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Art: I do agree up to a point, but it might just be a phrasing of the question. Your examples seem to be fully-online (I am guessing), whereas most practicing teachers in schools 1) have no online instructional experience as either a student or teacher, and 2) are going to be using this resource primarily as a supplement or addition to their face-to-face instruction. Then, the metaphor might more properly be "What advantage might a garage or room addition bring to the workings of my home?" A teacher would have to have some very good reasons before going through the added expense and work. Denise: Of course, those reasons are plentiful! In our district, our Moodle install is used quite a lot, but some of the shiniest examples might include... 1) We use the shell as a platform for a state-wide "Regions" project, a part of our 4th grade curriculum. Students build resources which describe the characteristics of their state region, and the whole project culminates in a multi-point videoconference series of classroom presentations. 2) An elementary math teacher uses the chat to answer homework questions in real time in the evening. 3) A music teacher has developed a variety of tasks connected to embedded musical examples, to be used by the sub when she is away at conferences. 4) A course shell serves as a repository for programming assignments in a high school Computer Science class, which means the students can turn in their work any time, day or night. 5) An art teacher has posted art work examples for students to critique using artistic values he's taught, then their peers leave comments and suggestions on each other's work. I can go on, but you get the picture. Some of the advantages of having an online course environment are simply clerical -- automatically-graded quizzes, 24/7 assignment completion and submission, paperless instruction -- and others (as Art states) have to do with a fundamental change in instructiona paradigm, since online instruction lends itself quite well to student-led knowledge construction projects and peer review exercises. I manage a Moodle install for a large district, and we're just beginning to tap this resource. The work is a little "pay it forward," but it's worth it! Jeff Jeffrey L. Jones, District Technology Resource Teacher Coordinator, Virtual Classrooms and Communications. Manager, Fayette's iSchool (http://ischool.fcps.net) jeffrey.jones@fayette.kyschools.us On Tue, 16 Mar 2010, Art Wolinsky wrote: > I hope this doesn't sound facetious, but asking how Moodle can be used in > schools is a bit like asking how building material can be used in the > creation of buildings or how paints can be used in the creation of > artwork. > > When Moodle is installed, it is basically an empty shell. What it becomes > is a function of the teaching resources, skill and vision of the > architect, and the teachers who conduct the classes. > > Moodle can be as simple as a box that holds resources that can be accessed > by others or as complex and a complete online constructivist learning and > teaching environment. In the first case, there would be no social > interaction. In the second case the interaction can be extensive > including chats, forums, wikis, blogs, surveys, quizzes, multimedia, and > more. > > I use Moodles in a wide variety of ways. In my volunteer work with > WiredSafety I created a Moodle to train our Teenangels and Tweenangels in > Internet Safety. We have chapters in schools around the world. Each > school has their own section of the Moodle. We also used it to create > Internet Safety training for the Girl Scouts of America. > > In my consulting, I've created Moodles for training I do with schools and > DoE's. > > I also teach as an adjunct professor at Pace University. Even though Pace > used BlackBoard, when I develop a course, I first do it in Moodle and then > move it to BB, because I find it easier than trying to develop in BB. > > I hope that helps a bit. > > Art > > At 11:34 PM 3/15/2010, you wrote: >> From: "Doyle, Denise" <ddoyle@stluciecharter.org> >> >> Please give me some examples of how you use moodle within your schools? >> I >> am trying to decide if this program would be a benefit to our school or >> not. Any kind of information anyone can provide would be greatly >> appreciated. >> >> Thank you, >> -- >> Denise Doyle >> K-5 Computer Technology Teacher >> Technology Coordinator >> Renaissance Charter School of St. Lucie >> (772) 344-5982 ext. 1611 and 1633 > > > > > Art Wolinsky > OEO 3DWriting.com > Technology Director - Online Internet Institute > Educational Technology Director - WiredSafety.org > awolinsky@3dwriting.com > (609) 618-4433 > > I am perfectly capable of learning from my mistakes. > I will surely learn a great deal today. --- Edtech Archives, posting guidelines and other information are at: http://www.h-net.msu.edu/~edweb Please include your name, email address, and school or professional affiliation in each posting. To unsubscribe send the following command to: LISTSERV@H-NET.MSU.EDU SIGNOFF EDTECH
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