Read how these Indiana schools are examples of best practices in action as they promote learning in their classrooms.
How do I use Moodle™? Let me count the ways. Rossville Community Schools in Rossville, Indiana, have found a variety of innovative and exciting ways to use Moodle in and out of the classroom. Tom Wilson, Rossville High School English teacher, finds Moodle to be “a marvelous tool for teaching writing and demonstrating how to be a better writer.” While working on senior projects, Moodle provides areas for students to access resources such as Citation Machine™, organize their gathered information, allow peer editing and provide a simple way for teachers to monitor students’ work. No longer do students work in a step by step pattern, but, instead, blend all their efforts together in their own Moodle. Students use Moodle to fill in online study guides during Tom’s lessons then turn them into flashcards for test review. At home, students access his presentation notes and connect to their online resources through their Moodle accounts. Tom explains, “Moodle is a wonderful tool for everyone; but with the ability to individualize learning, it is most effective for the slower and exceptional students.” He notes, “I now facilitate learning instead of just teaching.”
In Dottie Henley’s 9th grade English classes, daily Moodle use is becoming the norm. Students hear assignment instructions from her and from their Moodle. Dottie’s classes access current event resources, discuss their reactions in forums and complete daily writings in their Moodles. “The level of writing has improved significantly,” she reports. “The technology gives them ownership in their own learning.” Students appreciate the Moodle tools and are constantly thinking of different ways they can use them. A recent Moodle forum in her class discusses a statement made that technology allows students to not have to work as hard as in the past. Students’ responses reveal they feel they work harder now because the bar for what they are expected to know is much higher. They also share how they love using tools such as the forum because it is “safe” to record their thoughts, but still feel at times classroom discussions are good. The observed intensity of learning and collaborating is exceptional in Dottie’s classroom along with the lack of interruptions or discipline problems. She notes, “With Moodle, students now are learning in the manner they want to learn.”
Moodle quizzes and forums were used recently to assess the technology proficiencies of 8th grade students along with a Moodle questionnaire for the end of the year teacher survey. Even 1st grade students use Moodle quizzes in their classrooms. “Moodle allows the export of questions from textbook resources to be integrated with an audio component made in Audacity™ and then placed in the quiz,” explains Technology Director Deb Bracken. Additionally, high school staff find Moodle helpful in addressing their NCA accreditation goals in reading comprehension and literacy analysis. Moodle helps in the blending of their literature book resources and old California Achievement Test questions by allowing the grouping of category areas, such as open-ended questions, into the development of a “homegrown standardized test.” Growth will be recorded from pre- and post-tests given students from within Moodle and accessible data will drive instruction to meet students’ needs.
Rossville Community Schools has found many ways to use Moodle in their schools. As Deb shares, “Rossville is blessed to have teachers willing to revamp their curriculum to meet the technological demands of students. This is an exciting time for everyone involved.”
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This article appeared in the ETC...and More! volume 2, number 4 newsletter and is published by the Buddy
Project
(Corporation for Educational Technology), in
collaboration with the Hoosier
Educational Computer
Coordinators (HECC),
Indiana Computer Educators (ICE),
the Indiana Department of Education, and Promoting Achievement through Technology and INstruction for all Students (PATINS).
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High school students use their Moodles to help them collaborate on an English project.
Mrs. Henley’s English 11 students use Moodle daily as part of their classroom instruction.
Rossville high school students found Moodle to be a great tool during their school’s Mock Election on November 4.
