Creating Interactive Online. Adult ESL Classes with Moodle. Deborah Gordon February Technology & Distance Learning Symposium

Transcription

1 Creating Interactive Online Adult ESL Classes with Moodle Teacher on Special Assignment Distance Learning Coordinator Deborah Gordon February Technology & Distance Learning Symposium

2 Presentation Agenda Introductions Overview of Moodle Who Our Students Are Designing Online Adult ESL Instruction Tools and Tips Pitfalls and Challenges Questions and Answers Evaluation

3 OACE Distance Learning Program Deborah Gordon ESL & Citizenship Program Teacher on Special Assignment Distance Learning Coordinator: Saturday Blended Distance Learning Classes: Homestudy Packets with Technology Components Video/DVD Checkout Program Online Instruction Special Projects

4 Oakland Adult & Career Education Programs Adult Basic Ed/ Adult Secondary Ed/G.E.D. Adults with Disabilities Career Technical Education CBET/Parenting Education ESL & Citizenship Program Older Adults Program

5 Who Our Students Are Total ESL Enrollment: 9279 Native Languages: Cambodian, Chinese, Farsi, Hmong, Korean, Lao, Russian, Spanish, Tagalog, Vietnamese Male: 3607 Female: 5672 Ages: 18-24: : : : 1071 Ethnicities: African; Asian; Filipino; European; Latin American; Pacific Islander

6 Who Our Students Are: By Language Groups Cambodian, 18, 2% Other, 72, 7% Vientnamese, 60, 6% Lao, 2, 0% Russian, 6, 1% Korean, 7, 1% Farsi, 1, 0% Tagalog, 0, 0% Spanish, 387, 36% Chinese, 519, 47% Spanish Chinese Other Cambodian Vientnamese Lao Russian Korean Farsi Tagalog

7 What is Moodle? Moodle is a free and open source e-learning software platform which allows the instructor to create an online environment accessible by students in remote locations. Moodle and similar software, such as Blackboard, may also be known as a Course Management System (CMS), or Learning Management Systems (LMS), or Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). Moodle is designed to help educators create online courses with opportunities for rich interaction. Its open source license and modular design means that people can develop additional functionality. Development is undertaken by a globally diffused network of commercial and non-commercial users, streamlined by the Moodle company. (from Wikipedia)

8 Team/Resources People: OACE Assistant Director: Chris Nelson ESL & Citizenship Program Administrator LaRanda Marr Distance Learning Coordinator: Deborah Gordon Support & outside services: OACE Tech Support Raul Nunez & Sandy Keh OTAN Penny Pearson

9 Overview of Our Process Our Objectives: to provide training for teachers to create an online ESL courses for students at all levels Questions We Asked: How do we organize our course? How computer literate are our students? How can we assess speaking in an online environment? How do we evaluate ADA for online courses? How do we create an engaging and lively environment? How can we assess which activities will best support the model standards at the district and state levels? How can we provide ongoing tech support for students? How do we ensure interactivity? What new technologies might we want to integrate? How might online instruction fit into a blended learning program?

10 Sample Activities We Used to Design Instruction Interactive Assessments: Moodle Assessments: Hot Potatoes Quizzes and Quizzes Quia Many Things Video Dictation Web-Based Resources Forum Discussions Chat Rooms

11 Tools and Tips Tools: Writing: forums, chats, blogs, wikis Listening: dictations, videos, audio files Assessments: quizzes, surveys Additional resources: glossaries, databases, links to any website Tips: Take time to consider the graphic design or look of your course; be consistent throughout your course Include plenty of graphics, sound files and non-text visuals Present lessons in short chunks; break up long lessons into shorter exercises and activities

12 Pitfalls and Challenges Many parts of Moodle are not intuitive: allow ample time for development of activities Online teaching requires consistent follow-up by the teacher in the form of , phone calls and, if possible, one to one tutoring Remember that significant portions of the Internet are not in the public domain; be careful when choosing and using clip art; linking to websites and copying materials: you are in a public space

13 Timeline Feb Mar Apr Jun July Aug Sep Phase 1 Director Proposal written and submitted to OACE Assistant Training by Penny Pearson Phase 2 Collaboration by Moodle Team Recruitment of Students Phase 3 Orientation Launch of Pilot Class Oct Phase 4 Nov Dec Jan Mar Apr Jun Professional Development/Teacher Training Posting of Vacancies Interviews Launch of Classes in Summer or Fall

14 Current Status High-level overview of progress against schedule On-track: orientation and launch of pilot class Action Items: Purchase of OACE server Beginning Computer Literacy training for teachers Training for online instruction Plan for students who need ongoing tech support and instructional support that is difficult to provide Plan for students who may have limited access to appropriate technology Scheduling collaboration among curriculum development team

15 Evaluation & Feedback Thank you for coming. Please click here: Evaluation & Feedback: