Link: eucilnica.almamater.si
Moodle is an open-source web-based solution among so-called learning management systems (LMS), and one of the most widely used and popular in the world. As a free open-source system, it is also available in the Slovenian language. With its capabilities, Moodle successfully supports e-learning and the implementation of pedagogical approaches such as blended learning and flipped learning. Moodle enables the instructor to prepare activities and resources at the course level, accessible to students enrolled in the course. Within the course, the following is available or enabled:
- uploading study materials,
- knowledge assessment,
- assignment submission (e.g. using the Assignment activity),
- preparation of e-materials (e.g. using the Book resource and Lesson activity),
- creation of interactive content (e.g. using H5P Interactive Content),
- tracking completion of obligations or activities of participants,
- communication and collaboration with and among students,
- support for the organisation of the pedagogical process,
- obtaining and providing feedback,
- peer evaluation (e.g. using the Workshop activity) …
Recordings of lectures in Teams: see the Recordings section in the guide Running online and hybrid lectures in Teams. The guide Watching lecture recordings (ZOOM SSO) applies to activities that still take place in Zoom.
If you need additional assistance with preparing Moodle e-classrooms, please contact the IT coordinators.
Didactic recommendations for using the tool
Following didactic guidelines
With an equipped course in Moodle, take advantage of the potential of various interactive activities that you can prepare for active independent work (e.g. learning using the Lesson, which in the form of e-material and intermediate questions encourages active reading and continuously checks understanding of the prepared content). Certain learning activities (e.g. H5P Interactive Content, embedding videos and animations) and Moodle’s diverse content design options (e.g. embedding interactive elements) enable the instructor to present content more clearly. Moodle enables an individualised learning experience (e.g. progression at one’s own pace, ability to return to previous content). Group work supported by Moodle (e.g. via the Forum) creates opportunities for differentiation of work, as within the same learning activity the instructor can create separate learning situations for groups without affecting the work of other groups (e.g. it can be set so that groups do not see other groups’ activities – Separate Groups mode). In group learning, Moodle also promotes the development of teamwork skills (remote collaboration skills, effective communication). Moodle is an excellent aid for structuring content and systematic review thereof (e.g. by chapters or content sections, linking and structuring content based on what happens in the classroom). Prepared materials are permanently usable (cost-effectiveness), while also enabling quick updating and making changes directly in the e-learning environment. Changes are visible immediately due to the web-based nature of the tool. Cost-effectiveness is also evident on the students’ side, who can submit seminar papers and other assignments in digital form instead of paper. The latter may also require a financial investment from them.
Didactic recommendations
- SINGLE POINT OF CONTACT: Use Moodle as a single point of contact for everything a student needs for their studies in a course. This includes not only uploaded study materials and reinforcement activities but also relevant links to external websites that you use or recommend for the course (e.g. additional study materials; external web resources). Where possible, embed elements from other websites and tools (e.g. a web board from the Padlet tool). The Moodle course is also an appropriate place for organisational instructions and instructions for completing study obligations within the course.
- AVOID COGNITIVE OVERLOAD: The challenge of structuring a Moodle course is not to exceed working memory capacity with the range of study materials and activities. Focus on only the most important information and materials. To this end, break longer content into smaller sections (e.g. appropriately structure very extensive content into chapters and subchapters in the Book resource).
- CHRONOLOGICAL ARRANGEMENT OF ACTIVITIES: It is recommended to arrange the course chronologically according to the course of the pedagogical process. This will create a welcome parallel link between what happens in the classroom and what happens in the e-learning environment.
- DYNAMIC DELIVERY: For the experience of working in the e-learning environment (within the course) to be sufficiently stimulating, it must be prepared dynamically enough. Therefore, use a diverse range of learning activities and resources. Also avoid accumulating resources or activities that would require participants only to read. Between them, you can insert short activities for checking understanding or obtaining feedback.
- TRACKING PROGRESS AND ADAPTING WORK: Monitor the progress of students (e.g. whether they need less/more time for certain tasks than you planned). Identify participants who are lagging significantly behind or someone who is far ahead, and act accordingly (e.g. send a reminder to those who are lagging behind). For this purpose, use the various reports available in Moodle (e.g. Activity completion, Logs). With the help of additional content and challenges (e.g. for those who progress faster), flexible timeframes (e.g. extended submission deadlines) and additional study materials (e.g. for those who ask for additional help), you can successfully adapt work in Moodle as well.
- APPROPRIATE SELECTION OF ACTIVITY/RESOURCE: Assess which learning content is suitable for using a particular activity and how to set it up. Prepare a plan (sketch) of settings. For example, if you use the Forum activity, consider what the forum topic will be and how you will moderate collaboration so that it achieves its purpose.
- FLIPPED LEARNING: Use Moodle to design activities with which students review content before the classroom session as part of flipped learning. You can also prepare knowledge-checking activities in Moodle for content that students were required to review. You can use e.g. the Quiz activity.
- BLENDED LEARNING: Since Moodle is generally designed to support e-learning, you can successfully use it for blended learning delivery. Use it to create activities that participants can perform independently at a distance, as they access tasks via a web browser (e.g. solving a Quiz for reinforcement, sharing a web resource).
- PROJECT-BASED LEARNING: Using Moodle, you can support project work implementation in certain phases (e.g. sharing instructions; Moodle is also a solution for conducting remote discussions via the Forum, and it can enable submission of the final project product).
- PROBLEM-BASED LEARNING: You can prepare problem-based tasks (e.g. weekly challenges). For submitting solutions, design an Assignment activity where you can also offer students the possibility of feedback and additional guidance for solving, as well as possible resubmission of the product.
- CREATING OPPORTUNITIES FOR QUIET STUDENTS: Those who find it harder to speak up and participate in the classroom can be activated through opportunities to express opinions. For this purpose, you can also use the Forum.
- CO-CREATION OF MATERIALS: With selected activities, you can create tasks where students co-create materials in Moodle (e.g. Database, Glossary, Wiki activities). These can later be used for study.
- PROVIDING VIDEO INSTRUCTIONS: Using the Atto editor in Moodle you can provide a video recording of up to 2 minutes prepared with a webcam, which you prepare directly in Moodle without needing any special software.
- GRADING SUPPORT: Take advantage of the various options that facilitate grading and knowledge testing. At the forefront of the diverse usage options is the Quiz activity, which enables preparation of e-tests with different question types. You can prepare a question bank that is permanent and can be upgraded, expanded and improved over the years. Moodle also offers a solution for submitting seminar papers and other assignments electronically. In addition, the Assignment activity in Moodle also enables direct grading of PDF documents (using the digital ink principle). This means you do not need to download files to your computer — you grade them directly in Moodle.
- SUPPORT FOR LEARNING ORGANISATION: Using the Upcoming Events block, support the planning of activity implementation (e.g. with a good overview of upcoming deadlines, the possibility of missing a deadline is reduced).
- ENVIRONMENTAL CARE: By submitting seminar papers in digital form, you reduce the consumption of large amounts of paper.
- GAMIFICATION: By using badges, gradually unlocking activities, creating difficulty levels, leaderboards, weekly challenges, etc., you further motivate students through gamification elements.
- REINFORCEMENT AND SELF-EVALUATION: In addition to knowledge-testing activities, you can design activities (e.g. using the H5P Interactive Content activity) where participants reinforce their knowledge and receive feedback (e.g. as part of preparation for assessment). Also offer participants the opportunity to reflect on and assess the extent to which they are achieving the intended learning objectives.
Technical recommendations for using the tool
Description of tool elements
In each course, the instructor prepares activities, with a diverse range of learning activities and learning resources (Figure 1). Learning activities and learning resources are colour-coded according to their purpose. Orange and purple-coloured activities are intended for communication, pink is used for assessment activities, green -coloured items are learning resources or activities for preparing materials with study content, brown is used for collaboration and co-creation activities.
Figure 1: List of learning activities and resources in the Alma Mater University Moodle
From version 3.9 onwards, Moodle also includes the H5P learning activity, which enables the preparation of various interactive activities (e.g. interactive videos, quizzes).
The basic view of the course can be seen in Figure 2. On the left side, an interactive index organised by topic sections can be opened. On the right side are blocks. In the central area is a list of learning activities and resources, which in the default format are organised by chapters/topics. The appearance and layout of the central page of each course can be customised by the instructor (e.g. include additional blocks, change the format).
Figure 2: Basic view of the Alma Mater University Moodle e-learning environment.
A useful source of information about Moodle, both in terms of instructions for using individual resources and activities and in terms of finding examples of good practices, is the Moodle community website with user documentation.
Using Moodle in the pedagogical process means setting up and using a so-called Moodle course. The instructor initiates course editing by turning on editing (button located in the top right).
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Figure 3: Turning on editing of the course in Moodle |
Turn on editing: · to add learning activities and resources; |
When the instructor is preparing a course and wants to add a selected learning activity or resource, they first define a specific set of settings that differ to a certain extent depending on the type of learning activity/resource.
When adding a new activity or resource, the instructor configures, among other things:
- basic information such as the name and description of the activity/resource,
- availability settings,
- grading settings,
- access restrictions,
- completion options …
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In addition to learning activities and resources, you can also include blocks with interesting links and content or functionalities that complement the course:
Moodle also enables:
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Figure 4: Example of the Calendar blockAfter signing in to Moodle, the Home page with administrative announcements and a list of courses is displayed first. At the top of the web page you can switch between the Home, Dashboard and My Courses tabs. On the Dashboard tab, you can review your courses and other information that facilitates the organisation of work in the e-learning environment (e.g. Calendar block with marked important dates). Additionally, the Dashboard provides users with an overview of all important upcoming events in the form of a so-called timeline. The Dashboard can also be customised to a certain extent (e.g. courses can be displayed in three formats: list, card or summary).
TURNITIN – Plagiarism checking in the e-classroom
Alma Mater Europaea has a licensed subscription to the content similarity (plagiarism) checking software Turnitin. The software enables checking the conformity of uploaded content against various sources such as websites, scientific articles, journals and previously uploaded content in the Alma Mater Europaea e-classroom.
Turnitin is designed for systematic verification of the originality of student work, which promotes the development of academic integrity and writing skills. The tool generates a similarity report that highlights parts of the text similar to other sources but does not judge whether plagiarism is present. The responsibility for the final judgement on possible plagiarism lies with the mentor or the author of the work based on a review of the report.
It is desirable that students submit their written work to the e-classroom, where the originality of the submitted assignment can then be verified using the Turnitin software (when the assignments are suitable for such checking).
Instructions and support
Detailed instructions for creating and configuring Turnitin assignments, reviewing submissions, grading and releasing grades are collected on the Turnitin in Moodle page.
Turnitin at Alma Mater Europaea is administered by the IT department. For technical support, write to support@almamater.si.