities seem to fall into these categories:
• Online discussion or communication in forum
• Online activity in forum• Report on an offline activity back to forum • Share resources/work • Receive and give feedback• Creating/keeping a common archive• Others?
1. Topical Class Discussion
• eg Recurring weekly discussion• Pro’s: – Doesn’t take a lot of preparation,– Provides rhythm to your course – Gives you flexibility, – Can stay current.
• Cons: – Can get repetitive,– Tricky in larger groups/classes – Needs modeling & facilitation.
2. Help Forum
• Put this in the top block as it will be used throughout the Moodle course
• Accessible 24/7 for students• Provides common searchable
archive of Q&A• Saves you work (not repeating
information in individual emails, phone calls, office hours)
• Be clear about how soon you will answer.
3. Reporting weekly project findings
• Can be formative assessment• Will keep you in touch with student
progress & learning• Gives you chance to feedback (and
peers too!)• Can set this up individually
(teacher-student) or group (teacher-group) or class-wide
4. Team Discussions
• Forum to support team work set for students
• Provides asynchronous team communication tool and…
• Archive of decisions• Teacher can monitor how they collaborate
(if that’s part of learning objectives) • Set up forum per group or use
visible/separate Moodle groups
5. Book reviews
• Students write & submit book review• Students comment on book reviews• Example: Used with our ESL students in
ELTO program• Use the rating option for students to give
feedback to each other, or vote for most popular title
6. Roleplay and Feedback
• Use multiple forums • Example: Bachelors of Applied Social
Science – 2 students enacted a client/counselor conversation in forum A. Other students observed that exchange and commented in forum B.
• Can be slow (Tip: combine with synchronous tool, like chat or web conference)
7. Class debate
• Divide class into two groups (Pro/Con?)
• Give each group own discussion thread, or own forum
• Can use Moodle groups & groupings• Tip: find some debating rules &
include in forum description.• Tip: Great for exploring current
events
8. Gathering resources
• Helps kickstart a new topic or activity in classroom
• “What do we already know?”• “What is out there?”• Students work in groups or individually• Review and use the list produced in class or
online
• Could also be done in glossary or database…
9. Support forum for assessment
• Q&A about assessment• Tip: Keep in one topic area together with
assignment documents and dropboxes• Common archive
10. Case studies
• Use staggered approach (releasing more information over time)
• Choose: in multiple forums or multiple threads?
• Individual or group based• Time will determine how elaborate
11. Showcase: Student Presentations
• As an attachment or link• Can be related to an assignment• Feedback for improvement in assignment• Individual or group based
12. Taking the lead
• Students rotate to facilitate a class discussion
• Choose topic• Choose questions• Roster at beginning of term• Provide facilitation guidelines
13. Weekly magazine
• Act as class newspaper• Students submit a story each week• Can be open to parents
14. Ice breaker
• Needed in online environment• Example: Nursing and Viticulture & Wine
Science• Name three things…• Where are you now?...• Two truths and a lie…• etc
15. Community of Practice
• Teachers supporting teachers• One or more forums (discussion, activity
sharing,…)• Find 1 or 2 champions in your school
(community needs its champions)• Exchange practice, experiences, tips• Searchable archive
16. Webquest
• Set the webquest in web pages or document
• http://webquest.org/index.php• Provide forum per group (perhaps three
topics set up eg: Team talk, Resource gathering, Bringing it together.
• Provide another forum for group reporting
17. Mindmapping Room
• Students use various mindmapping tools to create mindmaps
• Mindomo, Mindmeister, Freemind• Submit link to online map or exported
image• Provide feedback
18. Lab reports
• Prepare lab work• Use attachments (often too complicated
for simple interface)• Submit finished lab work• Provide feedback
19. Mentoring
Use Moodle groups to set up pairsTeacher/student or student/studentProvides private space
20. Social forum
• Space for students to communicate with each other
• Let them choose the name: The Cellar, The Parking Lot, Basecamp…
• Open
21-….?
• Time for your creative forums• Design a forum activity you can use in
your class or your context• Please do share...