Moodle as a course management system - It isn't just for distance learning

Abstract

Moodle, WebCT, Blackboard and Sakai are examples of course management systems that have been traditionally used for distance learning (DL) classes. In fact, the Moodle website (http://moodle.com/) states that "Moodle is a course management system designed to help educators who want to create quality online courses." Instructional delivery and the use of technology have changed over the years. Faculty need to identify effective strategies that could improve and strengthen academic programs in order to meet the learning needs of all students, especially the Net Generation students1. While these systems have been used extensively for online courses, they can also provide a technological means to develop more effective teaching in a face to face environment. There have been instances where these systems have been used with both simultaneous face to face and distance delivery2, but this paper will focus on using these systems strictly for face to face classes. One of these systems, Moodle, has been used for two years in three Electrical and Computer Engineering Technology courses at New Jersey Institute of Technology. Of the three courses, one is a senior design capstone project course, one is a traditional lecture course, and one is a combination of lecture and laboratory. This paper will describe the attributes of this course management system, and how it can be effectively incorporated into a face to face course. Some of the attributes that will be described in this paper include: • Students can upload assignments, and be able to see their grade, comments from the instructor, and have their assignments stored • Students can review their grades on all assignments and exams, and understand if there are missing assignments • Students can be part of chat rooms (forum), even though the class is face to face • Additional meetings with students, outside the normal class hours, can be accomplished through use of a product called Wimba, which is a collaborative learning software application that seamlessly works with Moodle Specific examples of how these, and other attributes of this course management system were used in lecture, lab based and senior project Electrical and Computer Engineering Technology courses will be described, and how using this type of course management system can assist in transitioning a face to face course to either a hybrid format or a fully distance learning format. © 2011 American Society for Engineering Education.