Moodle Reflection Paper

Mechelle S. Reynolds
Writing for 4th Graders

My Moodle Experience

My initial feeling about designing course instruction in Moodle was overwhelming. I did not know how the interface worked and I had to spend a couple of hours just determining which text boxes to use for what purpose.

After a lot of practice, I used my course outline to begin to organize my lessons. I had to rearrange my modules after I discovered that some would need more time to complete than others. I discovered that my expectations for completing some of the tasks were unachievable due to lack of knowledge and therefore, I needed implement some instruction on how to use the technology tools.

My original blog idea would not work for discussing a shared story, if (as we originally intended) they were to blog under a specific forum matching the story read. So this deliverable had to be changed and considered differently for assessment. Also, while Beth and I were working on the project, we discovered that our terminology was addressing the reader as if it was a project we were submitting, rather than a lesson being read by 4th graders. We had to change and modify much of the wording to reflect a younger audience and a direct voice.

I spent many hours uploading content and designing an outline for lecture and class discussions. Looking back at the course, I know there needs to be more dialog among the students and some trips for facilitating learning discussions beyond lecture or peer conversations. Web 3.0 tools would need to be enhanced and some motivation included to help gain student interest.

The story reads are high-interest and lead to many discussions and lesson on a variety of different topics. Writing being our focus only allows for so much group work and consideration. But with the emphasis on writing, we were able to really utilize the forum and blog post features of Moodle. We also found a great use for motivating writing around a central theme. We chose to correspond in a wiki project with several of the story reads. Students worked in groups to create a wiki about public service work.

Consistent webcasts would allow students to have a dialogue with the instructors and have constant access to fellow classmates. The structure is still pretty much instructor led, but the wiki allows for some student autonomy, independence, and creativity. In addition, writing allows them to explore their thoughts with the different genres required; summarize, and response to literature.

My partner, Beth, was wonderful at helping with the Moodle project. Beth and I have worked together prior on an important project for our ED TEC 795A class. We were hired by San Diego Hospice and the Institute of Palliative Medicine to design and Web Portal for their global Leadership Development Initiative. It was an amazing project and Beth was extremely successful and coordinating and scheduling all necessary tasks and events.

With this Moodle project, again Beth was the quality engineer. She created the syllabus from my content designs and ensured that the rubrics matched our lesson and content. She was the leader in our testing phase and organized the few students who tested. She relayed the desires of the students and ensured that we made the necessary modifications.

My role in the project was design and content. Because I am the 4th grade teacher, I was the subject matter expert. Beth was concerned that the work load was too much, but I explained that this was the kind of work I would expect from a class in school. Her questioning kept us focused and ensured project understanding.

In a distance learning environment it is possible students to allow others to complete their work for them. There would also need to be some kind of video
verification of class participation and assessment. However, giving students the chance to first work together and show their abilities will begin to give them confidence in writing and other forms of academia. I do not think that starting in 4th grade is soon enough. I look forward to welcoming further LMS systems into my classroom instruction design, and hope that the overall education system (especially K-12 public education) begins to see the advantages of this robust style of instruction and learning.