RIDE conference: Sharing Practices and Ideas for Course Design on Moodle

The CSM Digital Learning team recently co-facilitated a workshop entitled ‘Sharing Practice and Ideas for Course Design on Moodle’ at the Research in Distance Education (RIDE) conference, hosted by the Centre for Online and Distance Education (CODE) at the University of London. It was a great opportunity to share our practice, and also learn from other practitioners.

[8639] Matt Phillpott (CODE), Amy Urry (Central Saint Martins), Sarah Leontovitsch (Central Saint Martins) and Damien Borowik (Central Saint Martins). Sharing Practices and Ideas for course design on Moodle.

Abstract:

Moodle is a widely used virtual learning environment (VLE) in higher education (HE) institutions, but there is no one-size-fits-all approach to using it. Different HE institutions use Moodle in various ways, and structure their courses and modules differently. Those working on the courses have different ways of designing and structuring content to make it as accessible and inclusive as possible, whilst ensuring that content is discoverable and easy to navigate and use. In many cases, Moodle is also used to provide other
content that is not necessarily part of a specific course, but useful to support student learning. Additionally, there is often the need to find ways to use and integrate third party tools to expand what is possible with distance and blended learning using Moodle. For example, embedding Padlets, creating interactive activities using H5P, using Panopto for assessment submissions, and connecting applications such as Teams or Zoom.
There are lots of creative solutions out there, but we rarely have an opportunity to discuss them or share ideas.

This workshop aims to provide a space for Moodle users to exchange practices and insights on designing learning activities and/or courses on Moodle. Whilst far from being an emergent technology (it was first released in 2002), Moodle remains for many institutions the core part of their digital provision. In an era where online and blended education has become more important (and expected), how we use such a core tool, the pedagogies that we employ, and how we link it to other technologies, needs room for discussion.

This workshop will start with 20 minutes of presentations, sharing some practices at the University of London and Central Saint Martins, University of Arts London. We will then go into groups to discuss and chat about Moodle design, before coming together again to reflect and learn from each other.

The presentations will focus on:
Matt Phillpott (CODE) – Designing a professional development course on Moodle for tutors in Mexico and using H5P for interactive and practical learning activities on a PGCert and to support dissertation study.

Sarah Leontovitsch, Damien Borowik and Amy Urry (Central Saint Martins) – The CSM Digital learning team focus on inclusivity in their Moodle design, in an art and design context. They will discuss breaking down barriers to learning by incorporating accessibility best practice and improving navigation with Bootstrap.

The workshop is designed for anyone who is interested in learning design on Moodle, whether you are teaching, a learning technologist, from professional services, or a course administrator. Our focus is to provide a forum for discussion around sharing experiences and challenges, and to get inspired by new ideas and possibilities to enhance and improve the learner’s experience.

Keywords: Learning Design, Course Design, Moodle, Digital Learning Tools