V.+Moodle


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=M O O D L E = by Sandra Noack 

Moodle, which by definition means to dawdle aimlessly or to idle time away, but this platform is not a time waster at all but rather another dynamic collaborative tool for both teachers and students. Moodle, which is an acronym that stands for Modular Object-Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment, is a free and open-source e-learning software platform, also known as a Course Management System, Learning Management System, or Virtual Learning Environment. (Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., 2010)

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This was the first video I saw about Moodle and it really motivated me to give a try. It gives you ideas of how to use it. I completely agree with the results presented by Martinez (2008) about a survey done by by eLearning Guild Research. The survey stated that for some teachers Moodle is helping the education world set, follow, and maintain standards. Others suggest that Moodle developers are leading the way in e-Learning technology innovation because they can work as a community with common interests, and foster collaboration in the pursuit of knowledge sharing and rapid development.



The past academic year I was introduced to Moodle. I was a little reluctant at first, but then I became familiar with the site and found it to be a great teaching tool. Last year, at the new school where I was working, they were offering an online class called Moodle 101. I took the course without any idea what it was going to be about. I learned that Moodle is, according to Schulte-Mecklenbeck (2003), a set of teaching tools designed to enhance a student's learning experience by including computers and the Internet in the learning process. It is now my goal to keep working on Moodle with my students and the language department.



Advantages


According to my experience this last academic year, when I had the chance to use this tool just for the last two months, I can say that: ABABABABABABABABABABABABABABABBABABABABABABABABABABBABABABABABABBABABABABABABABABABABABABA
 * The relationship and communication between students, and teacher-students is stimulated.
 * All the instructions are together in one place. The navigation is easy for the students to find them.
 * There are different options of activities and resources available for the teacher to use.
 * Any change can be done at any time by the teacher and the upload is almost immediate.
 * There is not much need of technical knowledge.There also remote support and training online at []



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Disadvantages
The following are the disadvantages that Moodle can have for teachers and students.
 * It requires lots of time at the beginning of the process for the teacher to organize and decide the structure of the moodle page, activities and resources.
 * <span style="background-color: #ebe2db; color: #008000; display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%; text-align: justify;">It requires some training for teachers and students. The students took also their time to learn to use it.
 * <span style="background-color: #ebe2db; color: #008000; display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%; text-align: justify;">Some students have trouble at home trying to open the moodle site because of the computer protection they had at home.
 * <span style="background-color: #ebe2db; color: #008000; display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%; text-align: justify;">There must be an administrator from the school to coordinate the passwords and priviledges for students and teachers.

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