Online+Learning+Presentations

Post Week 4's Learning Community Summaries Here (Summarize and share the results of your online learning presentation. After reading about your community members’ experiences, offer a suggestion, resource, strategy, or additional idea to at least one of your community members.)

Christa Dandoy's week 4 LC Assignment:

I presented to an administrator and two teachers at my school. I discussed CMS but with a focus on Moodle. In my PowerPoint, I highlighted the communication and collaboration benefits of Moodle. I also explained how great it is for differentiation and how much of a time saver it can be. The fact that it is free was a point I made clear.

My administrator said the district would not be going in this direction at this time. She explained to me that the district used BlackBoard in the past. Although the program was great for high school, the elementary grades struggled to use it effectively. She said it did not accomplish the tasks desired and cost too much. She says the district has invested so much money already on our current teacher websites and our Galileo assessment program. Furthermore, the staff has received numerous amount of training on both programs. She discussed with me that these tools will not being replaced anytime soon.

Despite the above, my principal suggested that I can still implement Moodle to fill in the instructional gaps that these other two programs do not offer. I will use the summer to learn more about Moodle’s features and will try using it in the classroom this fall. The two teachers present mentioned that they would like to try to integrate Moodle into their classrooms next year as well.

To Christa: My administrator had somewhat of the same reaction as far as this would not be something that would be implemented anytime soon but did say that I could “pilot” it in my classroom if I desired too. Stressing the fact that it is free is definitely a selling point and you may want to start out small and share with your teammates which is what I plan to do. I think that once others see how well the online courses could possibly work, then it has the potential to spread across the grade levels at your school, which is also something I am hoping for.

Latoya Adams Week 4 L.C.

My presentation went well with my administrator and co-workers. I was nervous at first because my administrator usually has a set idea of how she wants things to go inside the classroom. After I delivered the presentation, my co-workers were really eager about the idea of online schooling where as my administrator was supportive but had apprehension as to how effective it would be. I talked about how most upper level schools and higher level institutions are offering more online courses and if we were to do the same, then our students would be better prepared for the trend that is developing in education. My co-workers only apprehension came in the time that it would take to set up the courses and get them to a point that students are really learning from the material. To address this, I stated that the time put forth in the beginning will be well worth it in the long run as summer school has been taken away and class room time seems to get shorter as new curriculum gets rolled in. All in all, everyone was receptive to the idea but feel that it may be unrealistic to expect something like this in the near future.

Latoya,

I think that you have a strong point that in the long run your efforts will be worth it if you have a stable position in your school. It will certainly take hours to complete the creation of the online system, but if you plan on teaching for years to come, ultimately it will save you and other time. The idea is to analyze it closely in the beginning so that you don’t make this a priority if it doesn’t have the same potential as other priorities in the school. I asked myself multiple times if the ends of this process will justify the means I put into it.

Latoya, I agree that this type of learning environment will be beneficial for students to learn early on as many higher level institutions are already using such programs as both parallels and entire classes such as this one. This program was my first time using such a classroom environment and I was very apprehensive about the idea. Preparation now for our students could help ease this transition in the future and hopefully allow them to gain more from their experiences.

Mike B.

Michael Larson

My presentation was on using Moodle as a course management system next year, and I delivered my slide using PowerPoint. Ultimately, I was happy with the outcome of the meeting I had consisting of two other math teachers in the building and our 8th grade dean of students. My main points included how Moodle could be used to host the STEAM units we already have in place, has the capability of organizing and embedding all of the resources that are used in class, protects the school from copyright infringement, and that parents could access curriculum documents and Smart Notes from home. I also made it statistically clear that Moodle is still growing and classifies as an emerging technology with strong tendencies it will continue to grow and be updated in years to come.

The response from my colleagues was positive. Although they did not feel it was necessary to train school-wide until we had more concrete evidence that it will increase and enhance student learning at the middle school level. One of the other math teachers in the meeting agreed to take training sessions and start slowly next year. So in summary, the administration wants data to support that this tool promotes student learning, and I get to be a teacher-leader in this area of technology in our building.

Response to Michael from Christa: We chose the same CMS to present. May I ask how does it protects the school from copyright infringement? Does it now allow uploading of images and text that are copyrighted? I never came across this in my research or viewing of Moodle, but perhaps I overlooked this point as it was not a priority for me. You mentioned being able to access Smart Notes from home via this CMS. Are you referring to files made in SmartNotebook? If so, I thought you had to have the SmartNotebook software but is there something in Moodle that will allow for viewing anyways? I like that your dean wants data to support adpoting this technology and that you use statistics during your presentation to support your position.

Traci Kitchens Week 4 LC

This week I presented my PowerPoint presentation to my Principal, Assistant Principal of Instruction, and the other 4th grade teachers. The focus of the presentation was on integrating a Learning Management System into our school. The two online management systems I demonstrated for my colleagues were Moodle.org and rCampus.com. Each of these systems host many of the same features, the differences coming from personal preference.

Currently our school does not utilize any sort of online program that allows for our students, like that of Blackboard; the only online programs the students we serve use are ones purchased through the school district. The programs provide online learning games, module quizzes, and reporting features, but no features that allow for online collaboration.

First, I explained what a Learning Management System, or LMS is. Next, I explained the many attributes Learning Management Systems can offer for schools. Once the ground work was laid, I began explaining the how beneficial systems like Moodle.org and rCampus.com would be for students, teachers, administrators, and parents. The main area of concern is privacy and security. I explained that each student would have a secure login protected by a password that could be accessed by those only with the passcodes.

Each member of my audience had a fair number of valid questions that I was able to answer. Some teachers seemed more excited than others and the administration was eager to learn more, but they requested more data. I have been asking to integrate technology in different ways throughout my time at Walden so this was nothing new. Thankfully, my administration is growing more interested in my works, therefore it is my hope we are getting closer to adopting a system such as Moodle.org or rCampus.com

To traci The security concerns was something that we did not really touch on during my presentation. I do know that many students in our school share usernames and passwords when they forget their own. This is something that has been a problem for us for a few years but it can be very difficult to tell when they do so. I will have to do some more research to find out if there are any safeguards for this.

Thanks, Mike B.

Mike Ballard

My presentation this week was on introducing Moodle to our schools repertoire. I delivered the presentation to three teachers covering the core subjects, and our high school principal. The focus of my presentation was on how we could reintroduce subjects that have been lost over the past few years as a result of losing teachers to budget cuts. I also introduced Moodle as the future of education, and building on skills that students will need to succeed beyond high school. Moodle could also provide an opportunity for teachers and students to share classroom materials outside of the traditional classroom, which could potentially ease some of the time constraints that we face in school.

The results of the presentation exceeded my expectations as all four participants welcomed the idea. The one main opposition to introducing Moodle was the time required to build and maintain the online classrooms on top of existing filled schedules. The current teachers contract states that each teacher shall receive a planning period per class taught and adding additional classes to most teachers’ schedules would prove to be difficult. We did settle on the use of Moodle or similar program to parallel existing subjects to start the next year as a trial.