Checking out Moodle with Wes Spence from LCTI

My investigation into creating a larger online portal to conduct my classes I was directed to a teacher that through the course of blended learning uses the website Moodle to house all of his class discussions, tests, quizzes and presentations. In the discussion I had with Wes he was very pleased with the improvements in his classroom organization and student accountability with the use of Moodle. I never even thought about the accountability part of the educational process as a reason to move more online. I guess I should have more quickly with the focus of my current educational ventures. He is able to have organized assignments set on a calendar and have the students access all at one time or release them one at a time. He began using Moodle about five years ago when the school began piloting the program in the high school. The site allows only those who have accounts and passwords to access the course material. This security is a wonderful part of the program. He is able to use any and all content he finds appropriate for his course without the fear of copyright infringement. This is one of the reasons I am so intrigued by his use of Moodle in the classroom. In my film courses I want to use clips from major motion pictures and I need and want to post them on my website for all of my students to view. Moodle will give me the avenue to post clips online and the students can exchange ideas about that material in a safe and secure environment without my fear of being sued. His advice for anyone who is wanting to transfer their classroom into an online environment is to prepare for tech glitches to take over your life for the first year or so. He even after a few years has some pop up every now and then but most of the students successfully communicate, create, and be evaluated all online. All of that paperwork that was so cumbersome to manage now is online in easy to see and organize files. The students can just upload or create their content right there in the same place the content for the lesson was taught. I think that with the correct application sizes and support I will be right in line to begin trying to get my film courses in with Moodle. Unfortunately without the proper authorization the course moodle sites are not accessible. I guess you will just have to take my word how great his set up is. https://moodle.org/ http://moodle.com/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CuKhBKAgQcA