An LMS By Any Other Name

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An LMS By Any Other Name

• Jonathon Sweetin
• Tina Farmer
• Pitt Community College

Moodle
2
Purpose

• This presentation is not a how-to guide for using
  Moodle or Blackboard.
• The audience for this presentation are current
  Blackboard users who are experimenting with
  Moodle.
• This helps transition Blackboard users to Moodle
  terms.
• We are NOT Moodle experts!

3
Agenda

• Background Information
• Similarities and/or Differences
• Layout
• Course Administration
• Student Management
• Content Management
• Conclusion

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Background Information

• PCC adopted Blackboard in 1999.
• Currently, 550 active courses with 5000
  students.
• Summer 2007, PCC joined the North Carolina Moodle
  Users Group sponsored by the System Office.
• Moodle to date, 27 courses with 670 students.

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Blackboard Layout

• The Bb layout is based off the navigation bar on
  the left.
• Bb uses different content areas for different
  things.
• Within each content area, folders and subfolders
  can be used to further organize content.
• Instructors like this method because its all
  very neat and organized.
• Students must jump around in the course to find
  things and sometimes complain that its a bit
  confusing.

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Moodle Layout

• The layout of Moodle is about as far away from
  Blackboard as you can get.
• As far as the organization of your course,
  everythings just out there.
• In Moodle, you do not have different content
  areas and foldersat least not in the same sense
  that you do in Bb.

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Moodle Layout

• Moodle is very shallow and this can be a huge
  hurdle for instructors accustomed to Bb.
• Instructors resist not having their folder, but
  students actually seem less confused.
• The use of Blocks allows the instructor to
  customize the tools and resources that students
  see.

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Moodle Layout
List of Blocks ?
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Blackboard Control Panel

• In Bb, you can edit every part of the course from
  the Control Panel.

Blackboards Control Panel
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Moodle Administration Block

• No control panel in Moodle.
• Instructor-only options are in the Administration
  block.
• No content editing.

Moodle Administration Block
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Blackboard Edit View

• Blackboards Edit View feature allows you to edit
  content right from the content page.

Content Page Before Clicking Edit View
Content Page After Clicking Edit View
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Moodle Turn Editing On

• In Moodle, you use the Turn Editing On button to
  turn on the content editing tools.

Course Page Before Clicking Turn Editing On button
Course Page After Clicking Turn Editing On button
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Blackboard Course Options

• Most changes to the course structure and settings
  are made from the Course Options area of the
  Control Panel.

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Moodle Settings
Edit Course Settings Screen

• Edit Course Settings is located in the
  Administration block
• Most course structure and settings are controlled
  on this screen including
• Names
• Summary
• course format
• Availability
• start date
• enrollment status

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Blackboard Enroll Users
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Moodle Assign Roles

• Very different terminology from Bb- Assign Roles.
• Located under Administration Block.
• Enroll Un-enroll is done on the same screen.
• Unlike Blackboard, in Moodle when you un-enroll
  a student their records ARE NOT LOST!

Assign Roles Screen
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Blackboard List/Modify Users
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Moodle Participants

• Users are called Participants in Moodle.
• Accessed under the People Block.
• Can filter by time since last activity.
• Can sort by all column headings.
• Displays pictures, if added to profile.
• Gives quick access to students profile blogs.
• Can quickly send messages to selected students
  from this screen.

Participants Screen ?
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Blackboard Announcements

• By default are not emailed.
• Appear on the first page students see.

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Moodle News Forum

• The News discussion forum is used to keep
  students up to date in the course.
• It is in every course by default.
• All participants are subscribed by default.
• News forums are RSS enabled.

Found in the 0 block of the course.
News Forum Screen
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Blackboard Content Items
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Moodle Content Items

• In Moodle, things are broken down into more
  specific categories than in Blackboard.
• Moodle gives you two types of items to add.
• Resources are things for students to read or look
  at.
• Activities are things for students to do.

Moodle Activities ?
Moodle Resources
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Blackboard Item Availability

• Must modify each item to change availability.
• Can be controlled by date/time.
• Adaptive Release gives advanced options for
  automatically setting availability when certain
  conditions are met.

Options when modifying a folder in Blackboard
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Moodle Hide/Show Item

• A whole section or an individual item of content
  can be hidden.
• Simply click the eye no need to edit each item.
• No date/time or adaptive release on resources.

Main course page, in Edit mode
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Blackboard Assignments

• There are two common ways to post assignments in
  Blackboard.
• The old way with instructions typed into a Bb
  item submitted via drop box or email.
• Items or columns were manually added to grade
  book to hold these grades.
• Submitted files had to be viewed elsewhere.
• The new way using the Assignment content type.
• Links directly to the grade book.
• Submitted files are viewed from within the
  gradebook.

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Moodle Assignments

• Assignments in Moodle similar to the new
  Assignment content type in Bb.
• Tied directly into the Grade book Calendar.
• View work, leave comments grade all on the same
  screen.
• Assignment Types
• Advanced Uploading of Files allows multiple files
  to be submitted, also lets you send a file back
  to the student.
• Online Text allows submission of text only
  without a saved file.
• Upload a single file similar to Advanced
  Uploading of Files except they can only submit a
  single file and you can not send a file back to
  the student.
• Offline Activity is anything you want to enter a
  grade for, that they dont submit through
  assignments.

Types of assignments available in the Add an
Activity box
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Blackboard Attach File

• In Bb, files are attached to content items.

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Moodle Files

• A folder structure can be created to organize and
  store your files.
• All uploaded files are stored in this area.
• Can be used to help you stay organized.
• If you need to update a file, simply re-upload it
  and overwrite the previous file. No need to
  modify the content item pointing to the file.
• Can give students access to specific files or
  folders

Files screen in a Moodle course
Link files or folders into the course content by
Adding A Resource
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Blackboard Gradebook

• Very slow to load.
• Headings fall off screen can be confusing.
• Can display/edit by item or user.
• Each individual grade is a link.

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Moodle Grades

• Primary difference from Blackboard This is a
  place to VIEW grades, not Enter/Edit them.
• Looks a lot different than Bb.
• Grouped by category - need to click the category
  title to see individual assignment grades.
• There are several view options that can
  drastically change the appearance.
• Weighting is similar to Bb.

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Moodle Grades

• Unlike Bb, it allows for assignment exemptions
  and curves.
• Prints students names on left right for easier
  reading.
• Will reprint headers after of rows for easier
  reading.
• Individual grades are not links - cant edit an
  individual grade from the grade book screen.
• Unlike Bb, grading is always done per assignment
  never per user.

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Moodle Grades
Initial view grouped by Categories
View of individual grades after clicking on
Assignments Category
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Blackboard Grading

• Very time consuming, especially if you need to
  grade submitted files.
• Multiple OKs, Submits and page reloads per grade

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Moodle Grading

• Definitely a WOW!
• One screen lists each student, their submitted
  work and date submitted.
• Quick grade option lets you record a grade and
  leave comments for each student without having to
  submit each one individually

Quick Grade option choose grade from drop down
leave brief comments
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Moodle Grading
Grading an Advanced File Upload Assignment.
Everything is on one screen. A single click
takes you to the next student. Its a small
window so each student loads quickly.
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Blackboard Course Statistics

• Slow.
• Minimal information.
• Few sorting or grouping options.
• Logs for individual dates are hard to read.

Bb statistics for the month of August
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Moodle Reports

• WOW, WOW, WOW!!!
• Can see details about every click made.
• Can sort, filter and view in greater detail.

Reports screen
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Blackboard Email
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Moodle Message

• If a student is online, when you send a message
  an instant message box alerts them to your
  message immediately.
• If they are not online an email is sent.
• You can message students in bulk from the
  Participants screen.
• A Message History log is saved of all messages
  you send through Moodle.
• Messages are automatically sent to student
  whenever you post grades.

Incoming message
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Blackboard Calendar

• Cumbersome time consuming to use.
• Not very prominent in the course.

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Moodle Calendar

• Big WOW!
• Displayed prominently on the main course page.
• All due dates are auto-linked directly into the
  calendar.
• Mouse over highlighted date for more info.
• Students absolutely love this feature.
• Events can be set at the school, class, group
  participant level.

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Blackboard Glossary

• Simply a list of terms
• Not interactive within the course

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Moodle Glossary

• Your students can post glossary entries or you
  can restrict this privilege to instructors only.
• If a term in the glossary appears with-in the
  course, it is auto linked back to its definition.
• You can turn this feature on and off.

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Conclusion

• More information or link to the presentation
  handout go to the PCC Moodle Users Group at
  jsweetin.wordpress.comContact Info
• Jonathon Sweetin jsweetin_at_email.pittcc.edu
• Tina Farmer tfarmer_at_email.pittcc.edu