{"id":14330,"date":"2021-03-31T04:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-03-31T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eductive.ca\/ressource\/organize-your-course-on-moodle-to-facilitate-student-learning\/"},"modified":"2025-07-29T20:35:25","modified_gmt":"2025-07-30T00:35:25","slug":"organize-your-course-on-moodle-to-facilitate-student-learning","status":"publish","type":"resource","link":"https:\/\/eductive.ca\/en\/resource\/organize-your-course-on-moodle-to-facilitate-student-learning\/","title":{"rendered":"Organize Your Course on Moodle to Facilitate Student Learning"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Course organization is one of the ways a teacher can help students succeed in an online course. Although I am an experienced teacher, I had never worked with Moodle before the pandemic, and it then became mandatory in my college. After an exploratory tour of the Moodle platform with a colleague, I set about adapting and transferring my course content in the advanced ESL (English Second Language) course. I want to share a few tips with you.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Students in effectively organized courses are able to spend their time focusing on learning because they know what they are supposed to do and when.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"quote-author\"><a href=\"https:\/\/teaching.uwo.ca\/elearning\/online_course_design\/path-3-organizing-course-content.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Center for Teaching and Learning<\/a><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<h2>Help students quickly find the content they need<\/h2>\n<p>Students had all their classes on Moodle, that\u2019s why I always identify my class with a picture so that, straight away, students can tell which class they are in. A picture of my pet-pug, Diva, is easier for the students to remember than the official number for the course.<\/p>\n<p>My first page is <strong>a welcome page<\/strong> with all of the links to the important content for the course. I believe there is nothing to hide, <strong>students need to know in advance everything about the course<\/strong>. That is why I give students access to documents that explain in detail what they have to do and when they are due.<\/p>\n<div class=\"media\">\n<div id=\"attachment_52799\" style=\"width: 1988px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-52799\" class=\"size-full wp-image-52799\" src=\"https:\/\/eductive.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/image1ginalevine.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1978\" height=\"1171\" srcset=\"https:\/\/eductive.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/image1ginalevine.jpg 1978w, https:\/\/eductive.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/image1ginalevine-300x178.jpg 300w, https:\/\/eductive.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/image1ginalevine-1024x606.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/eductive.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/image1ginalevine-768x455.jpg 768w, https:\/\/eductive.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/image1ginalevine-1536x909.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1978px) 100vw, 1978px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-52799\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Course welcome page with the links to all the important information for the students<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Among other things, on the welcome page there is a link to:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Zoom, where the synchronous classes take place<\/li>\n<li>the course plan<\/li>\n<li>the answer keys to exercises<\/li>\n<li>a verb guide<\/li>\n<li>how to write an essay<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>There is also a link to a Word document containing a semester overview. Because flexibility is needed in a lesson planning, I tell the students that I may make changes and they should check the document regularly. All of the weeks are outlined, students know exactly:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>what they are going to do in class each week\n<ul>\n<li>online as a group<\/li>\n<li>offline individually<\/li>\n<li>in small groups (breakout rooms)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>what has to be submitted for homework<\/li>\n<li>when their evaluations will be done (highlighted in red in the document).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"media\">\n<div id=\"attachment_52797\" style=\"width: 2030px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-52797\" class=\"size-full wp-image-52797\" src=\"https:\/\/eductive.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/screen-shot-2021-03-31-at-61806-pm.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2020\" height=\"1264\" srcset=\"https:\/\/eductive.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/screen-shot-2021-03-31-at-61806-pm.jpg 2020w, https:\/\/eductive.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/screen-shot-2021-03-31-at-61806-pm-300x188.jpg 300w, https:\/\/eductive.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/screen-shot-2021-03-31-at-61806-pm-1024x641.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/eductive.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/screen-shot-2021-03-31-at-61806-pm-768x481.jpg 768w, https:\/\/eductive.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/screen-shot-2021-03-31-at-61806-pm-1536x961.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2020px) 100vw, 2020px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-52797\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The semester activities at a glance with evaluation activities highlighted in red<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Another link on the welcome page gives students all of the necessary information concerning their reading assignment (a novel) for the semester:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>what pages to read each week<\/li>\n<li>questions to answer on the weakly reading<\/li>\n<li>dates for in-class discussions on the novel<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Week-by-week course content in Moodle<\/h2>\n<p>Of course, each Moodle post starts with a picture of a pug. In an online context, dogs are easy conversation starters, even at the college level.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_52795\" style=\"width: 802px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-52795\" class=\"wp-image-52795 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/eductive.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/screen-shot-2021-03-31-at-61950-pm.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"792\" height=\"680\" srcset=\"https:\/\/eductive.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/screen-shot-2021-03-31-at-61950-pm.jpg 792w, https:\/\/eductive.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/screen-shot-2021-03-31-at-61950-pm-300x258.jpg 300w, https:\/\/eductive.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/screen-shot-2021-03-31-at-61950-pm-768x659.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 792px) 100vw, 792px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-52795\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Each week there is a different picture of a pug\u2026sometimes used as a conversation starter.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>All of my weekly posts start with the same 3 items:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Online<\/strong>: description of the synchronous activities (about 1 hour), either presentations by the teacher or students working in breakout groups<\/li>\n<li><strong>Offline<\/strong>: description of the asynchronous assignments (about 2 hours) that students do on their own with a deadline clearly indicated.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Homework<\/strong> to be done during the week<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Students often get confused when only the weeks are given, \u201cIs it week 11 or 13?\u201d I recommend that when teachers set up their course, they not only include the 15 class weeks, but also the weeks off such as spring break or Easter. Also, if a Monday schedule is replacing a Tuesday schedule, the teacher has to mention it. I give as much information as possible to avoid any confusion, such as the day and the date.<\/p>\n<p>Sticking to this strategy definitely helps streamline the design process for the course and it helps the students understand the framework of the course.<\/p>\n<div class=\"media\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-52793 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/eductive.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/screen-shot-2021-03-31-at-62115-pm.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1960\" height=\"718\" srcset=\"https:\/\/eductive.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/screen-shot-2021-03-31-at-62115-pm.jpg 1960w, https:\/\/eductive.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/screen-shot-2021-03-31-at-62115-pm-300x110.jpg 300w, https:\/\/eductive.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/screen-shot-2021-03-31-at-62115-pm-1024x375.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/eductive.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/screen-shot-2021-03-31-at-62115-pm-768x281.jpg 768w, https:\/\/eductive.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/screen-shot-2021-03-31-at-62115-pm-1536x563.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1960px) 100vw, 1960px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Clear instructions are given in the same format each week.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Students are told to submit all of their assignments on Moodle, so there is no confusion. I can go to Moodle to review the students\u2019 work and then add grades and feedback to student submissions.<\/p>\n<div class=\"media\">\n<div id=\"attachment_52791\" style=\"width: 2019px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-52791\" class=\"size-full wp-image-52791\" src=\"https:\/\/eductive.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/image5ginalevine.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2009\" height=\"1172\" srcset=\"https:\/\/eductive.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/image5ginalevine.jpg 2009w, https:\/\/eductive.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/image5ginalevine-300x175.jpg 300w, https:\/\/eductive.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/image5ginalevine-1024x597.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/eductive.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/image5ginalevine-768x448.jpg 768w, https:\/\/eductive.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/image5ginalevine-1536x896.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2009px) 100vw, 2009px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-52791\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Feedback to a student about the homework submitted to Moodle.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h2>Moodle: an easy platform to learn and use<\/h2>\n<p>As a teacher who was new to Moodle, I found it was easy to create my first course. The first thing I did was create a framework (the course overview document or 15-week plan). Once that was done, it became an iterative process over a few hours. In fact, I have given that course many times, so I had all of the content and all I needed to do was organise it into Moodle.<\/p>\n<p>I found out that I can also easily add games like <a href=\"https:\/\/kahoot.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Kahoot!<\/a> to review some elements of the course. I will be trying that next.<\/p>\n<h2>The fundamentals<\/h2>\n<p>A teacher being able to communicate clearly and organize -the course effectively is the key to a successful online course. Basically, it\u2019s as simple as having everything in the same place (Moodle):all of the course activities, assignments and students\u2019 work as well as providing students in advance with in-depth instructions on what you want them to do each week.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>A meaningful structure is logical, helping people to comprehend and retain the content as well as helping them quickly find the content they need.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"quote-author\"><a href=\"https:\/\/theelearningcoach.com\/elearning_design\/how-to-organize-content\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>10 Ways To Organize Instructional Content<\/strong><\/a> by Connie Malamed<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Course organization is one of the ways a teacher can help students succeed in an online course. Although I am an experienced teacher, I had never worked with Moodle before the pandemic, and it then became mandatory in my college. After an exploratory tour of the Moodle platform with a colleague, I set about adapting and transferring my course content in the advanced ESL (English Second Language) course. I want to share a few tips with you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":123,"featured_media":7487,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","tags":[],"resource_type":[2390],"discipline":[2236],"approach":[2201,2199,2200],"resource_step":[],"res_caap_type":[],"res_gean_type":[],"resource__gean_step":[],"class_list":["post-14330","resource","type-resource","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","resource_type-real-life-story","discipline-multidisciplinary","approach-digital-learning-environments-en","approach-distance-teaching-en","approach-distance-hybrid-or-dual-mode-teaching-en","cf"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eductive.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/resource\/14330","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eductive.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/resource"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eductive.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/resource"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eductive.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/123"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eductive.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14330"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/eductive.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/resource\/14330\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":52802,"href":"https:\/\/eductive.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/resource\/14330\/revisions\/52802"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eductive.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7487"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eductive.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14330"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eductive.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14330"},{"taxonomy":"resource_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eductive.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/resource_type?post=14330"},{"taxonomy":"discipline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eductive.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/discipline?post=14330"},{"taxonomy":"approach","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eductive.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/approach?post=14330"},{"taxonomy":"resource_step","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eductive.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/resource_step?post=14330"},{"taxonomy":"res_caap_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eductive.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/res_caap_type?post=14330"},{"taxonomy":"res_gean_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eductive.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/res_gean_type?post=14330"},{"taxonomy":"resource__gean_step","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eductive.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/resource__gean_step?post=14330"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}