I have just recently come on board with Moodle and love it so far. I teach a Novels course and it is a perfect tool. Here's the questions....there are a couple other teachers in my building who Moodle already. Some of my students have a negative attitude about Moodle because of the way it is being used...or misused... in their other courses. How can I change this attitude and to show the students the value of Moodle as a classroom tool? Thanks for your suggestions.
If you are teaching novels, then I am assuming that your students are at least 12 years old?
I think you should plan an activity that you want to do but could NOT do as well without Moodle. You don't say what these poor practices are that the students have encountered, but surely they are old enough to understand that Moodle is a tool. Every teacher will use it differently, and you intend to do this (whatever it is). I would accentuate the positive! And plan for something that is fun, interactive, and different. If your students have a few good experiences, maybe that will open their minds a bit.
If you describe what you want to do, I would expect that other teachers in the community might drop by and add some ideas of things that worked well. There is also a K-12 forum in the "using moodle" course where people share things that they are doing with ages 6-18 group.
atw
I think you should plan an activity that you want to do but could NOT do as well without Moodle. You don't say what these poor practices are that the students have encountered, but surely they are old enough to understand that Moodle is a tool. Every teacher will use it differently, and you intend to do this (whatever it is). I would accentuate the positive! And plan for something that is fun, interactive, and different. If your students have a few good experiences, maybe that will open their minds a bit.
If you describe what you want to do, I would expect that other teachers in the community might drop by and add some ideas of things that worked well. There is also a K-12 forum in the "using moodle" course where people share things that they are doing with ages 6-18 group.
atw
I better ask in case I am guilty: What are the teachers doing on Moodle that the students don't like??? They are enthused so far and I don't want to lose them...
I can tell you what MY students don't like! They don't like courses where the teacher says, "Oh, I will put that on Moodle tonight" (and then they don't) or when the teacher says "I am going to use Moodle. You have to check the course EVERY DAY!" and then the teacher never uses it.
Many of our instructors only use Moodle as a document repository; students don't seem to mind that. They seem to mind the disconnect between what they are led to expect and then what actually happens, which falls far short!
The other thing (in my experience) that really causes a lot of grief is when the student gets locked out of something and they fear penalties from the instructor. Examples: They can't log in, the server goes down, the dates on the assignment or quiz are wrong, the time on the server doesn't match the time on their clock at home, the resource isn't available (or the student can't read/print for whatever reason). These are sometimes things the teacher can control, but not always. They certainly do cause student anxiety!
atw
Many of our instructors only use Moodle as a document repository; students don't seem to mind that. They seem to mind the disconnect between what they are led to expect and then what actually happens, which falls far short!
The other thing (in my experience) that really causes a lot of grief is when the student gets locked out of something and they fear penalties from the instructor. Examples: They can't log in, the server goes down, the dates on the assignment or quiz are wrong, the time on the server doesn't match the time on their clock at home, the resource isn't available (or the student can't read/print for whatever reason). These are sometimes things the teacher can control, but not always. They certainly do cause student anxiety!
atw
Well, we have a Math teacher that uses it a lot. They complain that the subjects in the forum don't have anything to do with Math. Also, it is used to try to create feel-good about your self conversations. I have concluded that it must be that particular teacher.
One interesting thing I find is how many institutions call their site just "moodle" or "the Moodle" ... sometimes people get confused and end up on moodle.org trying to find their homework ... I get several emails a day from lost students (and teachers). 
I'll have to keep this in mind in the moodle.org redesign.
About your question, I guess the answer is to lead from the front! Make your course one that the other teachers can aspire to! Some teachers have written this, which may help:
Teaching Do's and Don'ts
I'll have to keep this in mind in the moodle.org redesign.
About your question, I guess the answer is to lead from the front! Make your course one that the other teachers can aspire to! Some teachers have written this, which may help:
Teaching Do's and Don'ts
We call our moodle "VLE" because that is what it is. Our students can access it via the college website which is set as the browsers opening page, so it's very simple for them to navigate to.
this has nothing to do with your conversation, other than the fact that i am i student whos teacher is trying to intergrate moodle inot the course. however, he did not explain how to use it properly, so i cannot figure out how to get to MY course and get my homework. worst case scenario, i wont be able to do my homework. but id still like to learn how to "moodle"
Hi, Garry,
After you log into Moodle, a list of the courses in which you are enrolled should be visible. Is that not the case for you?
Regards,
Art
After you log into Moodle, a list of the courses in which you are enrolled should be visible. Is that not the case for you?
Regards,
Art