Using Moodle to Support Non-teaching Activities - David Bain & Kelly Marshall
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Transcript of Using Moodle to Support Non-teaching Activities - David Bain & Kelly Marshall
Using Moodle to support
non-teaching activities
David Bain & Kelly Marshall Centre for Educational ICT
Flinders University
A brief history at Flinders
• 1999 – WebCT 1.4 • Only a few teaching units
A brief history at Flinders
• 2005 – WebPET • Web Presence in Every Topic – all
teaching units in the LMS
• Integration with Student Information
System
• Library Assignment, Academic Integrity
• A few “course sites”
A brief history at Flinders
• 2007 – Blackboard Vista • Better integration with Student Information
System
• Starting to automate some administrative
tasks
• More course sites
• Set of sandpits for training
A brief history at Flinders
• 2012 – Moodle 2.3 • Even better integration for teaching units
• Even more automation
• More enrolment options, eg meta-linking,
cohorts (set and forget)
• Support sites, cohort sites
• User sandpits for workshops
A brief history at Flinders
• 2014 – Moodle 2.5 + customisations • Course request manager plugin
(coming soon)
• Collaboration spaces
Now
• Over 2,200 non-teaching sites
Types of non-teaching sites
• Course sites • Intent – build community
• Reality – administration
Types of non-teaching sites
• Generic skills • Information, skills testing, remedial learning
• Can be tied to assessment in teaching units, or
mandatory training for staff
Types of non-teaching sites
• Collaboration • Committees
• Communities of practice
• Project sites
• Extra tools to support: Skype, OU wiki
Types of non-teaching sites
• Support and training • Sandpits
• Training
• Staff: eLearning support materials
• Students: Study skills
Types of non-teaching sites
• Other types?
Why choose the LMS?
• Other options available: • CMS
• Blog
• Email lists
• Wiki
What makes the LMS an
attractive space?
What we think
• Less formal policies around use
• Familiar environment for staff and students
• Has some of the right tools – assessment,
collaboration, communication, content
But…
• Need to consider return on investment
• Is it worthwhile, given the setup and
maintenance costs?
• Still a manual process – is it worth
automating?
Outcomes
• Huge variation in use
• Success stories: • Academic Integrity
• Library Assignment
• FLO Advisory Group
• Support sites
• The rest…
Lessons learnt
• Needs to be relevant
• Tied to assessment or meets real needs
• Maintained by an owner
• Embedded
• Sometimes it’s just not the right tool
• Has the potential to be an administrative
nightmare
Some questions
• What is the fundamental purpose of the
LMS?
• Is it solely for student learning? Should we
intrude?
• Who decides on a site’s value?
• If we continue to host these non-teaching
sites, should they be separate?