Adult Education Providers and MOODLE

Adult Education Providers and MOODLE

by Mike Berkoff -
Number of replies: 18

We are a local authority Adult Educational College in East London.  We are in the process of developing our MOODLE site over the next few months and it would be helpful to talk to other AE providers who use or are developing MOODLE.  Have you specific issues etc.

We plan to run pilots with a limited number of our teaching staff and use them to role MOODLE out to our wider staff.  Our curriculum areas include IT, Languages, Business Administration, Key and Foundation Skills, Arts/Crafts etc.

Any thoughts/experiences?

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In reply to Mike Berkoff

Re: Adult Education Providers and MOODLE

by Visvanath Ratnaweera -
Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers Picture of Translators
Hi Mike

This may sound odd, but if sharing the content is very important, try not to make the courses too much Moodle-specific.

What I mean is, not to create the content _in_ Moodle. You have to have the content first, in paper form, in web form (HTML), as presentation slides, tutorials, exercises (paper or CBT style), tests, audio, video, animation, ... Polish them in their original form and only in the final step put them together as a Moodle course. That'll make the content highly reusable.
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In reply to Visvanath Ratnaweera

Re: Adult Education Providers and MOODLE

by Don Hinkelman -
Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers Picture of Plugin developers
Hi Mike and Visvanath,

Concerning content sharing, yes, in the past it was very difficult to share Moodle courses, resources and activities. However, now with the Sharing Cart and the Repository course format, you can create bits and pieces and share them more easily in Moodle 1.9. The next version of Moodle, 2.0, should offer even more ways to share.

In the free site for Moodle courses, http://keytoschool.com, you can already use the Sharing Cart and see how it works. The Repository, for now, is only in beta phase and you can use it here: http://moodlelang.org.

Regards,
Don
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In reply to Don Hinkelman

Re: Adult Education Providers and MOODLE

by Jel Coward -
Hi all, I'm new around here, and as such would usually hold off posting for a while.....but the 'sharing' topic is what gets me excited. It is _exactly_ the desire to be able to share materials that has made me look at moodle (and a longstanding committment to the open-source movement). We are developing a course, and I can see no reason to every want to hide and not share if we are truly driven by a desire to educate. It will be creative commons licensed - and I think, we will use moodle as the platform.

Anyway, just a 'hi' and a need to share my excitement smile

Regards all

Jel Coward
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In reply to Visvanath Ratnaweera

Re: Adult Education Providers and MOODLE

by E. L. Cooper -

The problem with what you are saying here is that a teacher creates something in PowerPoint or writes a quiz in word and they think they are done and can just upload their creation. That is far from the case. My experience with teachers is to first force them into moodle to learn the basics.

The truth is most courses exist in some electronic format before ever thinking of putting them into moodle. Then there is always the issue of performance. Everyone writes a document in office or open office and then tries to paste it into HTML where they are disappointed with formatting. If they write and format with the native learning environment editor those issues are pretty none existent.

Hardly a day passes where someone does not come into using moodle asking why does my power point not play or my scorm does not act 'right' (translates to as I expected it to) in gradebook because the teacher was not encouraged to learn how to bring outside resources into moodle.

IMHO it is easy to pull activities from the moodle XML backup and share content. It is certainly less time consuming to convert a GIFT question bank to word than the reverse.

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In reply to E. L. Cooper

Re: Adult Education Providers and MOODLE

by Adrian Black -
.....Everyone writes a document in office or open office and then tries to paste it into HTML where they are disappointed with formatting. If they write and format with the native learning environment editor those issues are pretty none existent......

I would agree with that.
In fact when people ask me about content related issues (the pictures have gone wrong, etc etc) I recommend that they use Open Office.
But not in word mode - in HTML mode.
eg
Open a new html document - save it to a dummy file - and click on the view html - then paste in the moodle editor HTML code - toggle the view back to normal - then work on it there.

When you are ready to put it back into moodle the result is almost always the same as that which you saw in your open office HTML version ( and the response times on a local editor are a darn sight faster whilst editting )

(Putting it back is simplicity itself - toggle back to view HTML - copy everything between the body tags and paste it into moodle)
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In reply to Visvanath Ratnaweera

Re: Adult Education Providers and MOODLE

by Ryan Chadwick -
The problem with this approach is that you are guiding the staff into seeing and using Moodle as merely a means of presenting material (avoiding all the interactive, collaborative aspects of Moodle that make it the awesome platform it is).

To really get the staff on board, and to really get the most out of using an online learning environment such as Moodle I think you really have to showcase the features that go beyond just presenting material and you have to make them easily accessible to them too.
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In reply to Ryan Chadwick

Re: Adult Education Providers and MOODLE

by Dennis Delaney -
Ryan, I agree with your long range goal, but the schools and people I see using Moodle have to get the basics going first. Just as people progress from basic HTML, to using more interactive scripts, so too is the Moodle experience.

By the way, there are a couple templates in the Moodle Exchange that help with converting test questions and testbank info into Moodle format.

For as long as Moodle has been around, I'm disappointed to see so little basic material available for sharing. There are teachers out there with 20 years experience who have written entire course curriculum on various subjects. Some of them are ready to jump in and start learning, but don't want to have to reinvent the wheel.
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In reply to Dennis Delaney

Re: Adult Education Providers and MOODLE

by E. L. Cooper -

The learning curve issue is one on the reasons I would encourage you to build a couple of starter templates and simply say this is what we will build your first course with. I like to KISS those so that the teacher is rewarded with a positive experience but as always the educator's need a clear guideline and developing that takes a bit.

The Sloan report says that students need clear expectations and in my experience so do teachers.

I have a class I just wound up that is a medical history class and there were 2 essays a week in the class. One student has no framework for annotation or the idea of plagiarism and every week I had to have her redo those assignments. Now I knew it was plagiarized because she was not a native English speaker and the writing was to good. A simple go ogle search found what she had copied from every time. Turns out she had done the same thing in her 3 previous classes and no one noticed. The teachers were never (until now) given instructions to check the 1st or 2nd assignment from a student for plagiarism. Justt an example of not having clearly defined expectations.

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In reply to E. L. Cooper

Re: Adult Education Providers and MOODLE

by Andria Krewson -
Hello all,
I'm a noob here, but I'd love some thoughts on a proposal I've made for a grant to set up a Moodle class for "citizen journalists."

The proposal is through the U.S. based Knight Foundation, as part of the News Challenge.
The program emphasizes open source, and my local college in Charlotte, N.C., USA, is moving online classes to Moodle in 2010, so it seemed like a cool tool to try.

What I'd like to do with the course: outsource the setup and design and hosting details to a Moodle developer, but work closely on specs for that setup and design. I'm hoping to have a tool that doesn't get in the way of adult learners, but rather helps them as they produce news stories and content for their own sites, wherever that might be.
Here's the proposal for 260 Open.

I'd love to know what you all think.
Thanks,

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In reply to Andria Krewson

Re: Adult Education Providers and MOODLE

by Colin Fraser -
Picture of Documentation writers Picture of Testers
The thing that we need to keep in mind is that the process of adult education is different. The motivations of adult learners are more definite than that of adolescents and the pressures are considerably different and greater. The idea of making learning more accessible is the cornerstone of Moodle. I do not think that it matters overly much as to how the administrators and teachers approach populating courses initially, as long as the content is freely available to whom ever requires it.

Having said that though, it is incumbent upon the Administrators and the Teachers to learn about the best way of using Moodle in THEIR classes. What works in one class will not work in another. This is true all across the board, all ages, all classes, all subjects. I seriously suggest that you try not to standardize anything, try to keep it flexible and refreshed.

Some subjects just lend themselves to interactivity - wikis, forums, e.g. most Humanities and Social Sciences, but other subjects, do not.

Some are information rich, science, maths, but can be a pain to set up, particularly the more advanced maths and things like physics and chemistry - you really need Latex enabled. The information does not change much, 1 + 1 = 2, even in a vacuum. A lot of basic and advancing materials will not change in decades, only the format and presentation should be changed.

Some technical subjects can have a blend of both - definitive resources, e.g. how to's but forums and glossaries and wikis and chats are a very handy way of cross-pollinating concepts and ideas - photography, art, drama.

I suppose what I am saying here is that Moodle is an excellent tool, and it can be a real asset to any learning environment. It can make learning accessible, but it can also prevent learning, or turn people off, if it is not used properly.

Everyone using Moodle needs a certain expertise, and it is up to the Teachers to provide it. I suggest it does matter what the Teachers do, but it is less important than needing to be really trained well in using Moodle. Starting with a few teachers and allowing it to spread organically is not necessarily the best way of doing that. Encouragement of Staff to use Moodle, regular workshops for Staff in the use of every aspect of Moodle are, I suggest, critical to the success of Students.

Good luck
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In reply to Colin Fraser

Re: Adult Education Providers and MOODLE

by E. L. Cooper -
Colin I do agree that not having things to standardized is a good idea for a fuller experience but when teachers are first starting with moodle a template appropriate to their subject needs seems to help them get the hang of it but I have never seen a time where after a term or two the teachers are not adding to whatever basic flow they are given in any template.
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In reply to Colin Fraser

Re: Adult Education Providers and MOODLE

by Lucy Pates -
I'm interested in what you say about the best way to encourage staff to use moodle. I have had difficulty identifying what would motivate teachers to want to spend time getting used to moodle.
I am completely enthusiastic about it and am interested to see how students respond and extend their learning outside of class time. But it has been difficult to engage some of my colleagues.
I think a lot of people have a view that they want an 'ideal bank of resources'. But that doesn't feel possible. Certainly in our area, resources are changed as time goes on and depending on our students and even the tutor. Then there is the process of creating resources that seems important. Plus it incredibly time consuming, and that time has not been allocated...
Barriers have been usability (maybe we didn't set our pages up right?), and confidence in the IT systems. Although I think the biggest barrier is that we haven't managed to show the benefits well enough!

I had decided to do the 'get a few teachers on board and let it grow organically' after having spent a couple of years delivering sessions that didn't have any impact... but it's not progressing any more quickly.

Any suggestions?

tia!

Lucy
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In reply to Lucy Pates

Re: Adult Education Providers and MOODLE

by E. L. Cooper -

Getting people to voluntarily start using moodle is nearly impossible in my experience but one thing I think would work is to set up  a one hour workshop during a teacher planing day (do they have those in the UK ?) and train in one thing- I would choose quizzes since the benefit of automatic grading is a no brainier. For it to really work the school administration should be on board and the workshop set up as an alternative to something really boring.

I have given free server space to teachers for course design for a number of years and while hundreds have applied the total number of courses actually completed can be counted on two hands and exceptional teachers on one hand.

To continue that analogy- when a school is commited to making fully online classes or a % of what is offered and the board makes jobs depend on teaching online %100 or the teachers comply.

If you'd like me to look at your site and offer suggestions I will be happy to. Just PM me.

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In reply to Lucy Pates

Re: Adult Education Providers and MOODLE

by Mike Berkoff -

Dear Lucy,

We are an Adult College in London UK.  We have decided to run a pilot training course for teaching staff for a term (about 11 weeks).  At the end of it we wish these teachers to be delivering on their own courses.  Also we wish to use them to mentor other staff in MOODLE and be paid for this.  I hope it works.

Mike

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In reply to Andria Krewson

Re: Adult Education Providers and MOODLE

by WikiRandy Fisher -
Hi Andrea,

Why not use WikiEducator as a production environment for your course development, and then use the content in Moodle. This way, you can continuously update and revise the content in the open wiki, and still maintain the advantages of Moodle.

BTW: I've started a node on WikiEducator called "Community Journalism" - http://www.wikieducator.org/Community_Journalism - and we are interested in partnering with anyone who advances the cause of free and open education.

WikiEducator is a global community of 12,000+ educators in 110+ countries - our focus is a free and open version of the education curriculum by 2015, in line with the UNs Millennium Development Goals. We are a project of the OER Foundation - http://www.oerfoundation.org - and we offer free wiki skills training through our Learning4Content project, funded by the Hewlett Foundation - http://www.wikieducator.org/Learning4Content.

Please write or skype if you have any questions or comments.

Best regards,

- Randy
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In reply to WikiRandy Fisher

Re: Adult Education Providers and MOODLE

by Andria Krewson -
Thanks, WikiRandyFisher, for the reply.

And apologies for the long delay in answering. I'll take a look, and I'm digging back into this project. I've received positive feedback from a number of people about using open source software for open journalism classes.

Andria Krewson


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In reply to Visvanath Ratnaweera

Re: Adult Education Providers and MOODLE

by Andy Perkins -
Hi all

We use Angel for our online courses and it certainly has some drawbacks from the user perspective. And perhaps even more from the teacher perspective.

I don't know whether our IT group is considering Moodle for our adult learning platform but I would be interested to know if there is any kind of published data on customer satisfaction available for the various systems. (Perhaps not surprisingly, I teach the Marketing and Marketing Research modules!)

At any rate, if none were available, it might be worth tapping into this forum's expertise to build and field a simple satisfaction questionnaire along the lines of that discussed in the customer satisfaction questionnaire blog that I write elsewhere.

Just a thought - others who are evaluating platforms may find it useful.

Andy Perkins
Sustainable Insights
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In reply to Mike Berkoff

Re: Adult Education Providers and MOODLE

by Mike Berkoff -

Dear All,

I originally sent a post to the Lounge Forum back in December 2009. Today (21st May 2010) is the first time I have seen all the contributions in repy.  Most of these were posted several months ago and it is a shame I could not take part in the discussion at that time.  It may be my fault but I do check the Longe forum very regularly.  All a bit strange!

Anyway I have thought for some time that most teachers being introduced to MOODLE will already have resources stored in electronic form and therefore the task of uploading these to a MOODLE course should not be that hard.  This is what I tell our staff as I train them anyway.

The culture of not wanting to share resources is a big problem.  Working collaboratively should be a cornerstone of all education especially with an open source program like MOODLE.  I recently visited a big college not far from us in East London where they force courses of similar content, but delivered by different staff, to use common resources posted in MOODLE.  They are very pleased with the results of this and say it encouraged a collaborative approach.  I cannot fully vouch for the success of this as it is another college but if true it is a direction to go.

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