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November 9, 2021

Moodle

This article is a translation of a text first published in Eductive’s French edition.

Moodle is a learning management system (LMS). A LMS is a web-based environment that can leverage a suite of communication and interactivity tools to present information.

Moodle is open source, which distinguishes it from other LMSs such as LEA or TEAMS.

What can you do with Moodle?

For each course, a teacher can:

  • Create web pages, with videos and hyperlinks to other web pages.
  • Upload files (pdf, docx, xlsx, zip, etc.).
  • Add assignments. This can be used to:
    • provide a description of the task to the students
    • set a due date
    • collect the files submitted by students (individually or in groups)
    • hand out grades and graded papers to students
  • Create different types of discussion forums.
  • Create questionnaires (surveys or polls), to collect users’ opinions.)
  • Create tests, for summative or formative evaluation. Questions can take a variety of forms. The parameters for feedback to the student can be adjusted.
A student’s view of the French placement test at the Cégep de Saint-Laurent (Source [in French])
Teacher’s view for marking the French placement test at Cégep de Saint-Laurent (Source [in French])
  • Manage students’ grades.
  • Create interactive content with H5P

An interactive activity created with H5P where comments, questions and feedback are embedded in a video. H5P is integrated in Moodle: you can create such activities directly in Moodle and make them available to your students in Moodle. (Source : H5P.org)
  • Add a wiki. A wiki is a web page where the content can be viewed, modified, or added to by all participants.
  • Create lessons. Lessons are sections of content interspersed with questions. Based on the student’s response, feedback is then provided.
  • Create a glossary. Participants can create and maintain a list of definitions, like a dictionary.
  • Create a data base.
  • Manage a language lab. Participants can record themselves using a microphone. The teacher can listen to them live or access the recordings created by the students and give them marks.
  • Send messages to students.
  • Manage a peer assessment activity.
  • Design a real learning path by making one activity conditional on the successful completion of another, for example.
  • Generate a checklist of tasks for the students to check off those they have completed. This is combined with a progress bar that allows the student to track their progress at a glance, and the teacher to follow up easily.

Moodle can also be used to manage teamwork.

Moodle can also integrate other services and become a “one-stop shop” for students. For instance, they can:

  • Access to virtual classrooms for distance learning (such as Zoom, Teams or BigBlueButton).
  • Access the WeBWork platform (an online exerciser designed for maths and science education).
  • Access Mahara e-portfolios.
  • Access the collaborative annotation tool Hypothesis

Customised modules can also be integrated into Moodle. For example, the University of Montreal has developed a module for Script Concordance Tests. This module is now available as open code: you can integrate it into your own Moodle courses!

How do I get access to Moodle?

To find out if your college already has a Moodle platform, consult your ICT respondent [in French]. . If your college already has a Moodle site, your ICT respondent will be able to tell you how to access it and start using it.

  • Some colleges run their own Moodle platform independently.
  • – Others use the services of Collecto [in French]

Support for using Moodle

Your ICT respondent is the best person to support you in your use of Moodle. Eductive offers professional development activities free of charge to teachers in the Quebec college network.

Learn more about Moodle

The Moodle community webpage brings together all the documentation and allows thousands of users or developers from around the world to share their practices or technical challenges.

In Eductive, several stories have been written by teachers who use Moodle and share their experiences. Here are some of them:

About the author

Catherine Rhéaume

Catherine Rhéaume is an editor and writer for Eductive (previously Profweb) since 2013. She also teaches physics at Cégep Limoilou. Her work for Eductive fosters her interest for technopedagogy and encourages her to try innovative teaching practices.

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