Notes and tracking

Well I have completed the update of course training notes for the new 1.5 version of Moodle and finally go round, cannot imagine why it took so long though, to creating a custom scale that we can use for our Edexcel course grading schemes. I have a suspicion that in the long term it may be a more effective time/benefit approach than continuing the development of my PHP/MySQL application, what with ePortfolio space and tracking soon to appear over the horizon, or so I am reliably informed!!

Moodle conference

Our Moodle conference went very well, and I am pleased to say that it was recorded on video and I shall be getting along to the College studio soon to edit the presentations and getting them online at this blog, so stay tuned for that. on Wednesday I went along to one of our College sites to deliver an intro to Moodle course for the staff there. Over the holiday period I am going to be updating my course notes for our new Moodle 1.5 version that will be available from the start of spring term and developing new courses, one for quizzes, hopefully I am going to be able to get both Moodle and Hotpotatoes into the same session and the other in creating lessons in Moodle.

Well thats phase 1 over anyway

It’s the end of winter term and phase 1 of the Moodle rollout here at Bromley College. I have been banging on about these phases but basically phase 1 gets materials, links and simple feedback onto Moodle, which hopefully translates into timesavings for staff; the big one for now. But has it improved anything for students? Well from convenience, yes, however early indications for me anyway, level 2 through 4 from first assignment outcomes would suggest little that could not be explained by variations in cohort, and you are welcome to read that as you will, in other words net change, well zero comes to mind! Why, because used in this way we have a course management system, not a vle. Course notes on the web are just course notes from the print room and without repurposing for e-Learning this was no surprise, basically an exercise to confirm what I felt I already knew. Its phase 2 with the inclusion of quizzes (not very happy calling them quizzes), lessons tutorials and reviews that should start, and the key word here is start, to make an in-road in constructing a effective community of inquiry and that’s going to be the really interesting bit. Bye the way its Moodle conference on Monday at College and I will be sure to get some blogging in from that.

A new Toolbox

I recently came across the RSC e-Toolbox. The toolbox is a collection of hardware and software tools that are grouped under the headings of: Assessment, Content Creation, Communications, Learning Management Tools, Mobile Learning, Multi Media, Networking, Repurposing,Repository, Videoconferencing, VLE Application, Web, Whiteboards and looks like becoming a one-stop-shop for e-Learning and VlE developers, you can take a look from here or the icon in the sidebar.