SPLS - Sharon Seaton

This system I believe has great potential.  For any grade level I would say 3rd grade on up this could be a way to personalize learning for each student.  I think this would be ideal for kids who are self directed, self motivated and wish to learn at their own pace. It would leave the teacher more time to spend with those who need the extra one on one.

The down side I see is the time for a teacher to monitor and create all of this. I know from experience in creating my own Moodle classes it takes about 36-40 hours to create a class and that is if you have all of your resources available and can just plug them in. Also if your technology infrastructure is not keep in tip top shape it can lead to frustration and teachers going back to traditional means to deliver content. I also think parents need to be brought on board and educated about this type of learning as their learning experience is much different and sometimes their expectations and your expectations are not in common.  For example, I tell students my due dates are firm because they have access to their class 24/7 so even when we have a day off, if something it due the student is expected to meet the deadline.  However, when we had President's Day off and many students missed a deadline, I had some phone calls asking why their students' assignment was marked late when they did not have school.

I don't think a system like this would ever replace teachers as you have to have someone guide students in their learning.

I would like to see an opportunity for students to have more input as to what modules they could study.  It looks right now as if the teacher decides that.  Also I did not see a place for students to place  resources that they might use over and over.

Hi Sharon, I figured the set up for the system would be time consuming but when I saw your time frames for your Moodle class I was surprised. It's nice to have people with some experience to help establish parameters and reasonable expectations. Without that, I might have gotten discouraged with how much time it was taking but if I know what is typical I would be much more likely to power through.

Sharon,

I appreciated you mentioning the amount of time it takes to create a Moodle class. While I like the overall idea of the system, the amount of time to prepare it raises major concerns for me. Do you know, are there classes already created for students to use, or do teachers have to create them from scratch?

HI Abby,

I have never used a prepared class as I have always created my own.  I would suggest seeing Debbie's post below as she has posted some resources  :)