Moodle 3.x Teaching Techniques - Third Edition

Susan Smith Nash

• Publisher: Packt Publishing
• Year: 2016
• ISBN:
  9781786467669
• Edition: 3
• Topic: Computer Science
• Subtopic: Content Management Systems
• Index: Computer Science

Creative ways to build powerful and effective online courses with Moodle 3.0About This Book• Unleash your teaching talents and develop exciting, dynamic courses• Put together effective online courses that motivate students from all backgrounds, generations, and learning styles• Find powerful insights into developing more successful and educational coursesWho This Book Is ForIf you want to unleash your teaching talents and develop exciting, dynamic courses that really get students moving forward, then this book is for you. Experienced Moodlers who want to upgrade to Moodle 3.0 will find powerful insights into developing more successful and educational courses.What You Will Learn• Create a dynamic learning environment using different techniques• Motivate your students to collaborate and demonstrate what they are learning and to create projects together• Develop materials you can re-use in your future courses• Create online workshops and galleries for your students to make presentations about what they have learned• Engage your students in team work that helps them connect course content with their experiences and prior learning• Develop high-quality courses that will last to create a personal inventory you can use and re-useIn DetailMoodle, the world's most popular, free open-source Learning Management System (LMS) has released several new features and enhancements in its latest 3.0 release. More and more colleges, universities, and training providers are using Moodle, which has helped revolutionize e-learning with its flexible, reusable platform and components.This book brings together step-by-step, easy-to-follow instructions to leverage the full power of Moodle 3 to build highly interactive and engaging courses that run on a wide range of platforms including mobile and cloud.Beginning with developing an effective online course, you will write learning outcomes that align with Bloom's taxonomy and list the kinds of instructional materials that will work given one's goal. You will gradually move on to setting up different types of forums for discussions and incorporating multi-media from cloud-base sources. You will then focus on developing effective timed tests, self-scoring quizzes while organizing the content, building different lessons, and incorporating assessments. Lastly, you will dive into more advanced topics such as creating interactive templates for a full course by focussing on creating each element and create workshops and portfolios which encourage engagement and collaborationStyle and approachWith clear, step-by-step instructions, this book helps you develop good, solid, dynamic courses that will last by making sure that your instructional design is robust, and that they are built around satisfying learning objectives and course outcomes. Packed with plenty of screenshots and practical examples, you will get solid understanding of developing courses that are a success in the real world.

Moodle 3.x Teaching Techniques Third Edition

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Moodle 3.x Teaching Techniques Third Edition

Copyright © 2016 Packt Publishing

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embedded in critical articles or reviews.

Every effort has been made in the preparation of this book to ensure the accuracy of the information presented. However, the information contained in this book is sold without warranty, either express or implied. Neither the author, nor Packt Publishing, and its dealers and distributors will be held liable for any damages caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly by this book.

Packt Publishing has endeavored to provide trademark information about all of the companies and products mentioned in this book by the appropriate use of capitals. However, Packt Publishing cannot guarantee the accuracy of this information.

First published: September 2007

Second edition: January 2010

Third edition: May 2016

Production reference: 1200516

Published by Packt Publishing Ltd.

Livery Place

35 Livery Street

Birmingham B3 2PB, UK.

ISBN 978-1-78646-229-9

www.packtpub.com

Credits

Author Susan Smith Nash	Project Coordinator Bijal Patel
Commissioning Editor Wilson D'souza	Proofreader Safis Editing
Acquisition Editor Larissa Pinto	Indexer Monica Ajmera Mehta
Content Development Editor Anish Dhurat	Production Coordinator Manu Joseph
Technical Editor Murtaza Tinwala	Cover Work Manu Joseph
Copy Editor Charlotte Carneiro

About the Author

Susan Smith Nash has been designing and developing online courses and programs for more than 15 years for education, training, and personal development.

In addition to Moodle 3.x Teaching Techniques, she is the author of a number of Moodle books and training videos, including Moodle Course Design Best Practices and Moodle for Training and Professional Development. She has also authored Video-Assisted Mobile Learning for Writing Courses.

I would like to thank my online students and a very special thanks and appreciation to Lic. Miguel Hermosillo and Dr. Jeff Kissinger, director of the Rollins College, Instructional Design Certificate Program.

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Preface

Welcome to Moodle 3.x Teaching Techniques! I am delighted to have this opportunity to work with you and help you unlock new potential using the world's most popular online learning management system program, Moodle. It has been a favorite of many of the world's most distinguished and forward-looking online programs, and now that Moodle accommodates mobile learning, as well as social media, while maintaining its intuitive, easy-to-use and easy-to-manage interface, it is appealing to students who approach the course from a wide range of devices. In addition to its convenience and ease of implementation, Moodle's cloud-based interface, Moodle has developed a solution for small users.

Moodle Cloud (https://moodle.com/cloud/) offers small users the ability to use Moodle via Moodle Cloud for free. You have webspace and up to 50 users, along with 200 MB storage space provided for free. It is a great opportunity for instructors, students, and administrators to create an exemplary course, which satisfies users on many different levels.

What this book covers

Chapter 1, Developing an Effective Online Course, covers how Moodle has kept up with best practices in online course development. Topics include the Moodle advantage, Moodle in a mobile world, instructional principles and activities, Bloom's taxonomy, and Universal Design. You will learn how to determine course objectives, write learning outcomes that align with Bloom's taxonomy, and map out an assessment strategy.

Chapter 2, Instructional Material, talks about how to create effective instructional material and how to organize it. Topics include selecting and organizing instructional material, guiding and motivating students, and incorporating social media and cloud-based resources. You will learn how to select materials, organize them, set up a discussion, and incorporate video, audio, and images from cloud-based sources or social media.

Chapter 3, Collaborative Activities, deals with the different types of forums and how best to set them up and use them. Topics include a discussion of productive online interaction, types of interaction, tying collaborative activities to learning outcomes, common pitfalls, and chat. You will learn how to set up Forums for discussions, select the right kinds of forums, and set up forums for different purposes.

Chapter 4, Assessment, talks about how to create different types of assessments and to match them with learning outcomes. Topics include the purpose of assessment, as it relates to learning objectives, motivation, and the automatic generation of badges and certificates. You will learn how to develop assessments and an assessment strategy, and you will also learn how to created automatically generated certificates and badges.

Chapter 5, Lesson Solutions, covers developing and sequencing content for Lessons, and building Lessons step by step. Topics include building Lessons step-by-step, selecting the elements, and controlling the flow through a Lesson. Students will learn how to build a Lesson and to sequence it for ideal performance. They will also learn how to develop a Lesson and then how to control flow through it.

Chapter 6, Wiki Solutions, deals with how to create different types of wikis and how and why to use them. Topics include using a wiki to achieve learning objectives, and using social media and cloud resources. You will learn how to build differe...