Releasing learning objects

A good week for Moodle here at Bromley, with a dozen requests received for courses in Travel and Tourism a whole new structure in place for the Return to Learn programme. Following the successful completion of my VLE e-Learning trial, I have uploaded the learning objects to our DSpace content repository, which means the metadata should shortly be harvested by OAIster.org. If you are interested in having look at one of the Learning Objects, that include animation and avatars! Then follow this link.

Using Moodle as a VLE

I went along to the Moodle RUG on the 17th in London, which turned out to be a superb event. Martin Dougiamas was live on Skype, excellent workshops and a particularly inspiring presentation from the OU. My own presentation came under the theme of transforming teaching and learning and featured a recent trial that I conducted with level 4 students in an attempt to realise the Social Constructive potential of Moodle as a VLE. There is a copy of the working environment here, where you can see the project was built around Learning Objects, Forums, Chats and Wiki’s in support of a problem based collaborative learning exercise. The outcomes have been really encouraging, indicating improvements in the order of 20% on the previous four-year average, so for me this looks very much like the start of something worth pursuing.

Starting to use LAMS

Set up a new domain for our Moodle courses this week at http://www.vlecourses.org and started to make some use of LAMS. Every year my second year level 3 students are required to complete a software project, and I get them to upload their weekly log books into a Moodle Journal. But now as we have LAMS installed on the Moodle Activities dropdown, I have produced a sequence that posses some questions to which they can respond with solutions in the form of current project material. This is not really LD, but does provide a first class visual tracking and progress system, which just goes to show that I am not exempt from accommodation by adaptation. On a more positive note, I was about to say constructive, I am continuing with the development of a sequence to support my students as they come to terms with Object Orientation in Java, I’ll certainly get back on that one.

e-Learning contacts vote Moodle

After a questionnaire was pass among the e-Learning contacts with regard to how they would like to develop in their various skill options, Moodle I am pleased see won the day, and so I am scheduled for an afternoon of training this Thursday.