I'm afraid this question is going to make people wince, but...
As I've read the pedagogy, Moodle is grounded squarely in postmodern theories of education.
It would be an asset for the business purposes I am considering to work well like direct instruction, with much of what today's fashionable theories of education are reacting against.
Can Moodle gracefully work in a more classically modernist pedagogy, and if so, how?
Sorry if this question makes you wince,
Jonathan Hayward
Jonathan's Corner: A Glimpse into Eastern Orthodox Christianity
Jonathan, Moodle can work with any number of pedagogies in my view. It depends what parts you choose.
For direct instruction, I would upload a lecture in whatever format works for you, ppt or narrated with something like Captivate or Communicator 3. Then follow up with quiz, providing feedback to the student.
Depending on the course, we use different features of Moodle. For in person courses, we use Moodle mainly as a file server, to hold the readings and lectures for students. For blended courses we use more of the forums and assignments and glossary. For completely online courses it depends on the instructor's preference, but we usually include forums and chat as well as some assignments and quizzes.
Just because it enables constructivism, does not mean you have to use it that way.
For direct instruction, I would upload a lecture in whatever format works for you, ppt or narrated with something like Captivate or Communicator 3. Then follow up with quiz, providing feedback to the student.
Depending on the course, we use different features of Moodle. For in person courses, we use Moodle mainly as a file server, to hold the readings and lectures for students. For blended courses we use more of the forums and assignments and glossary. For completely online courses it depends on the instructor's preference, but we usually include forums and chat as well as some assignments and quizzes.
Just because it enables constructivism, does not mean you have to use it that way.
Jonathan - Considering that Moodle has been used by a number of folks for business training I would say that Moodle certainly can be used effectively with more traditional pedagogies. Perhaps if you could say a little bit about the specific pedagogical approach you would like to use and then we can point you toward the specific activities that would help you to accomplish those goals.
My initial thoughts are that I would suggest tools like lessons where the user reads some text and then responds to some questions would likely be a direction helpful to you. Similarly, you could provide a resource to some documents (like the HR policies) and do a quiz.
Activities like forums, workshop, chat, etc. tend to focus on more collaborative learning but the tools for individual learning are still there. I think that Moodle's choice to focus on a social contructivist pedagogy simply widens the possibilities. I have not found it to be limiting. I hope this helps. Peace - Anthony
My initial thoughts are that I would suggest tools like lessons where the user reads some text and then responds to some questions would likely be a direction helpful to you. Similarly, you could provide a resource to some documents (like the HR policies) and do a quiz.
Activities like forums, workshop, chat, etc. tend to focus on more collaborative learning but the tools for individual learning are still there. I think that Moodle's choice to focus on a social contructivist pedagogy simply widens the possibilities. I have not found it to be limiting. I hope this helps. Peace - Anthony
I'm coming from an academic background in learning theories, so "wincing" I am.
There are no postmodernist or modernist learning theories per se, only interpretations by those pushing these agendas. If you believe social constructivism is postmodern, consider that Vygotsky wrote mostly in the 1920s and 1930s and Piaget's structuralism (a modified positivism) a few decades later.
There are no "post-modern" learning theories but many neopragmatist and post-structuralist philosophers have touched on the subject. Like myself, they largely deny the value of knowledge-based learning and have much in common with the behaviourists (however they shift the focus from psychological to epistemic behaviour).
Positivist pedagogy, if you can call it that, is mainly rooted in psychological theories of learning and statistical based research. To be precise, it is post-positivist as hardly a single learning, psychological or social theorist could be made to believe in any scientifically or statistically derived truth statement as in fact any truth is indeed contextual. This can also be said for psychological or social cognitivism as well.
Some methods work better than others in certain contexts and there is no such thing as a "one size fits all" learning strategy or theory.
Having said that, Moodle does not force you into any model. If you want to use a traditional, linear, instructional systems design (ISD) model, or a social constructivist model, you just use the modules that support each method. It all depends on your needs.
For example, not using the forums or wiki effectively eliminates social learning. Using weekly progressive courses, book module, traditional assignments, quiz assessments, and branching puts you in a more "programmed" ISD model.
Keep in mind that Moodle does not design your instruction...you do. You can generally get Moodle to bend to whatever your content requirements are.
Hope this helps!
There are no postmodernist or modernist learning theories per se, only interpretations by those pushing these agendas. If you believe social constructivism is postmodern, consider that Vygotsky wrote mostly in the 1920s and 1930s and Piaget's structuralism (a modified positivism) a few decades later.
There are no "post-modern" learning theories but many neopragmatist and post-structuralist philosophers have touched on the subject. Like myself, they largely deny the value of knowledge-based learning and have much in common with the behaviourists (however they shift the focus from psychological to epistemic behaviour).
Positivist pedagogy, if you can call it that, is mainly rooted in psychological theories of learning and statistical based research. To be precise, it is post-positivist as hardly a single learning, psychological or social theorist could be made to believe in any scientifically or statistically derived truth statement as in fact any truth is indeed contextual. This can also be said for psychological or social cognitivism as well.
Some methods work better than others in certain contexts and there is no such thing as a "one size fits all" learning strategy or theory.
Having said that, Moodle does not force you into any model. If you want to use a traditional, linear, instructional systems design (ISD) model, or a social constructivist model, you just use the modules that support each method. It all depends on your needs.
For example, not using the forums or wiki effectively eliminates social learning. Using weekly progressive courses, book module, traditional assignments, quiz assessments, and branching puts you in a more "programmed" ISD model.
Keep in mind that Moodle does not design your instruction...you do. You can generally get Moodle to bend to whatever your content requirements are.
Hope this helps!
Anthony, Ray--thank you; Ray, I was trying to write a short post that would get one question across intelligibly, not with full nuance such as one would attempt in a longer work. The remark about wincing was partly intended as an acknowledgment of this fact.
My reason for posting the question is that the documentation described Moodle as based on sound pedagogical principles, clarified to be more or less what the fashions today would take as a serious baseline, and not as clear in working from another baseline. So the question in my mind would be whether using Moodle for another pedagogy would be a matter of forcing a tool to do the wrong job, like repeatedly copying and pasting code when a long-run proper solution would be to refactor it so that whatever I'm copying and pasting to do is handled once in a more abstracted and versatile function/object/whatever.
Thanks for the responses.
Jonathan Hayward
Jonathan's Corner: A Glimpse into Eastern Orthodox Christianity
My reason for posting the question is that the documentation described Moodle as based on sound pedagogical principles, clarified to be more or less what the fashions today would take as a serious baseline, and not as clear in working from another baseline. So the question in my mind would be whether using Moodle for another pedagogy would be a matter of forcing a tool to do the wrong job, like repeatedly copying and pasting code when a long-run proper solution would be to refactor it so that whatever I'm copying and pasting to do is handled once in a more abstracted and versatile function/object/whatever.
Thanks for the responses.
Jonathan Hayward
Jonathan's Corner: A Glimpse into Eastern Orthodox Christianity
Jonathon, there is no inherent difficulty or awkwardness in using Moodle in a strongly traditional, teacher-directed or programmed-learning culture.
The modules which allow direct communication between students can be toggled on/off for the whole Moodle system, or restricted to specific users in specific courses.
This is not even unusual. I find that most teachers use only a fraction of the modules (technologies) available in Moodle. The immediately useful modules in the most deterministic teaching models are likely to be:
Cheers,
Russell
The modules which allow direct communication between students can be toggled on/off for the whole Moodle system, or restricted to specific users in specific courses.
This is not even unusual. I find that most teachers use only a fraction of the modules (technologies) available in Moodle. The immediately useful modules in the most deterministic teaching models are likely to be:
- resources (documents or links to websites) for students to read
- assignments (a well regulated assignment submission tool)
- quizzes (which can provide immediate feedback)
Cheers,
Russell