MOODLE
Moodle is an acronym for "Modular Object-Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment." It is an online educational platform that provides custom learning environments for students. Educators can use Moodle to create lessons, manage courses, and interact with teachers and students. Students can use Moodle to review the class calendar, submit assignments, take quizzes, and interact with their classmates.
Moodle is used by thousands of educational institutions around the world to provide an organized and central interface for e-learning. Teachers and class administrators can create and manage virtual classrooms, in which students can access videos, documents, and tests. Course chat allows students to communicate with the teacher and other students in a secure environment.
Each Moodle classroom and course can be customized by the class administrator. For example, one teacher may choose to provide a wiki that students can edit, while another may opt to use a private web forum for online discussions. Some teachers may use Moodle to simply provide documents to students, while others may use it as the primary interface for quizzes and tests. Individual class sizes can be scaled from a handful of students to millions of users.
In order to create a Moodle learning environment, the Moodle software must be downloaded and installed on a web server. The Moodle platform is open source and is built using a modular design, so advanced users can modify the platform as needed. Individual users, such as teachers and students, can sign up for an account on the Moodle server and access content through either the web interface or the "Moodle Desktop" application.
Philosophy
The design and development of Moodle is guided by a "social constructionist pedagogy". Containing four main related concepts
- Constructivism
- Constructionism
- Social constructivism
- Connected and separate
Constructivism
From a constructivist point of view, people actively construct new knowledge as they interact with their environments.
Everything you read, see, hear, feel, and touch is tested against your prior knowledge and if it is viable within your mental world, may form new knowledge you carry with you. Knowledge is strengthened if you can use it successfully in your wider environment. You are not just a memory bank passively absorbing information, nor can knowledge be "transmitted" to you just by reading something or listening to someone.
This is not to say you can't learn anything from reading a web page or watching a lecture, obviously you can, it's just pointing out that there is more interpretation going on than a transfer of information from one brain to another.
Constructionism
Constructionism asserts that learning is particularly effective when constructing something for others to experience. This can be anything from a spoken sentence or an internet posting, to more complex artifacts like a painting, a house or a software package.
For example, you might read this page several times and still forget it by tomorrow - but if you were to try and explain these ideas to someone else in your own words, or produce a slideshow that explained these concepts, then it's very likely you'd have a better understanding that is more integrated into your own ideas. This is why people take notes during lectures (even if they never read the notes again).
Social constructivism
Social constructivism extends constructivism into social settings, wherein groups construct knowledge for one another, collaboratively creating a small culture of shared artifacts with shared meanings. When one is immersed within a culture like this, one is learning all the time about how to be a part of that culture, on many levels.
A very simple example is an object like a cup. The object can be used for many things, but its shape does suggest some "knowledge" about carrying liquids. A more complex example is an online course - not only do the "shapes" of the software tools indicate certain things about the way online courses should work, but the activities and texts produced within the group as a whole will help shape how each person behaves within that group.
Connected and separate
This idea looks deeper into the motivations of individuals within a discussion:
• Separate behaviour is when someone tries to remain 'objective' and 'factual', and tends to defend their own ideas using logic to find holes in their opponent's ideas.
• Connected behaviour is a more empathic approach that accepts subjectivity, trying to listen and ask questions in an effort to understand the other point of view.
• Constructed behaviour is when a person is sensitive to both of these approaches and is able to choose either of them as appropriate to the current situation.
Who uses Moodle?
Moodle is used by a variety of institutions and individuals, including:
• Universities
• High schools
• Primary schools
• Government departments
• Healthcare organisations
• Military organistions
• Airlines
• Oil companies
• Homeschoolers
• Independent educators
• special educators
Characteristics
- Collaborative tools
- Expression of something
- Flexible and adaptable, accessible
- Wide variety of activities and learning experiences
Structure/sites
A moodle site is made up of courses which are basically pages containing the learning materials teachers want to share with their students
The three elements in moodle course are :-
a)Activities
b)Resource
c)Blocks
a) Activities
- Students learn by interacting with each other or with their teacher. Students may contribute their responses and answers
- A teacher can add activities by turning on the editing and choosing an activity by clicking Add an activity or resource in a course section. They then select an activity from the activity chooser. (If the activity chooser has been turned off, a drop down menu appears instead.) Activities usually appear in the central area of the course.
b) Resources
- A Resource in Moodle is an item that a teacher can add to a Moodle course to support learning
- A resource differs from an activity in that it is static; ie, the student can merely look at or read it, rather than participate.
- A teacher can add resources by turning on the editing and by clicking Add an activity or resource in a course section.
C) BLOCK
- A Block in Moodle is an item that a teacher can add to the left or right of a Moodle course page. They provide extra information or links to aid learning.
- Moodle has a number of blocks which come as standard and there are also extra ones available for download by the administrator.
