As mentioned above 20% of the courses created were not used; I wanted
to find out whether there was anything I could do about this. The
few responses to question 1 (3 from 32) focussed on
the lack of time for faculty to learn Moodle or to scan resources rather
than on their motivation or lateness in setting up the course. Discussion
about the amount of time taken to get to grips with the Moodle system
is continued in the context of questions 4 & 5.
I was also concerned about reasons faculty may have had for dropping
their use of Moodle after the Fall semester. Although there were only
4 responses from 32 to question 2 a clear pattern emerged.
It seemed that the reasons for dropping the use of Moodle were indeed
neutral ones — either the Spring courses were judged unsuitable
for using with Moodle or the course was only offered in the Fall or the
teacher just wanted a break from using Moodle. On the other hand there
were no responses to options such as Moodle not doing what the teacher
wanted it to do or spending too much time and feeling that it was not
worth it. Thus it seems that despite the large turnover in faculty between
the Fall and Spring semester there was not widespread discontent with
the system and that the genesis of this phenomenon was indeed neutral
in origin.
Question 3 (attractions to Moodle) was answered by all respondents who
were able to choose multiple answers. The most popular response (68%)
was wanting to make class materials (usually Powerpoint lectures) available
for review for an exam or a paper assignment. Faculty were also attracted
by the perception that Moodle was easy to get going with (56%) — and
they did not seem to be disappointed, see responses to question
4. Next in popularity (50%) was the response that faculty just wanted
to try out online course management, and this may be part of the key
to the 'turnover' phenomenon — having tried Moodle in the Fall
some faculty may not have felt sufficiently motivated to use it again
in the Spring semester. Colleagues played a role in influencing each
other to use Moodle (44%) and some of the comments such as “Moodle
rescued me” and “INDISPENSIBLE” indicated a high level
of enthusiasm. However
more prosaic reasons were common; the fact that Moodle was password protected
meant that it was the way that faculty could present copyrighted materials
online (38%) and also have studnets submit their work online (38%) or
do online writing (19%). Finally, faculty found new communication possibilities
with Moodle for upcoming events.
All the respondents also answered question 4 (time spent learning Moodle)
where they were asked to check the single nearest answer. The majority
of respondents (44%) considered that it took little time
to get to grips with Moodle for their course. However, 31% felt that
the time they spent was noticeable and a further 22% considered that
they spent a sizeable amount of time. But only a single respondent felt
that he/she spent too much time learning Moodle and there were no faculty
for whom the process of learning Moodle took an inordinate amount of
time. The comments were revealing. My hunch is that faculty who are comfortable
and familiar with computers and especially online applications (such
as squirrel mail or webdb) found Moodle easy to pick up and run with,
but the Moodle interface does require a set of computer skills which
may be underdeveloped in some faculty who want to use it — hence
the longer time spent getting to grips with the system. Some faculty
still felt that they were still not using Moodle effectively or that
they still had not really got the hang of it by the end of the year (my
frustration is that of identifying these faculty so that I can follow
up — make
yourselves known to me, chaps!). There were also workflow issues with
scanning material
— we do need a creative solution to the issue of scanning lrage
amounts of material for online resources. Finally, one respondent mentioned
the convenience of 'drag and drop' compared to single file upload that
Moodle employs. Here is where integrating the Webdav system into Moodle
would be a great boon since this would enable drag and drop for multiple
files.
The logical corollary to questions about time spent learning Moodle
is was it worth the effort, which was the subject of question
5. Most faculty (53%) felt that Moodle was beneficial in terms of
managing their course but that it did not have much effect on pedagogy.
However a sizeable proportion of respondents (34%) felt that their use
of Moodle did enhance their teaching as well as assist in their management
of the course. Only 2 respondents felt that their use of Moodle involved
too much effort even though it made a difference to their course. And
there were no faculty for whom Moodle had no effect whatsoever or who
felt that it was a complete waste of time. In the comments section most
faculty reported positively on their use of Moodle. One person found
more use for Moodle in larger classes, another commented that it had
a small but noticeable effect on the course, and another wrote that students
bringing copies of powerpoint presentations into class gave them more
time to think about the material. However, one faculty found that Moodle
muddled the course and reported that the students had difficulty with
it, and another said that students had reported errors with submitting
online assignments.
Not surprisingly, most faculty made limited use of the features available
in Moodle [link] and so I wanted to find out which activities they might
be interested in pursuing further (question 6). Faculty
seemed rather keen to discover more about making course announcements
(News), and online assignments and there was a measure of interest in
discussion forums. Surprisingly, there was a good deal of interest in
explicit pedagogical tools such as the workshop. Even though there was
less interest overall in the online writing activities such as journal
or blogs, nevertheless a substantial minority showed interest. Similarly
for choice, groups and quiz activities there was interest expressed.
What other digital techniques are of interest to faculty? Of the options
presented in question 7 (going digital with your class)
sharing Moodle techniques and best practices with other faculty was the
most popular. Next was sharing ways in which faculty had moved from paper
procedures to digital to save time & effort, and digital imaging involving
scanning, photoshop & powerpoint was also of interest. Faculty also asked
about getting student mugshots straight into Moodle and how to have scholars
from other institutions access the course.
What is the most popular format for Moodle assistance and when should
this be delivered? These were the subjects of questions 8 and
9. One on one help was the most popular with peer exchange
of ideas and best practices second. In house workshops were of interest
but online or printed documentation was generally of less interest. There
was very little or no interest in meeting with other Moodle using faculty
or getting outside experts in Moodle. A comment referred to a need
for expert help available locally so that quick
answers could be forthcoming. Teaching strategies for using Moodle in
different subject areas was also requested. In terms of timing, short
sessions sessions during the semester were a clear winner followed by
day workshops during the summer and before start of semester. Weekend
sessions were not popluar at all. Single day workshops were preferred.
Next year it seems that the majority of respondents were planning to
use Moodle in both fall and spring semesters indicating that their experience
was one which they wanted to repeat! Only 10% of responents didn't plan
to use Moodle at all.
