Comments for Cytochrome C http://cytochromec.net/blog The joys of ed tech by Colin Matheson Sun, 29 Jan 2012 14:01:10 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 Comment on Why use Moodle, when you can use something shiny? by Frankie Kam http://cytochromec.net/blog/2012/01/why-use-moodle-when-you-can-use-something-shiny/comment-page-/#comment-9062 Frankie Kam Sun, 29 Jan 2012 14:01:10 +0000 http://cytochromec.net/blog/?p=241#comment-9062 Great post, Colin. For a moment I was expecting a review of some new, shiny, sexy, all singing-all-dancing new-fangled LMS alternative to Moodle. You caught me by surprise with an excellent review of Moodle's strengths! Well, talking about shiny and dullness of Moodle, with some hacks here and there, we can polish up Moodle's dull bits at the cost of breaking code during an upgrade to the next version of Moodle every 6 months. If the hacks are well maintained and recorded, then upgrades can be less painful. An example of shining-up Moodle is a new feature that I (and a few others) have introduced for the Online Users block and the Stamp Collection module. Both are but some examples on my blog. Hope you will drop by and contribute some ideas. Great post, Colin. For a moment I was expecting a review of some new, shiny, sexy, all singing-all-dancing new-fangled LMS alternative to Moodle. You caught me by surprise with an excellent review of Moodle’s strengths! Well, talking about shiny and dullness of Moodle, with some hacks here and there, we can polish up Moodle’s dull bits at the cost of breaking code during an upgrade to the next version of Moodle every 6 months. If the hacks are well maintained and recorded, then upgrades can be less painful. An example of shining-up Moodle is a new feature that I (and a few others) have introduced for the Online Users block and the Stamp Collection module. Both are but some examples on my blog. Hope you will drop by and contribute some ideas.

]]> Comment on E-mail Enhanced Google Forms for Walkthroughs/Quickvisits by gideon williams http://cytochromec.net/blog/2011/10/e-mail-enhanced-google-forms-for-walkthroughsquickvisits/comment-page-/#comment-9005 gideon williams Fri, 27 Jan 2012 22:55:07 +0000 http://cytochromec.net/blog/?p=221#comment-9005 Have you looked at the quizzing tool in google forms called flubaroo? Have you looked at the quizzing tool in google forms called flubaroo?

]]> Comment on Why use Moodle, when you can use something shiny? by gideon williams http://cytochromec.net/blog/2012/01/why-use-moodle-when-you-can-use-something-shiny/comment-page-/#comment-9004 gideon williams Fri, 27 Jan 2012 22:47:55 +0000 http://cytochromec.net/blog/?p=241#comment-9004 Dont disagree that we need to prepare students for a range of systems in the same way that we teach students to appky knowledge to make decisions and show understanding in different situations. You can still do all yhat and have an effective vle and platform. When we run a course like scratch, students put there evidence ib a posterous blog but send the link to an assignment that can allows me to make a marking rubric. Ratger than go to youtube to see videos, students can search a moodle glossary for key help features for specific tasks. Moodle can co-exist along side these other personalised tools and i believe, make the use of the tools more effective. We to have mahara and are beginning to use this alongside moodle with the mahara assignment activity which allows students to submit their pages to moodle for marking and grades to be given back and outcones in their pages. Exciting and scary times!!!! Dont disagree that we need to prepare students for a range of systems in the same way that we teach students to appky knowledge to make decisions and show understanding in different situations. You can still do all yhat and have an effective vle and platform. When we run a course like scratch, students put there evidence ib a posterous blog but send the link to an assignment that can allows me to make a marking rubric. Ratger than go to youtube to see videos, students can search a moodle glossary for key help features for specific tasks. Moodle can co-exist along side these other personalised tools and i believe, make the use of the tools more effective. We to have mahara and are beginning to use this alongside moodle with the mahara assignment activity which allows students to submit their pages to moodle for marking and grades to be given back and outcones in their pages. Exciting and scary times!!!!

]]> Comment on Why use Moodle, when you can use something shiny? by Colin Matheson http://cytochromec.net/blog/2012/01/why-use-moodle-when-you-can-use-something-shiny/comment-page-/#comment-8994 Colin Matheson Fri, 27 Jan 2012 14:37:58 +0000 http://cytochromec.net/blog/?p=241#comment-8994 @Phil I agree that Mahara is more of an open student-space while Moodle is more of a controlled teacher-space. We have used Mahara a bit and while I think the results have been good our middle and high school students still need a lot of direction to make their portfolios. Perhaps it is because we have trained students that school is a place to be drip fed info and not a place for personal expression. @gideon Your school has a nice Moodle site! @Chad Thanks :) @Joan Good point. However, even with the internet changing most people don't use more than one system at a time. What I mean is that people choose one system and stick to it (e.g. Facebook, Twitter, Google+ for social networking and Dropbox, Evernote, Google Docs or Ubuntu One for cloud storage). This can be a problem if a student has 7 teachers and they all do different things (and then 7 new teachers the next year who do different things). Having standard grading procedures, discipline rules, and online platforms helps focus kids on learning the content. I agree that learning adaptability and flexibility is a very important life skill. However, I know for sure that I want to have our kids learn how to write respectful and insightful comments online. I know that it takes a lot of practice for them to learn, and I know that most teachers do not have any web interaction in their class. By pushing a single system I believe I have a higher chance of getting teachers to add some sort of web interaction to their classes. @Phil I agree that Mahara is more of an open student-space while Moodle is more of a controlled teacher-space. We have used Mahara a bit and while I think the results have been good our middle and high school students still need a lot of direction to make their portfolios. Perhaps it is because we have trained students that school is a place to be drip fed info and not a place for personal expression.

@gideon Your school has a nice Moodle site!

@Chad Thanks :)

@Joan Good point. However, even with the internet changing most people don’t use more than one system at a time. What I mean is that people choose one system and stick to it (e.g. Facebook, Twitter, Google+ for social networking and Dropbox, Evernote, Google Docs or Ubuntu One for cloud storage). This can be a problem if a student has 7 teachers and they all do different things (and then 7 new teachers the next year who do different things). Having standard grading procedures, discipline rules, and online platforms helps focus kids on learning the content.

I agree that learning adaptability and flexibility is a very important life skill. However, I know for sure that I want to have our kids learn how to write respectful and insightful comments online. I know that it takes a lot of practice for them to learn, and I know that most teachers do not have any web interaction in their class. By pushing a single system I believe I have a higher chance of getting teachers to add some sort of web interaction to their classes.

]]> Comment on Why use Moodle, when you can use something shiny? by Joan http://cytochromec.net/blog/2012/01/why-use-moodle-when-you-can-use-something-shiny/comment-page-/#comment-8986 Joan Fri, 27 Jan 2012 11:22:11 +0000 http://cytochromec.net/blog/?p=241#comment-8986 Why the need for a one-stop shop? Since Internet is changing bussines we should get used to a changing plattform. Our pupils are used to i. Why the need for a one-stop shop? Since Internet is changing bussines we should get used to a changing plattform. Our pupils are used to i.

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