Participants should also come with a basic working knowledge of Moodle course development and an existing Moodle course in which they have editing teacher rights.

Through this session, participants will learn strategies and ideas for improving existing Moodle courses. In working with teachers around the country, the presenters find that many teachers using Moodle are not taking full advantage of Moodle's features and collaborative capabilities. In addition, overall course design and layout, including elements of quality web design are often a challenge. A few changes can make a significant difference in increasing your students' level of engagement and the overall organization and professionalism of your course.

To achieve the overall goal of improved course design, we will work toward the following outcomes:
Participants will recognize the difference between topic summaries and labels and be able to utilize each appropriately.
Participants will learn how to add images to topic summaries and labels as well as how to place them effectively.
Participants will recognize basic principles of good web design and implement them in a Moodle course.
Participants will add simple HTML tags to activity and resource names in Moodle and learn advantages and disadvantages of adding such tags.
Participants will explore examples of databases; collaborative glossaries; lesson; and workshops and discuss how these activities might replace more “traditional” course activities and resources.
Participants will construct a database, glossary, lesson and/or workshop in their Moodle course.

Participants will leave the session with the skills and resources necessary to continue to update and modify their course based on the principles presented.

Outline

As the session begins, participants will be directed to their web browser to visit our demonstration Moodle site at http://moodle.remote-learner.net where we will explore a course that illustrates “what not to do.” This course will incorporate many examples based on real Moodle courses. The initial focus will be on layout and web design and include a discussion of basic principles of web design. Then, we will look more closely at the types of activities being used in the course while discussing the weaknesses or disadvantages of these options. We will spend approximately ten minutes on this portion of the presentation; this sample course will also be available to participants after the session.

Once participants have an understanding of what to avoid in a course, participants will be asked to move to their own Moodle course to do some editing. Note: if participants are not comfortable editing a live course, we recommend making a copy of the course ahead of time to use during the session. As participants follow along in their own course, we will work in a section of the “bad” course. We will make changes first to the topic summaries; reinforcing best practices and how they differ from labels. We will also demonstrate the process for adding images to topic summaries and offer strategies for effective placement. Then, we'll add and/or modify labels; again emphasizing how and why labels should be used. This segment of the session will take approximately fifteen minutes.

Following the focus on layout and design, we'll discuss alternatives for the activities typically used in a Moodle course (as illustrated in “what not to do” course). Together, we'll explore examples of a database, glossary, lesson, and workshop as we discuss how they might be used. Participants will find these examples in a separate section of the demonstration course. As we consider these examples, we'll discuss ideas and examples for utilizing these activities. We estimate this portion will last approximately ten minutes.

Next, we will spend approximately ten minutes building an example of one of the four modules (database, glossary, lesson, workshop) based on a poll of the participants. Participants will follow along and build a sample in their own course.

In the last five minutes, we will conclude the session with an overview of a Moodle course that illustrates the best practices emphasized during the session. We will also review resources and information relevant to good web design and instructional design.

A reminder to participants—you will need to have an existing Moodle course and have access to editing rights during the session. If you are on a Mac, please download Mozilla Firefox ahead of time so that you have access to the HTML editor in Moodle. It will also be helpful to have at least one image on your computer to use during the session.

If participants come with Moodle course development experience and know how to add and edit activities and resources, then all should be able to progress through the material at a similar pace. However, if there are participants who need individual assistance, the second presenter will be available to assist. In addition, the skills are such that one person may only do just as much as we do in the examples, while other participants will be encouraged to apply what they learn to other areas of their course once they understand the concept or procedure.

Outline (for BYOL)

As the session begins, participants will be directed to their web browser to visit our demonstration Moodle site at http://moodle.remote-learner.net where we will explore a course that illustrates “what not to do.” This course will incorporate many examples based on real Moodle courses. The initial focus will be on layout and web design and include a discussion of basic principles of web design. Then, we will look more closely at the types of activities being used in the course while discussing the weaknesses or disadvantages of these options. We will spend approximately ten minutes on this portion of the presentation; this sample course will also be available to participants after the session.

Once participants have an understanding of what to avoid in a course, participants will be asked to move to their own Moodle course to do some editing. Note: if participants are not comfortable editing a live course, we recommend making a copy of the course ahead of time to use during the session. As participants follow along in their own course, we will work in a section of the “bad” course. We will make changes first to the topic summaries; reinforcing best practices and how they differ from labels. We will also demonstrate the process for adding images to topic summaries and offer strategies for effective placement. Then, we'll add and/or modify labels; again emphasizing how and why labels should be used. This segment of the session will take approximately fifteen minutes.

Following the focus on layout and design, we'll discuss alternatives for the activities typically used in a Moodle course (as illustrated in “what not to do” course). Together, we'll explore examples of a database, glossary, lesson, and workshop as we discuss how they might be used. Participants will find these examples in a separate section of the demonstration course. As we consider these examples, we'll discuss ideas and examples for utilizing these activities. We estimate this portion will last approximately ten minutes.

Next, we will spend approximately ten minutes building an example of one of the four modules (database, glossary, lesson, workshop) based on a poll of the participants. Participants will follow along and build a sample in their own course.

In the last five minutes, we will conclude the session with an overview of a Moodle course that illustrates the best practices emphasized during the session. We will also review resources and information relevant to good web design and instructional design.

A reminder to participants—you will need to have an existing Moodle course and have access to editing rights during the session. If you are on a Mac, please download Mozilla Firefox ahead of time so that you have access to the HTML editor in Moodle. It will also be helpful to have at least one image on your computer to use during the session.

If participants come with Moodle course development experience and know how to add and edit activities and resources, then all should be able to progress through the material at a similar pace. However, if there are participants who need individual assistance, the second presenter will be available to assist. In addition, the skills are such that one person may only do just as much as we do in the examples, while other participants will be encouraged to apply what they learn to other areas of their course once they understand the concept or procedure.

Supporting Research

Dougiamas, M. & Taylor, P. C. (2003, April). Moodle: using learning communities to create an open source course management system. Available online at http://dougiamas.com/writing/edmedia2003/
Martin Dougiamas, Moodle's creator and lead developer, designed Moodle through his PhD work. This paper summarizes Martin's work and details the philosophy and educational pedagogy supporting the design of Moodle.

Williams, R. & Tollett, J. (2005, September). The Non-Designer's Web Book.
The Non-Designer's Web Book is one resource, among many, that offers practical suggestions for good web design. This book includes pictures that clearly illustrate examples of good design vs. bad design.

Presenter Background

Michelle Moore, the Director of Training for Remote-Learner.net, has been an enthusiastic fan of Moodle since finding it over four years ago while working on her Masters Degree in Instructional Design and Technology. Michelle's Master's Project, devoted to finding quality alternatives to expensive course management systems, led her to Moodle.

After finding Moodle, Michelle began using it with her students in her former role as a middle school math teacher. Before long, Michelle started sharing Moodle and providing support to other teachers around the school district and beyond. Today, Michelle enjoys opportunities to assist teachers and business trainers across the United States as they integrate Moodle into their own classrooms.

Michelle has presented Moodle at a number of conferences including NECC, where she has received Best of NECC designations, T+L, and E-Learning Guild Conferences.

Kathie Robeson, Training and Events Manager for Remote-Learner.net, began working with Moodle in 2003 as Academic Technology Coordinator at Riverside School of Health Careers. She has served on the faculty of Old Dominion University, Norfolk State University, and Christopher Newport University, and worked as both faculty and Blackboard administrator at Hampton University in southeastern Virginia. Kathie is a certified pediatric nurse practitioner with additional background in both psychology and computers. She joined Remote-Learner in 2007 and provides support and training to clients across the United States.