I think this is a very good example of a major problem in implementing VLE's
in that it should be chosen to reflect what is actually going on in teaching
and learning in the institution. Whilst some people may think that a
constructivist approach, as exemplified by Moodle and others, is the ideal,
the vast majority of schools/colleges/and most Univ's are not teaching in
that way. They are still using traditional approaches which do not include
any autonomy for students to 'select from resources and activities and
explore their own chosen routes through a learning landscape, still less
building online learning communities or using forums wikis and blogs for
learning purposes'. Teaching is linked to the established curriculum and
more importantly, current practice and methods of assessment which provide
little scope for this type of technological approach, particularly in
schools. It seems to me that you should always look at what you are trying
to achieve with technology, rather than think it is 'technology therefore it
must be good'. There is little real evidence to show that technology makes
more than a small difference - and yes I have reviewed all the stuff on the
BECTA site (and many others) before anyone asks.
Lest anyone think I am against a constructivist approach, I think it has a
great deal to offer if done well and as part of a whole overhaul of teaching
practice and assessment. I just think the idea of trying to retrofit it into
current practice is not the right approach.
Laurence Fouweather (not a lemming either)
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Virtual Learning Environments
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Miles Berry
> Sent: 08 June 2006 11:57
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: [VLES] LEA Advises against Moodle!!??
>
> Hi Tim,
>
> At the risk of being acused of a lemming like leap, I think
> it's important to realize that Moodle's not really about
> allocating work to individual students, it's about building
> online learning communities, underpinned by a social
> constructionist pedagogy; *this may not suit all
> institutions*. Whilst this isn't incompatible with extreme
> individualisation, it's not easy to reconcile working
> together to construct shared understanding with each learner
> working through sequences of learning objects at their own pace.
>
> I think Moodle does go along way to meet the personalisation
> agenda, but in a way which is more empowering of the learners
> themselves, in that they have the autonomy to select from the
> resources and activities presented, and explore their own
> chosen routes through the learning landscape, and also
> provides space for each learner's unique contribution to the
> learning environment - Moodle courses are as much about
> learners' contributions to forums, wikis and gloassaries as
> SCORMs and quizzes.
>
> Miles.
>
> Harrison Tim (Staff) wrote:
> > I love the way Moodle evangelists always spring to its defense.
> > Usually like lemmings.
> >
> > As a school governor (not always the best place to be when your
> > workplace is in competition), I did ask the question as to why the
> > school is pursuing the option of MS Class Server as opposed
> to Moodle
> > or other solutions. The answer seems to me to be interesting.
> >
> > The reason is that Moodle is a course based product and current
> > educational requirements are student based. To try and
> elaborate, what
> > this means is that they (as in schools) have to show that they are
> > tailoring the curriculum to the individual need rather than
> sticking
> > the students all on the same course with the same materials.
> >
> > So, here is the question: I have a course on Moodle (ICT AS Level)
> > which is taken by about 140 students in 8 groups. How do I
> make sure
> > that each student receives only the learning materials I
> want them to
> > receive and not simply the default list? For example, I
> have a student
> > due to arrive at 12:00 today who wants help with database
> > normalisation. I have some materials that I know he can cope with
> > because he is quite clever. I do not want other members of
> the class
> > to see these as they would not react well if they tried them.
> >
> > The same applies to groups. We all teach differently so not all my
> > materials would be used by each group, how do I arrange for
> each group
> > to have different work without having a mass of confusing courses?
> >
> > Apparently this is easy using Class Server......
> >
> > Tim Harrison
>
>
> --
> Miles Berry
> Deputy Head, St Ives School, Haslemere
> http://stiveshaslemere.com
> http://elgg.net/mberry/weblog
>
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