Hi, Amy. How long have you been a Moodler? I have wrestled with various levels of computer availability for the past 3 years that I have used Moodle regularly. I teach in a very small high school in Gary, Indiana. The poverty level is high and even public access through libraries is irregular. I firmly believe in giving any access and exposure I can. The time spent in a Moodle course or any other use of technology in school is all that some of these kids will have. I have at times done all of the following to help kids without computers at home and/or internet access: 1) scheduling computer lab time for the really important activities that I wanted the whole class to do by a specific time (like watch a video, answer a choice, forum, etc) 2) making the forum discussion a lesser grade than classroom discussion and combining both for the final grade for a unit, 9 wks, etc. 3) If it's only a few students per class, I have made my computer available for students when they are done with the classwork. 4) I made myself available before and after school so students could access the activities through lab/my room. 5) Provide many resources and activities for your units of study and require students to do/access/read/participate with X of theml, then they have control over which ones and the student builds his or her own learning. 6) And, this year, I discovered that if a parent knows that internet access/computer access is an issue, they WILL help all they can to get that student to the library, a neighbor, etc. SO KEEP THEM INFORMED ABOUT YOUR ATTEMPTS TO INTEGRATE TECHNOLOGY.
Basically my best advise is, until the playing field is level and all players have equipment, don't base your whole curriculum on the Moodle course you create. Have fun exposing students to what is available. Perhaps the more they get to do it, the more likely the parents will explore ways to help their kids get the technology.
Whew, sorry I was so long-winded. I hope my ideas help.
Charlie Wierzbicki