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A little over a week ago I read this post on the Infinite Thinking Machine about using Moodle for professional development. In my district we just started our third year of using Moodle with students, but the thought of administrators using it with teachers never really crossed my mind.
About half way through the Infinite Thinking post I really had an “ah-ha” moment. There are some really great features for using Moodle to extend important school-wide conversations from outside of the monthly staff meeting. A site administrator could easily create and use a Moodle course with staff members to…
- Link to useful files and websites.
- Host discussion forums on various topics.
- Use surveys (or the quiz feature) to survey staff members.
- Use the journal activity to have staff members privately post ideas and feedback.
- Have staff members submit completed forms digitally using the assignment activity.
- …and more I am sure I am not even thinking of…
By being part of a Moodle course each of these activities are available only to teachers enrolled in the course. As a result it is a little more private than the reply-to-all emails that can fly around on a school campus.
Yesterday I turned my two favorite site administrators into Moodlers. So far, they seem pretty excited and can see the power in the format. Secretly, I am also hoping that a few more teachers see how great Moodle can be for their students when they are enrolled in a class themselves. We’ll have to see how it turns out!
Joe
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
What a brilliant idea! I think I know what I will be doing soon.
John
John – You just let me know when and I will help you set it up.