Course Building and Open Source Learning Management System (LMS)Tutorials Now Online
Check our tutorial site over the next five days as our course on developing online courses and tutorials is posted online.
Here is the link…
We are conducting a workshop for the Texas Computer Education Association (TCEA) on Monday, February 5, 2007 in Austin, Texas.
Link to the online presentation...
This is a "practice what we preach" workshop, and, since the course offers hands-on training for using the Open Source Learning Management System (LMS), Moodle!, we will use Moodle! Online to drive the presentation.
Seminars at a local university and this workshop for TCEA have captured much of our development effort over the past few months.
We have finally crafted a system to structure and manage our content in this online format. Look for our other tutorials to be placed online in the next month or so.
Unique Focus
Our tutorial approach and workshop format is unique in that…
- We model what we preach
- The use of technology is secondary to teaching, and secondary to the needs of teachers
- The online model is adaptable to face-to-face presentations, hands-on workshops, and most importantly, post-workshop or post-training follow-up.
- The presentations are driven by an a free online LMS (Moodle!) that is hosted on a server that costs $3.96 per month to maintain.
- The hands-on activities are hosted on several sites that cost $2.24 per year (the cost of the domain name). That is, four sites for under $10.00 USD.
- Of course, we have to put up with a yellow advertising strip at the top of each page, but the sites provide real hands-on practice
Other Values and Benefits of this System
Our tutorial shows which instructional activities are suitable for integrating with a LMS, and which activities are best left to other support methods. For example, elementary core curriculum classes are probably not suited for this method, but some high school and college classes are.
Computer lab courses, software training, professional development programs and and in-service training are all workable.
And, any face-to-face training or workshop can be enhanced with follow-up sharing, encouragement, reinforcement, coaching and mentoring support.
Other areas that you might explore are basic how-to information that you can post for student, parents and community members.
One additional benefit is that Moodle! courses are easy to copy and distribute, i.e., are easy to share. The courses can also be developed on a standard computer that uses the Windows™ operating system. And, the courses can even be run from a portable USB drive.
If this Sounds "Too Good to be True"
If the Moodle! software sounds too good to be true, well, it's not. You get all this value from Moodle!, and the learning curve is not too steep.
About the biggest problem with the Moodle! LMS is that it has an "activity-based" interface metaphor.
Why is this familiar model a problem? Because teachers can use Moodle! (like other minimally planned strategies such as textbooks) to let instruction devolve to ad hoc, activity-driven delivery.
Strategic planning, structured implementation and streamlined management are key to effective and efficient instruction.
Try Moodle!. You are sure to discover additional benefits for yourself and for your students.
