Renaming Your Files

Each course contains file folders.  You may want to create separate folders for organizational purposes, just as you would on your computer.  If you place a file into a course file folder and then make changes to it later and re-upload it into your course file folder, you must change the name of the file.  If you do not change the name of the file, the system will default back to the original file and the edited version will not be reflected when you link it to the course page.

Glossary Activity

Check out the glossary activity.  It’s one of the most underrated activities in Moodle.  You’re probably wondering why I am calling it an “activity.”  On the surface, a glossary is a list of words and definitions that students can access.  However, a course creator can allow students to add to a glossary.  This transforms the glossary from a mere listing of vocabulary words to a collaborative tool for learning.

You can use the glossary for building a class directory, a collection of past exam questions, famous quotations, or even a collection of pictures. 

Office Add-in for Moodle

Would you like to be able to do this?

"Save to Moodle" and "Open with Moodle" can be options in your version of Microsoft Word.  Pretty cool, huh?  All you have to do is download the Office Add-in for Moodle.  The link will provide you with more information.  I downloaded it today and it works great.  However, it only works with Windows.  Sorry, Mac users.

BBC&S faculty, if you are downloading the add-in on a BBC&S machine, contact the IT Helpdesk and request permission first. 

Constructivist Learning Theory

I recently completed a research paper on the need for constructivist principles to be more widely adopted in education.  Constructivist concepts are not new; Socrates, Piaget, and Vygotsky theorized about them many years ago.  However, they are still not incorporated into instructional design today as often as perhaps they ought.  I argued that the rise in online and distance education over the past couple decades is demanding a philosophical change in educational pedagogy—a change from instructivism to constructivism.  What I mean by “constructivism” is that educators set up environments that encourage learners to construct understandings of knowledge through a self-discovery process as opposed to teachers “dumping” knowledge on them to memorize.  In other words, education is inquiry-based as opposed to being expository.  How this theory can be practically applied to the virtual learning environment is through the use of interactive and collaborative tools (discussion boards, wikis, chats, etc.), the use of questions in discussion forums that promote critical thinking and reflection (i.e. Socratic questioning), and a philosophical shift from teacher-centered learning to student-centered learning (i.e. the shift from the teacher being a “sage on the stage” to being a “guide on the side”).  This is food for thought.

What say you?  What strategies do you use to promote deep learning and understanding in an online course? 

Embedding Videos into Moodle

A few weeks ago, Faculty Focus complied some tips and tricks for online teaching.  They are meant to improve student experience in the online learning environment.  Check them out here! 

If you plan to use the “post emails to the class as announcements” tip, the News Forum that we use in Moodle will accomplish that nicely.

If you plan to use the “embed videos” tip, follow these steps:
1) Find the video that you wish to embed (meaning the video that you’d like to place directly onto a course page, directly onto a webpage, directly into a discussion forum, or directly into a quiz).

2) Click “Embed.”  If you do not see an “embed” button, it may mean that the video is not able to be embedded.

3) An embed code will appear.  Copy it.

4) Go into Moodle and open the activity where you’d like to place the video.  When the HTML bar appears, click on the “HTML Toggle Source” icon (located to the far right).

5) Paste the code.  Click “Save and display” to see how the video will appear to the students.

*Click here for a video demonstration.