During Summer 2013, I decided to use the learning management system, MOODLE, to create a blended classroom environment. I must admit that it seemed like a daunting undertaking at first. After all, the big universities and school districts had their technology departments managing the hosting of their courses. Moreover, I never considered myself to be as tech-savvy as these individuals. Also, there was no 1800-HELPME for MOODLE. However, in my heart, I knew it was something that I had to investigate.
So for the first two weeks in August 2013, I read books written by MOODLE developers and watched YouTube videos prepared by experienced users. After I felt comfortable with the MOODLE jargon, I downloaded the latest version (MOODLE 2.5 at that time), and began incessantly practicing on my MAC laptop until I had set up two weeks of my living environment and health education courses.
When I felt ready for online hosting, I interviewed several hosting companies to see if they had the PHP and MySQL requirements for MOODLE 2.5. I decided to partner with HostGator because they had an installation wizard for MOODLE 2.4 that took all the guesswork out of the installation process.
Even though I practiced with MOODLE 2.5, I was able to successfully integrate both courses into MOODLE 2.4 without losing any content. I later realized that there were features of MOODLE 2.4 that I preferred that were removed from the upgrade in MOODLE 2.5. A win for me!
I knew the success of MOODLE at PEARLS would only occur if I prepared the administrators, students, and parents with sufficient information to access and navigate the site. To prepare my grade-level administrator, I shared the purpose and benefits of using a MOODLE site. I also saved the website address to her favorites on her computer and gave her the guest access password to both courses. To prepare my students, I requested their email addresses and parent contact information via a Google Docs survey, as the first homework on the first day of school. Initially, all students accessed the site as a guest until their accounts were uploaded to the site. In addition, I commenced subsequent classes with an overview of the schedule for the day consisting of acquiring daily notes, along with deadlines for homework, labs, and tests. All of which were launched directly from the MOODLE site. In doing this, I wanted the students to gain comfort through familiarity and guided instruction. Also, I wanted them to recognize the importance of the site to their success in the course. To inform parents, I shared the MOODLE site during open house and parent conferences via demonstration and anchored the visual with a written checklist in the course syllabi. Also, all parents were given guest access.
To facilitate the transition for myself, I used the district online grading management system, eSchoolPlus, along with the Google Docs survey, to create CSV databases consisting of students’ usernames, passwords, and email addresses. Each student was given a copy of their MOODLE access information and an electronic copy was stored in my Dropbox available for students who forgot their access information. This proved to be essential during the first few weeks of school while students were transitioning to this new way of accessing classroom content. Moreover, it was very useful as a “bulk upload” of students’ account information into MOODLE.
While there were a few missteps along the way, my students and I learned a lot and enjoyed the experience. Through my first year journey using MOODLE, I was able to:
- increase the amount of content covered in both courses by posting lecture notes for homework
- increase the rigor in both courses
- increase student-teacher communication via Moodle messaging
- increase my analysis of students’ data
- formatively assess students’ mastery of key principles, concepts, and skills using interactive quizzes
- decrease my grading load
- keep parents and students abreast of the weekly schedule for both courses
- share with students and parents, weekly personalized progress reports
To access either course, visit: http://aleciaredway.com/moodle/. Then click the course name, living environment, or health education, and enter the guest password: _______. Guest password will be provided via email to interested teachers.