Newb here...

Newb here...

by Tom Connolly -
Number of replies: 2
Hi! I started learning about moodle a couple of years ago and then stopped because it felt overwhelming sad ...bad mistake on my part.

This fall I will begin a course to become certified as an online teacher so want to dig out the "Moodle" part of my brain so that I can learn how to use this tool in my career.

I am still at the stage where I am trying to figure out what Moodle is. Maybe the best place to start is to tell you what I need.

1. I need a program that has an instruction mode - would look a bit like PowerPoint. I do need, however, for the program to be interactive but have more options than "continue" and "back". Every 2 or 3 slides I would like to be able to ask the student a t/f or multiple choice question and have the computer grade this "pop quiz" and make suggestions to the student as to what to do next. For example if the correct answer was "C" but the student choose an incorrect answer I would like to have the computer say something like "Nice try, but that is not the best answer. To help review xyz point please click on the "review" button at the bottom of the page. To find the correct answer click on the "answer" button at the bottom of the page.

2. I need to be able to incorporate audio, graphics and video.

3. Ideal would be an intelligent "flash card" mode, similar to a quiz, but would keep track of errors students made so that the next time they opened the flash card program the computer would drill the students on the "cards" that they made errors on. There should be some kind of structured review for all of the cards but the troublesome cards would be reviewed more often. (I think this is called "spaced repetition".)

4. Also idea, I need to to able to display a map and have students click on a part of that map as an answer to a question in a quiz or click on a part of the map to take them to the lesson associated with that part of the country/world/city, etc.

Thanks!
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In reply to Tom Connolly

Modules to meet your needs

by Vicki Walter -
Hi Tom. I would suggest that you look into the Lesson (more than a continue and next button) and the Flashcard module (set not trainer). I believe the lessons module is standard, but the flashcard module is not. Between the two, I think that you will be able to do everything that you described (although the look of powerpoint will be a bit of a challenge in the lessons module.
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In reply to Tom Connolly

Re: Newb here...

by Chris Collman -
Picture of Documentation writers
Hi Tom,
Thanks for the articulation smile I agree with Vicky for the most part.

Lesson module is built to do #1. As I like to say, Lesson is all about students being presented choices. Each choice can send the student to another lesson page via a Jump. The two general kinds of choice pages are called branch tables and question pages. Question pages also have a response and a score that can be associated with each choice.

#2 The HTML tool bar, like the one used in this forum, will allow you to use audio, graphics and video. Of course you have to learn how to do it.

#3 Here is an opinion. Tracking errors and returning to cards that students missed for further review upon their return to Lesson is not part of the Lesson vision. Rather Lesson's premise is that if the student hits a brick wall, repeated slamming into the same brick wall is not an efficient nor an effective method of learning. Thus the Lesson approach is more: here is some material, now answer question 1, you selected "clueless". Here is a different presentation on question 1 for the clueless answer (the teacher has created one or more Lesson pages for the "clueless") that are reached by a jump and maybe prefaced with a response. Lesson says to the student, now that you have seen a special audio and visual presentation, here is question 1 again, or perhaps a different question. To that degree the process can start over again. The student can leave the lesson and be asked if they want to start where they left off. However, the burden is upon the teacher to provide the differentiated types of instruction and on the student to investigate via choices. That is my view anyway smile

#4 I am pretty sure the map is possible, since I have seen such things done with HTML. However, it will probably not be in a Lesson but will have links to a Lesson or another activity or resource within the course.

Lesson can be made to be similar to PPT. Lesson does not have the entry and exit and timing tools, but PowerPoint does have all the standard audio/visual tools found in Lesson. In PowerPoint or OOimpress, it is possible to put links for students to click on buttons or links to other slides, creating a t/f or multiple choice effect. You can not score a presentation and comments are not easy. Presentations have no tools that allow a student write a short answer or have the student type in a number which is evaluated in a PPT. Flipping what Vicky said, it is a major task to get OOimpress or PowerPoint to act like a Lesson smile

Have fun with your class! Chris
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