Stephen Dutton
Performing Arts Tutor (Music specialist)
“Using Moodle and its online marking system. An investigation into the impact on students’ progress and self-esteem.”
Background
· Online Learning Environments are being utilised more and more in education
· Moodle is an online learning environment that allows teachers and students to collaborate in the learning process. It enables this collaboration by using technology that can be seen in social networking sites such as Facebook, Youtube and Twitter. This is called Web 2.0 technology.
· Web 2.0 is interactive more and active approach to learning. This is a big step up from the earlier Web 1.0 approach allows for very little interaction from the student.
Key actions
· The value of Moodle was analysed through student responses and their use of the online system
· A survey of the literature on E-learning was conducted for the likely impact on teaching.
· A case was conducted to assess the value of the online marking system to students’ learning and self-esteem
Preliminary findings
· E-learning offers a lot of benefits to both teachers and learners such as easy collaboration, personalised learning and student e-portfolios. It is clear from the literature and in practice that managing learning is made easier for the teacher.
· The use of Moodle seems very positive although it is not without its issues such as the stability of the technology and the learning curve for the teacher but these can be addressed.
· The more effective a teacher the more likely you are to use e-learning well. There seems to be no link with how technologically minded you are.