The advantage that I see with using Moodle is that it is so customizable. In addition to the basic modules there are hundreds of custom plugins that can be added that can truly individualize a course. If there are restrictions on what plugins you can add to your courses teachers can always add HTML blocks to their classes. My demo course has numerous examples of HTML blocks. I use these blocks for a variety of purposes including sharing my contact information, adding links to resources that the students will use throughout the class, and links to their blogs. I was even able to embed a Twitter stream using an HTML block. Many of the other platforms I have seen do not allow teachers to change the look and feel of the course. Moodle lets the teachers add aesthetic value to their course which is important to students. Another advantage to Moodle is that it has a built in system for communication. It allows teachers and students to message each other. This is perfect when I need to deliver a message to a student quickly or if students are working on projects together and need to share information.

Moodle allows me to create an environment that is much more student-centered. I can provide more options to my students for how they can complete their work where as before I expected them to complete the same assignments as everyone else. I noticed a dramatic increase in the number of students who passed my classes when I gave them more options for completing assignments and allowed them to set their own pace.

What do educators need to know about how to organize content for their students when they create their courses in Moodle? How do you keep students from getting confused?

When more teachers at my school started using Moodle it became apparent that it was necessary to create a style guide. For the first couple of years we each did our own thing which ultimately was very confusing to students. Our style guide spells out every detail from the font we agreed to use to the placement of information within our individual courses. Creating a “brand” for our district helped tremendously. Our brand includes the elements of the style guide as well as a theme which was created specifically for our school. We also agreed on a specific set of digital tools which we would use for different tasks. For example, we agreed that the tool of choice for creating digital stories would be VoiceThread. This was not meant to limit student choice, but cut back on the number of logins and passwords.

The most important thing teachers need to understand about Moodle is that they have complete control over how they use it. I show teachers who are just starting out to use it as a digital file cabinet. I encourage them to upload a digital copy of whatever they are working on in class to a Moodle class. When they are comfortable using Moodle they can start making assignments available to students. This strategy works great for students who are absent and who need their work. I also show teachers how simple it is to link to resources such as websites and videos so they don’t have to hunt for them year after year. Some teachers like to use Moodle to administer tests because certain types of items can be graded automatically which saves a lot of time in the long run.

Beth Still is a social studies teacher and online course developer for Educational Service Unit #13. She has been using Moodle for six years and has found it has helped her organize her materials so she can focus on teaching and working with students.

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