Is moodle easy to use? What are the basics of this?

[novastorm]

Our school is looking at Moodle

Is moodle easy to use? what are the basics of this? and do you need to know any thing to use it like HTML or any thing?

is it easy to pick up the basics? I have previously looked at SharePoint.

Edited March 31, 2015 by elsiegee40

[pcstru]

"Easy" will vary from person to person - so much so that a simple "it is easy" answer is almost meaningless. IMO it is not easy enough that people will not need any training and support. Indeed, it is difficult enough that even with some training, some people will struggle. Successful VLE's in schools tend to arise where a lot of effort is put into the people parts of the implementation. Technically Moodle is capable of providing a good service as a VLE, but that is actually only a small part of any solution.

[unixman_again]

The usefulness of Moodle relies very much on the teaching staff and if you can them on board, it can be very good. SMT can help here, wielding the big stick and/or carrot. I've been three schools, two of which were Moodle sites, with varying degrees of success.

 

School 1 - we implemented MoinMoin as VLE and the students loved it, but most staff refused to add content saying "I haven't got time to learn new stuff" or "I've been doing it this way since 19xx and I won't change now". When a new Head of IT came along, he decided Moodle was the way forward, so we setup a server. The staff still wouldn't get on board, and enter new teaching resources into it, preferring a bunch of mostly M$ Word docs scattered on various shared drives. One teacher had developed a website hosted outside the school and was (with the blessing of SMT) putting his materials there. Result - failure.

 

School 2 - they were using Sharepoint and some departments used it extensively and others not at all. I can fully understand this as SP is a beast and the interface is not very intuitive. Some teachers who weren't using it had tried, but couldn't get to grips with it. Just as I was leaving (3 years) the school switched to Frog and there has been a much larger uptake by staff, and according to the techie, about 75% of teachers are using it in some form.

 

School 3 (actually a college) - we use Moodle and all departments use it, in varying degrees. A few just use it as a document repository, while others only accept student work that has been submitted via Moodle. This can be in the form of quizzes or file upload. There is a willingness by staff to learn more about the use of Moodle. There is a push towards more of these paperless courses and there is a pilot to get more teachers doing this. SMT are very keen to do more paperless courses and to this end, staff that sign up are given a iPad. If they drop out of the pilot, they lose the iPad. This has proven to be very successful. We also run some HE courses and the work is only accepted through Moodle.

 

We have a minor issue with teachers who want to learn more about Moodle. Not being a teacher, I don't actually use it, but they still come to me for one to one training. Actually, it's not too bad, as I know just enough about Moodle to be a danger to everyone! There is a group of teachers who have become mentors in various things, one of which is the use of Moodle. These are the very experienced Moodle users and they are running sessions to pass knowledge on. The uptake of this has been slow; I'll go and talk to that clever IT techie. These mentors are running sessions on Inset days and I understand attendance is mandatory.

[wiseoldowl]

As previously mentioned in this thread, it's not about the tool but about the people that use it. So, first step is to understand how your school will want to use a VLE. For example, is it about storing stuff or is it about enhancing teaching and learning? If it is about teaching and learning, then you'll need advice about how Moodle will fit into the wider context of teaching and learning within the school.

 

Moodle in some ways is a 'jack-of-all-trades'. I don't mean that in a derogatory sense, what I mean is that it can be used very successfully in a wide variety of settings from primary schools in the UK to international schools, from higher education contexts to corporate training use. So, it is essential to understand how Moodle will fit into your school.

 

Then you can tailor Moodle and configure to fit. For example, many schools setup Moodle 'out-of-the-box' without thinking about the resource/activity types that will be available to teachers. By default the choice can be very confusing to most teachers confronted by Moodle for the first time so ask teachers which tools they want and pick carefully. You can always add tools as your Moodle evolves. Typically, to get started, all you need to make available are a few resource types such as web page, labels and links to files and in respect of activity types then just assignments and/or quizzes will be a good starting point.

 

Fundamentally, successful implementations are the result of on-boarding teachers through good training and professional development encompassing a pedagogical shift to include online learning, a culture within the school that embraces an additional approach to teaching and learning and a clear strategic plan supported and encouraged by the senior leadership team.

 

Done correctly, online learning is a powerful adjunct to current teaching and learning practice within the school opening huge opportunities to enhance student progress and attainment but there has to be a will.

 

Moodle is a powerful tool but you do need to know what you are going to use that tool for - it has to have a purpose. If it's just added to your system without a context or purpose identified in teaching and learning, it will fail.

[Alis_Klar]

Get the planning to refer to resources that are hosted on the VLE. Put your webmail link on the VLE. Put the school diary on the VLE. So people are forced to log in and remember their VLE password.