Moodle & Digital Learning Environments

Moodle & Digital Learning Environments

Moodle, an acronym for ‘Modular Object-Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment’ is a free learning management system that is used to create a digital learning environment, this is mostly used by various colleges and schools around the world. A digital learning environment is a resource area used by both students and teachers to deliver online lessons and learning resources through online and digital learning.

Some of the advantages of a digital learning are that the learner can work at their own pace and in their own conditions, not only for the learner, but teachers can get feedback on how their students are doing with activities and work. Some of the disadvantages are that they usually would not have anyone there if needed someone to help in person and that it may not be used correctly, giving the learner a disadvantage over how other course users use Moodle.

There are a range of other Digital Learning Environments to use such as Blackboard, Edmodo, Frog, eFront and Schoolology.

Blackboard is a Digital Learning Management System that is aimed more towards HE institutions, its focus is to get the information out there and used more as a resource point, to get documents out to students with less focus on activity based learning.

Frog is a supplier of e-Learning software which creates the platform for a Digital Learning Environment. Frog aims its services from primary school all the way to Academy schools including Independent schools as well.

Edmodo is different as it is an educational website that has taken the idea of a social network and made it appropriate for a classroom. Learners and teachers can reach out to each other and share thoughts, problems and ideas between each other. It’s safe as well as the teacher can see everything that is posted.

In an instance where I wanted to create a Digital Learning Environment that was focused more on communication and discussions I would choose Edmodo, this would be good as I could monitor the discussions and make sure they are productive.

A difficulty that may arise when trying to implement a Digital Learning Environment in a school for instance is that it would be introducing something new to a system that is already in place. This means that it would take time for both tutors and learners to get to grips with the software and capabilities. It is also making sure that it is being used in the most efficient way and beneficial for all involved.

Ways to improve the Digital Learning Environment could come in a wide array of ways, this could vary from how you would like to use the environment for your organisation. A way that I would improve it is to create more personalised learning packages that give the learner a personal feeling when they are learning, this makes them feel like the training is perfect for them and almost been delivered to them on a one to one sense.

On the flip side of this, some digital learning environments become neglected and become so untidy/unusable that tutors don’t want use it and this then gives the leaner a disadvantage as they could use this for valuable learning methods. To combat this I would make sure every tutor using their organisations learning environment is trained on how to use it and the most effective way so that the learners do not miss out.

Digital Learning Environments are very beneficial to users, especially to those who like to learn in a quitter environment than a classroom, learners can learn at their own pace, own setting and can keep a personal track on how they are doing. Classroom teaching and traditional methods are only improved by Digital Learning Environments, they can be used as an add on to teaching, even more so with class sizes varying and some students feeling like they are not being fulfilled to their full potential by not being given enough one to one time in the classroom. I believe that education will become even more digital over the coming years and will be a great learning experience for everyone involved.

Learners can work in environments that suit their needs

Teaching and Learning

The Teacher Role

The teacher role consists of three main activities:

Managing the group, managing activities & managing the learning.

As the facilitator of learning, it is the job of the teacher to lead discussions, ask questions and engage learners.

They may also adopt roles such as:

The wanderer when working in large groups, the information centre, the commander & the absent 

friend (McCrorie, 2006).

To be a successful teacher you will need to be:

Organised, both in yourself and for the lessons/sessions, understand your subjects, be energetic and enthusiastic, varied teaching styles for different levels of students & have empathy with the learners.

Learning, Teaching & Assessment Cycle

Identifying needs

Find out the needs of the learner and the needs of the organisation.

Planning learning

What's the topic? What do the students need to learn? What do I want them to take away from the lesson? This is the critical part before the learning and making sure all the questions are answered.

Facilitating learning

This is the practical learning elements so the learning itself and making sure that everything is in working order to ensure learning is effective.

Assessing learning

After the learning has finished we can assess how the session went, if the goals were met and targets achieved. This can also be used to sum up how well a student or learner has done.

Evaluating learning

Evaluating is working out weather the whole process was a success and everyone's learning needs have been met and that the organisation has their needs met too. At this point we can work out the pros and cons and start the cycle again.

Honey & Mumford Learning Styles

Honey and Mumford are learning styles developed by Peter Honey and Alan Mumford. They identified four distinct learning styles/preferences: Activist, Theorist, Pragmatist and Reflector.

Activist

Activists learn by doing. They have an open minded approach and like to involve themselves in experiences.

e.g Group work, solving problems, puzzles

Theorist

Theorists like to understand the meaning/theory behind the actions. They prefer to use facts, analyse and use theories.

e.g Models, stories, graphs and information

Pragmatist

Pragmatists like to see how learning practice works in the real world, concepts that are abstract are hard to understand if they can't see a practical use. They like to try out new ideas.

e.g Discussion, case studies, time to think

Reflector

Reflectors learn by thinking and observing what they saw. They don't jump right in and prefer to take a step back, collecting information and taking time to process and work out information.

e.g observing activities, interviews, questionnaires.

There are various ways to go, all with the same outcome.

Constructivism, Cognitivism and Behaviourism 

Behaviorism

Behaviourism is the idea that learning occurs when a correct response is demonstrated after the specific stimulus of environment and responses

Cognitivism

With cognitivism, the learner adapts to the learning environment  and processing information leads to understanding and retention.

Constructivisim

Constructivism is the thought that we build our knowledge through our individual experiences of the world.

Good Practice Flipped Classroom Models

Flipped classroom is the idea of overturning the traditional method of teaching and lesson delivering to learners using internet or learning environments to teach lessons or prepare.

A good example of this for instance is to post a lecture online as a learner can watch this with no distractions and take notes at their own pace as they can pause and play.

Studies have shown us that this can decrease the fail rate in students who have access to such resources.

Students can mix classroom with online