Moodle for Collaborative Learning

1. Moodle for Collaborative Learning NEAL workshop 30 March 2012 Simon Condon

2. NEAL Moodle • http://neal.moodle2.net.nz/ • Username for participant 1 is “practiceone” • Password is “Practice-1” • The practice course for today is Moodle Collaboration

3. Old to new paradigm

4. Old to new paradigm Moodle Tool Guide for Teachers

5. Moodle Tool for Collaboration Those tools that allow you and your students to • Communicate and interact • News forum • Discussion forum • Moodle Chat • Moodle Blog • Moodle Comment Block • Co-create content • Moodle wiki • Discussion forum • Glossary

6. Moodle Tool for Collaboration Those tools that allow you and your students to • Communicate and interact • News forum • Discussion forum • Moodle Chat • Moodle Blog • Moodle Comment Block • Co-create content • Moodle wiki • Discussion forum • Glossary

7. Choice • A simple tool allowing students to select an answer to a single question • Identify student home access • Selecting topic for research – can be limited so choice selected only once • Quick student opinion poll • Try the Choice at the top the course

8. Forums

9. Types of Discussion Forums • A single simple discussion - A single discussion topic which everyone can reply to • Each person posts one discussion - Each student can post exactly one new discussion topic, which everyone can then reply to • Q and A forum - Students must first post their perspectives before viewing other students' posts • Standard forum displayed in a blog-like format - An open forum where anyone can start a new discussion at any time, and in which discussion topics are displayed on one page with "Discuss this topic" links • Standard forum for general use - An open forum where anyone can start a new discussion at any time

10. Forum Q & A • This format requires students to provide and answer or opinion to a question posted by the teacher. • Students need to answer before they are able to see other students responses • Students can post further commentary on other students answers • This feature allows equal initial posting opportunity among all students, thus encouraging original and independent thinking.

13. Forums for Peer Review • Students can create a new discussion topic. • They can attach work for review; images, photos, videos, writing etc • Other students are invited to review material

14. Grading Forum Posts • As teacher you can grade posts • Students can be given permission to grade as well

15. Grading posts

16. Group settings for forums This setting has 3 options: • No groups - There are no sub groups, everyone is part of one big community • Separate groups - Each group member can only see their own group, others are invisible • Visible groups - Each group member works in their own group, but can also see other groups

17. Separate Groups • Students in a group can collaborate on a task by using the forum to discuss, plan and share links • Resources can be attached to the posts for the project i.e. images

19. How to Create Groups

20. Commitment and Participation • Ask yourself if you wish to have involvement in the forum or if you want the students to lead and own the space • you want the forum to add value to the face to face environment or have a life of its own in its own right outside the lecture theatre/classroom or seminar room • you are prepared to make appropriate contributions to the discussion in order to: • encourage discussion if students are quiet • help shape ideas if students begin to wander off-task • your role will be defined as discussions/a course progresses • you will explicitly but gradually relinquish control of the discussions • you will encourage and support learners to share control of discussions(for example you might ask a learner/group of learners to summarise contributions to a discussion thread/topic or you might ask learners to initiate discussion topics) • Source: http://docs.moodle.org/22/en/Using_Forum

21. Moodle Blog

22. Moodle Blog

23. Adding a Blog is Easy • Can be added to the course main page, or to page associated with activities. • Using “Add Block”, select “Blog Menu”

24. Using the Blog • Students can either Blog about the current course/activity or Blog to their own area • If you want students to easily track blog posts it is important that they use the top menu • All blogging can be seen from the home page, so impress on them that posts should be appropriate

25. Blogging Examples • Reviewing video content • Create a new page • Embed video from youtube or ETV • Add a Blog on the page • Invite students to view video and comment on the blog • Any document can be embedded by using youblisher (youblisher.com). Students stay on the page where you have the blog set up. • Current Event Homework • Blog means student work is visible for the rest of the class, rather than stuck into teachers mark book

26. Comment Block • Similar idea to blogging, but simplified format and entry • Add this block to any page or activity.

27. Blog and Comments Overview

28. Moodle Blog vs External Blogs Pros Cons Not an authentic audience. i.e. parents and family, wider public Limited interaction with people outside the school environment • No need to set up account and invite users • Blog are visible only to school moodle users, and can only be commented on by school users • Blogs can be associated with a course, or activities

29. Moodle Wiki

30. Moodle Wiki • A wiki is a collection of collaboratively authored web documents. Basically, a wiki page is a web page everyone in your class can create together, right in the browser, without needing to know HTML. • In Moodle, wikis can be a powerful tool for collaborative work. The entire class can edit a document together, creating a class product, or each student can have their own wiki and work on it with you and their classmates.

31. Creative Wiki practices • The free-form, collaborative nature of wikis makes them easy to apply in creative ways. • Group lecture notes • Creating a wiki for group lecture notes after a lecture gives students a chance to combine all their notes. Those that missed information can get it from their peers. • Group Project management • This will give each group their own space to record research, to develop outlines and to create the final product. • Contribute to other wikis • Students will use the course wiki to create drafts of the article they will eventually publish to the community

32. Setting up Wikis • Wiki’s can be set up as collaborative or individual • This interacts with three group settings • No groups, separate groups, (visible groups not working currently)

34. Editing the Wiki • Treat the front page as a title and contents page • List each subpage, typing it in double brackets • [[page name]] • To create the sub pages, view the home page and click on the link. • Subpages can be added to the homepage or subpages as required

35. Video on Setting Up a Wiki

36. Video on Editing a Wiki

37. Glossaries

38. Glossaries • The glossary lets a class build a repository of terms in a dictionary‐type format together • Ideas for creating multiple glossaries include: terms for a specific discipline, terms with embedded images, quotes, experts in the field, test questions, or a class directory • Settings can require posting to be approved before becoming public • Comments can be allowed so students can annotate definitions

39. Collaborative Glossaries • A collaborative glossary can serve as a focal point for collaboration in a course. Each member of the class could be assigned to contribute a term, a definition, or comments on submitted definitions. • Multiple definitions can be rated by you and by the students, with the highest-rated definitions accepted for the final class glossary. • Random glossary block can be set to display concepts, quotes of the day, photos that are held in a glossary.

40. Glossary overview