How vs. Why, Trees vs. Forest - Do I have this right?

How vs. Why, Trees vs. Forest - Do I have this right?

by Alyce Barry -
Number of replies: 10

Hi. I've been working on a Moodle training course in 2.2 for several months, and then realized I was doing a lot of it in a way that wouldn't get me what I wanted. I was focusing on studying *how* to do various things - How to create a label, to add a resource, to add an activity, etc. And didn't realize that the *why* was there waiting to be investigated. That there are multiple ways of doing things, and some of them would work the way I wanted while others wouldn't.

For example, I created a reasonably functional class. I created a link to a video and links to documents for further reading. But I had no way of knowing if the student had watched the video or read the documents.

After a few hours of reading posts here, I had planned to post the question, Where do I find the big-picture, what-you-can-get-out-of-the-forest diagram, rather than details about the individual trees? Where can I find useful instruction on how to *design* a Moodle course using Moodle's various tools, rather than just the technical details on how to use each tool?

And then I wondered if perhaps the two things aren't as separate as I imagine them to be. Do I need to learn how each type of tree actually works in a real Moodle course before I figure out if it's what will do the job I want done? Because, frankly, none of the documentation I've found is fully correct about how each tool actually works in the real world. (My documentation consists of Moodle docs found so far, an online course by Chris Mattia at Lynda.com, and "Moodle for Dummies.")

And I wondered also about whether formal study in education is required. My degree isn't in education, I was a technical writer for many years and have also a few years' experience as a trainer, which I thought would be enough. How many of you consider formal study of education to be a requisite for creating a well-designed Moodle course? Or, lacking that, that it's possible to find out how to do it without months/years worth of trial and error?

Thanks for any thoughts.

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In reply to Alyce Barry

Re: How vs. Why, Trees vs. Forest - Do I have this right?

by Tim Hunt -
Picture of Core developers Picture of Documentation writers Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers Picture of Peer reviewers Picture of Plugin developers

You have reached an important conclusion: The why of the learning is more important than the how of the technology.

Do you need formal education study in order to create an OU course? No, in the same way that you do not need to be a professionally qualified engineer to be able to construct a useful garden shed. There is, however, a huge body of knowledge out there about how people learn, and what methods of instruction are more effective in what circumstances. If you want to design better courses, then exploring that body of knowledge is useful and very interesting. (And, as a technical writer and trainer, you will already know some of it.)

What are ways to learn more:

http://docs.moodle.org/25/en/Pedagogy is an interesting read.

http://docs.moodle.org/25/en/Using_Moodle_book was the original Moodle book, and for each activity, did consider the question of why you might use that tool in your teaching. Sadly it has no been updated since Moodle 1.8, but the why parts will still be relevant. I don't know any other book that covers the why as well.

Those are the two most directly Moodle relevant resources I can think of, but they barely scratch the surface. Really, most of the why stuff is unrelated to Moodle, it would apply to any tool. I am afraid I don't have any other specific recommendations. I am hoping that other people will be able to suggest some other sources of information, because I might want to read them too.

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In reply to Tim Hunt

Re: How vs. Why, Trees vs. Forest - Do I have this right?

by Alyce Barry -

Tim and Paula, Thank you *so* much for these very helpful responses to my post. I'm traveling and won't be back working on Moodle again until next week, when I'll dive into the many useful references you've given me. Thanks again, and have a fun Fourth.

Alyce

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In reply to Tim Hunt

Re: How vs. Why, Trees vs. Forest - Do I have this right?

by E. L. Cooper -

Back to basics- plan a course curriculum and what you want the students doing. Plan old word doc planning- write a syllabus get all of your dream assignments and activities- be very specific ignore moodle until that is done. After that is done figuring out what activities allow you to accomplish your ends is a lot easier.

Example- I wanted to teach every proven alternative health criteria for a vast number of disorders. Never found a book that was comprehensive so I use the Merick Home Health manual (all 1,600 pages) add give a lesson actually 32 lessons- 50 questions each)  where the answers come from the textbook but the feedback teaches the complimentary methods that have be studied and applied.

Yes it is a long class....

PS I to was a technical writer and in the dark ages, before the internet, I trained adults to use computers. When you ask the question how do I know if they watched the video my answer is- you don't know that in a brick and mortar classroom either. The standard I prefer to apply is to do it as well as IRL and better where possible.

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In reply to E. L. Cooper

Re: How vs. Why, Trees vs. Forest - Do I have this right?

by Alyce Barry -

Dear E.L.,

Thanks for your reply. I was a technical writer myself for 16 years, it seems pretty good grounding for this.

What I'm creating is the Moodle version of a week-long training that's been given perhaps 25 times or so since it was first created in 2000 (I was in the first one and audited it a year later). We've got a detailed manual but have never done this kind of thing online before, and I'm sure that newness is a large part of the difficulty I'm having. The trainings are normally held in Colorado and England, and two people want to take it who don't have funds to travel from Australia, hence our development of a Moodle version. 

We're using primarily videos and documents to get across the concepts, and we know this will be a long process. At the moment I'm stuck on quiz questions, and it's tempting to stick to the easier formats -- true/false and simple multiple-choice -- because the more difficult multiple-answer multiple-choice questions I've created don't work the way I expect, so I may need to rewrite the questions completely.

Thanks again for your help. 

Alyce

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In reply to Tim Hunt

Re: How vs. Why, Trees vs. Forest - Do I have this right?

by Alyce Barry -

Tim,

I'm finally back working on Moodle after getting drawn into another project for several weeks. I bit the bullet and printed out the Using Moodle Book and am so glad I did, I can make notes, and that's proving to be really helpful.

I'm having trouble constructing a multiple-answer multiple-choice question that works the way I expect, but I will do some research on it and see if there's a forum already on that issue before posting here about it.

Thanks again!

Alyce

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In reply to Alyce Barry

Re: How vs. Why, Trees vs. Forest - Do I have this right?

by Paula Clough -

Alyce,

You are going through the process that we all have to go through. First we have to learn what the tools are and how they are set up and used.  Some people are happy with getting proficient in this stage for quite some time before they begin to realize what you have realized.  It's not about the tools, it's about the learning! Congratulations, you have moved on to new territory.  Teachers are not just those who have studied education, they are those who understand the difference between telling and teaching, hearing and learning.  Sounds like you have some good experience behind you and an natural aptitude toward looking for the bigger picture. In that pedagogy article that Tim linked to it says:

"My hope is that Moodle can be seen as a toolbox where they can start simply and naturally, and then progress to more and more advanced community facilitation over time. Ultimately, we'd like to see teachers being involved with and supported by a community of their peers."

I find some of my best ideas right here in the forums, reading about what other people are trying to do.  I look at other courses where ever I can find them, moodle.net, www.freemoodle.org and look at what looks like it will work and what I think would work even better with a little changing.  I collect creative ideas that others have used for the different Moodle modules and analyze them to see why they would be effective or not.  I take advantage of that community of peers. I look for things that will make the students think in new ways and do some of the learning and organizing their learning themselves as well as sometimes make them the teachers to the others.  I go to any Moodle Moot I can get to.  Because there I can find people who want I can brainstorm with and come up with new ideas.

I will look around to see if I can find some more information for you as well.

Paula cool

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In reply to Paula Clough

Re: How vs. Why, Trees vs. Forest - Do I have this right?

by Mary Cooch -
Picture of Documentation writers Picture of Moodle HQ Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers Picture of Testers Picture of Translators

Hello Alyce and thanks for asking such a good question. In the official Moodle docs on this site you will find that for many activities there are pages or sections (Using...) which give either examples or reasons why you might need to use a particular Moodle tool.  (The Lynda.com course and the Moodle for Dummies are both out of date by the way. but I know for a fact the Lynda.com ones will be updated to 2.4 and 2.5 by the end of summer)I see you are using 2.2 and that is unfortunate because from 2.3 onwards, each time you add a resource or activity you can read some text explaining why it would be useful.  Just as a few examples (and these are from 2.5 documentation but you will see similar in the 2.2 documentation which will fit your Moodle version)

*#7 in Using Forum

* Using Choice

*Using Assignment

# 11 in Using Glossary

#3 in Using Feedback

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In reply to Paula Clough

Re: How vs. Why, Trees vs. Forest - Do I have this right?

by Alyce Barry -

Paula,

Thanks again for this post, which is very reassuring. I have a degree in philosophy, and perhaps that's why I'm seeing the bigger picture sooner than some. 

If you have good sources on creating multiple-answer multiple-choice questions that you feel like forwarding, please do, that's what I'm stuck on right now. Thanks again.

Alyce

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In reply to Alyce Barry

Re: How vs. Why, Trees vs. Forest - Do I have this right?

by Kim Salinas -
Picture of Testers

Hi Alyce

I just wanted to add that you can also view the Reports to see what your students have viewed. Navigation->Reports then check out all of the options there!

You can also set Conditional Activities in your course to control the learners path. wink

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In reply to Alyce Barry

Re: How vs. Why, Trees vs. Forest - Do I have this right?

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

Enjoyed your rare "philosophical" post.
smile

True, one sees only trees in the forest. But unless you name the forest you are in you'll get advice on other's forests. Some examples:
- Your course is on Moodle. How many hours? How much of it is on-line?

- What must your participants be able to do afterwards?

- What do your participants teach using Moodle?

- Otherwise, same questions as above.

Whether the participants follow the material you provide: Measuring time is a useless criteria for any "theory" subject, you need to evaluate them!

And the big picture. For me the bigger picture is learning and teaching in general. For this discussion we can say learning and teaching with an on-line component. If that is the forest, Moodle is just a glade!

Whether a formal study of education is required: Isn't it bit late to worry about? Even if you had one, isn't that a luxury, unless you teach education? (Just a philosophical question ;)
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