At the end of last year, my administration asked if I could expand our Moodle installation to include the middle school and sixth grade center. I agreed to do this as long as we created two new installations so that we would have one for each building.
While I still think it was necessary for the sake of user management and security to separate the buildings into their own installations, man is it turning out to be a pain! Everytime I find a bug in one, I have to change it in all three. Every time I add content to the front page of one, I have to judge whether it’s appropriate for the others. Then, on top of all that, how am I qualified to write “howto” instructrions for sixth graders! I tried to write things as simply as I could, but I have no idea!
Anyway. I’ve been working feverishly over the past week or so on these so I might as well show them off. Look at them! If I could, I’d ask my wife to put them on the fridge.
Here they are:
Back to the grind!
Being a Moodle advocate, I have a vested interest (i.e., time) in seeing the growth of Open Source software in schools. This morning, my brother-in-law (and web-service-provider) sent me a link to os4ed.com (Open Solutions For Education), and this made me think.
My district currently uses Open Source solutions for its website, and Course Management System, but uses enterprise solutions for it’s gradebook, student accounting , and data collection/analysis. On top of this, we pay a salary to a teacher to oversee students doing work online through Michigan Virtual High School.
There are open source solutions that can be integrated to do all of these things for “free” (if you have the people willing to figure them out!).
For example, os4ed.com is currently working on integrating Moodle with their data collection software, openIntel, and their student information system, Centre.
Essentially, a high school could offer courses online using existing teaching staff. The data collected on assessments could be automatically shipped to a gradebook and data analysis tool (to satisfy NCLB). The merits of these courses could be lauded ad nauseam on the school’s web page. And, not a dime would have to be spent on outside resources.
Admittedly, money would have to be spent on professionals who untangle this software. But, when the alternative is thousands of dollars to a corporation for software and support, why shouldn’t more schools invest in their own technology infrastructure?
I just presented on Moodle Collaborative Tools at the Connecting & Collaborating Conference at the Ottawa Area ISD. Wow!
There were so many things I didn’t get to say. I’ll say them here:
- Blogging has been available since Moodle 1.7. Commenting on blogs will be available in Moodle 1.9 (expected in July). Why should anyone care? Blogs in Moodle are reflective pages attached to a student instead of a course. This may seem silly to someone who doesn’t blog, but you have to understand the social aspect of web 2.0 - this stuff sticks.
- There are 1,000,000 resources for teachers on the web. I advocate using Moodle because schools need their own presence on the web. Our students swim through the Internet everyday; shouldn’t we be part of that? Shouldn’t we be helping them find resources that will help them in a digital world?
- I received a lot of questions regarding how Moodle is set up, where it can be found, etc. The focus of my presentation was on “Connecting and Collaborating with Moodle” - not “How to Moodle!” Perhaps the next time I present I will take into consideration how practical my audience is, and I will prepare a more in-depth pedagogical demonstration on one or two specific Moodle tools (as opposed to an overview of 4-5. Nevertheless, if you have any questions about getting Moodle for your school, you should contact me through this site. I would love to see your school succeed.
Check out what others have written about the conference at the links below:
I have become an activist in my school for online learning. In this role, I have lauded the Internet as an educational tool for a variety of reasons (some of which I actually believe).
I think that the Internet can make school work worth doing. If for no other reason, because others can see the work that students have produced.
For example, what is the point of writing a paper that only your teacher will read? For the elite, the point is a good grade. For others? At this very moment, I am writing about work. I am gathering and developing my thoughts as an educator. Without being asked, I am reflecting on myself. Why?
My students understand the audience potential of the Internet even better than I do. They appreciate the fact that their world can bump into the worlds of other people on the Internet. They know that what they write here can be read.
I believe that education serves its purpose best when pursued for its own sake. I frequently tell students they should produce only to produce; to make mistakes; to then make corrections. This, after all, is learning, is it not? Why not make those mistakes for others to find? Why not grow in the world, instead of merely in the classroom? Why not exist for the sake of existing?