Problem: Limited Knowledge of Moodle Hamstrings Quality Course Design and Facilitation
Quality course design with Moodle is limited by the familiarity of the designer / instructor who builds / teaches the course. They often do not know what they need to learn next and do not proactively seek out further professional development with Moodle (without incentives). Instead, they typically 'call someone' to find out how to do something in Moodle because they want 'just-in-time-learning'.
Solution: Marry Analytics with Chatbot-Based Professional Development
Imagine if we were able to combine learning analytics data from Moodle with a smart, Customer Service chatbot?
Example: Just take something simple, like the Moodle Assignement type. We can bring a faculty member on a learning path to iterate improvements to their use of this activity. All of their Moodle Assignments reflect their current knowledge level (Lean Prompt + Grade Points + File Submission). We could run analytics on the common settings for all of the Moodle Assignments in their course and detect that they don't have (1) activity completion checked (2) marking guide setup, (3) accepting online submissions, etc. We could expand the list. But here is the important point: We could create a chatbot to popup with suggestions for their 'Next Challenge' on how to 'Moodle Up' their Moodle Assignments, by, say, adding a Marking Guide to make it easier to grade.
As you think about this from a pedagogical standpoint, there are iterative sequences we could bring end-users through:
- Main Course Page = Cluttered, High Use of Descriptions Showing on Main Page > Using Labels to Chunk and Organize > Learning How to Clean up Main Course Page, create Module Overviews, etc.
- Assignment Prompts = Long, exhaustive prose and Links > Creating Headers to Organize > HTML Tips to Reduce Cognitive Overload > Use of Accordions to Organize and Show/Hide Content
- Multimedia = Low detection of Multimedia in Course > How to add External URL Resource / Embed > How to Embed Videos > How to Organize a Multimedia 'Set'
- File Downloads = Detecting High Number of Documents on Main Course Page > How to use Moodle Files to chunk downloads with files that go together
- You all probably know quite a few more possibilities . . . !!
Just imagine a little chatbot which pops up every once in awhile with a 'Want to Moodle Up?' box and a suggestion to help you 'Moodle Up' your skills in designing with Moodle. This would create *tremendous* leverage for those of us who provide Moodle support to our end-users. We have plenty of tutorials. We can direct them to take webinars. We can point them to Moodle Academy. But this type of 'scaled' professional development—delivered in a 'just-in-time' way (based on analytics of their actual Moodle habits), would be a powerful way to improve Moodle skills at scale. I also think it would keep end-users in that 'flow state', because it is tailored to their current level—giving them just enough new challenge without overwhelming them.
I would love to see Moodle HQ think about something like this for future versions of Moodle. It could even be keyed to integrate with resources on Moodle Academy.