Hi all
First post here from a Moodle.org virgin but regular user of Moodle in two 6th Form colleges.
I'd really appreciate some thoughts on my situation at one of my colleges.
I teach BTEC Level 1,2 and 3 Music/Music technology and am the only staff member on the department to use Moodle to deliver and mark assignments. I've recently sent 4 samples of my assessments to my Curriculum Co-ordinator for moderation (Internal Verification). I printed out my feedback and grade awards directly from Moodle's dialogue box but she's rejected these with the instruction to put them on the college's feedback pro forma which is based on Edexcel's own. I'm thinking: what's the point of having a VLE available at a centre if it's not acceptable for moderation?
My line manager at the other college has a much more progressive attitude to IT and has instigated the use of screencasts to feed back to students using the 'Response file' feature-brilliant!
I guess my questions to you seasoned veterans out there would be:
Have any of you had similar experiences, and if so what was the resolution? What is the 'legality' of offering online feedback to a student in terms of a moderator being able to assertain a student had actually seen the feedback? Have any of you offered feedback and graded work by using video/audio or screencasts and subsequently had that feedback moderated by an Edexcel external verifier?
At best I'd love to give all my feedback by screencast with my commentary overlaid, at worst it's back to the tablet and stylus.
Cheers
Andy
Hi Andy and welcome to Moodle. All I can say is that in our school in the ICT department we do a course called OCR Nationals and all the moderation is done on Moodle - the external moderator has a log in and has no issues looking at the students' work and teachers' feedback inside of Moodle without it being printed off. We haven't used audio/video screencasts but I really think such feedback is perfectly in order. I think this is an individual exam board and moderator/external verifier issue. I'd be interested to see what experience others have with exam boards and moderators.
Hello Andy,
It's a long time since I was involved in BTEC courses, or indeed with Edexcel, in fact they had only just emerged in those days as a newly formed organisation. A colleague of mine at the time thought them extremely blinkered, and had many a heated argument with their moderators! But that's another story!
Curious about how one would teach Music via Moodle I did a Google search and found this website http://moodle.musicentre.co.uk/ run by a charity in Leicecter. Looking at the BTEC courses they offer using Moodle, I'd say they are the ones you should be asking. I am sure someone at that college would give you some help/advice.
Mary
It's a long time since I was involved in BTEC courses, or indeed with Edexcel, in fact they had only just emerged in those days as a newly formed organisation. A colleague of mine at the time thought them extremely blinkered, and had many a heated argument with their moderators! But that's another story!
Curious about how one would teach Music via Moodle I did a Google search and found this website http://moodle.musicentre.co.uk/ run by a charity in Leicecter. Looking at the BTEC courses they offer using Moodle, I'd say they are the ones you should be asking. I am sure someone at that college would give you some help/advice.
Mary
Thanks both for your replies. I'm heartened by the fact that Moodle is seen as routine by some moderators though in truth, I'm feeling resistance from my CC on this, not the EV. The music centre site looks like a very good bet for more info and I'll be looking further into it.
Thanks again!
Andy
Thanks again!
Andy
Hi, I Teach Btec Music (Award and Cert level 3) and use Moodle to collect files such as mp3s, Sibelius files and Cubase files etc. We do our feedback using Moodle's assignment/advanced uploading of files feature and the the gradebook (outcomes mapped to individual assessment criteria works really well for us alongside our own custom BTEC grading scale - Pass, Merit Distinction). However we too use our own feedback sheets which fit the college 'house style'. How we got the two elements to combine was through the export of Moodle grades as Excel spreadsheets which could then be automatically imported into Microsoft word using the mail-merge wizard.
To put it more simply:
We enter grades and feedback into Moodle. Our students really like this because they collect their feedback from exactly the same place as they originally uploaded their work.
We then export an excel spreadsheet which combines with word to automatically generate paper copies which are EV and Edexcel friendly.
If you want any more details on this I'm sure I could create a screen capture to demonstrate.
You can skype me if you like: mike_grainger
I'd be interested to hear from any other BTEC centres using moodle to store BTEC grading in the grade books. I'm currently looking into different blocks to inform students of their progress and achievement. Any suggestions welcome.
I also use screencasts and webcam captures via the response file link to feedback to students. Laptops with built-in webcams and mics such as macbooks make this really quick and easy. I use jing pro - but the free version is just as good and the file sizes are no more than 20MB for a 5 minute feedback video. The important part in terms of assessment for learning, and students taking ownernership of their own learning, is that I make students summarise my video feedback and they then have to write out smart targets which are entered into their blog along with an evaluation of their work.
At the end of the day though this is just one feedback method I use and for any work which will contribute officially to towards BTEC assignments I always make sure written feedback is given as well on the IV'd feedback sheets (which are obviously written in conjunction with student contributions and dialogue).
Mike
To put it more simply:
We enter grades and feedback into Moodle. Our students really like this because they collect their feedback from exactly the same place as they originally uploaded their work.
We then export an excel spreadsheet which combines with word to automatically generate paper copies which are EV and Edexcel friendly.
If you want any more details on this I'm sure I could create a screen capture to demonstrate.
You can skype me if you like: mike_grainger
I'd be interested to hear from any other BTEC centres using moodle to store BTEC grading in the grade books. I'm currently looking into different blocks to inform students of their progress and achievement. Any suggestions welcome.
I also use screencasts and webcam captures via the response file link to feedback to students. Laptops with built-in webcams and mics such as macbooks make this really quick and easy. I use jing pro - but the free version is just as good and the file sizes are no more than 20MB for a 5 minute feedback video. The important part in terms of assessment for learning, and students taking ownernership of their own learning, is that I make students summarise my video feedback and they then have to write out smart targets which are entered into their blog along with an evaluation of their work.
At the end of the day though this is just one feedback method I use and for any work which will contribute officially to towards BTEC assignments I always make sure written feedback is given as well on the IV'd feedback sheets (which are obviously written in conjunction with student contributions and dialogue).
Mike
I know this an old thread... but I'd be very keen to hear more Mike, if you're still Moodling? I'm running music Btecs (L2-4) through Moodle and we are now incorporating Gradebook (we used Markbook before). I'm trying to find the best way of matching assignments to a number of criteria or units and then automatically populate gades into a tracking sheet. Currently on our system I have the following options:
1) Set up a Moodle assignment - this generates an individual grade (P/M/D) Gradebook
2) Use Outcomes to be able to set a number of criteria against a task
many thanks
Toby, have a look at the Rubric in Assignments in Moodle 2.3, or Rubric or Criteria in Workshop in Moodle 2.2+.
We grade each task on a number of criteria in the Assignment assessment area. The criteria area weighted, and a single grade for each assignment goes into the gradebook automatically. Is that what you need?
Toby, is your scenario similar to Doug H's story?