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Pasco Schools’ Virtual Classroom

In a growing number of classrooms throughout the county, students are using a piece of software called Moodle to redefine the idea of the modern day classroom.

Moodle is web-based, open source software that allows teachers to create virtual learning environments. The tools and activities students use in these internet classrooms are very similar to those they already use in their personal lives. With moodle, students learn by doing and sharing. Its tools allow children to work together to construct their own knowledge, making learning a much more personal and relevant experience. 

Open source software is created by an international community of developers who write code and share their expertise with no licensing cost to the user, which means the software does not incur any cost to the district.  Corporations such as Cisco, Royal Caribbean, Intel, etc use Moodle to meet their staff development needs, many universities are using Moodle for online classes, and its the use in K-12 environments is growing exponentially.

Moodle includes a wide variety of activities, such as forums, glossaries, wikis, assignments, quizzes, polls/surveys, etc., as well file sharing and posting of podcasts, video clips or other content.  While Moodle is accessible via the Internet, it is a controlled environment that is user name/password protected, and therefore safe environment for students and staff.  This allows teachers to teach in a blended environment where students have 24/7 access to the online components of the class.

Since it is web-based, students have opportunities to work cooperatively and collaborate with other students in their school, elsewhere in the district, across the country, or around the world. Anclote Elementary students are journaling about an insect they are studying.  The picture book, Diary of a Spider and Diary of a Fly, by Doreen Cronin, inspired these creative online student journals.  Calusa Elementary School students are posting original music compositions created during Music class with Apple’s GarageBand software, and soliciting positive feedback from others.  Richey Elementary has partnered with the International School of Bangkok and is collaborating with students at Sand Pine Elementary. 

Many school media technology programs have included book talks, surveys, and other engaging strategies to motivate students to read and respond to other school wide readers.  Oakstead Elementary is using Moodle’s questionnaire activity to survey students about bullying.  Teachers have found ways to structure their writing activities to include essential FCAT skill building practice as they develop and increase writing proficiency. And these are just a few examples of how creative teachers are using Moodle in their classroom!

At the secondary level, Students in German classes at River Ridge High School are using Moodle both at school and at home for focused discussions in German.  Students in Spanish classes at Paul R. Smith Middle School are producing video segments incorporating their language skills and abilities as well as creating a collaborative dictionary of new terms and words.

Moodle is also being used to provide school- and district-level online staff development opportunities, available 24/7, which reduce costs of materials and stipends, while facilitating the follow-up, coaching, and mentoring that is required to meet the state staff development protocol.  The development of courses has been a collaborative effort with several other departments, and currently there are courses for the new reading series, Leadership for Sustainable School Development, Elementary Curriculum:  Moving Forward with Understanding by Design, Leadership Development for Teachers, and Using Moodle with Students.

Obviously, Moodle is beginning to change the way we think about instruction in the classroom.  Teachers are eager to learn about the new toolset Moodle offers. All educators know that learning should be engaging for students. As Richard MacLemale, Instructional Trainer Coach describes it, “If you give kids a voice, they will use it and thank you for it.”  For some students, classroom instruction consists of online forum posts to enhance the traditional face-to-face class discussion.  Students don’t have to compete for a turn to share, they simply type their thought and comments for all their classmates to see, expand upon, critique, and learn from.  The discussion can go on until the concept has been fully explored.  There are no artificial time constrains. When the bell rings, the students can continue discussing from home.

During this initial stage, the District has discovered that students and teachers in schools across the district are enhancing traditional teaching methods and exploring new ways of learning.  A two-day summer training is being offered to instructional classroom teachers who are ready to begin implementing Moodle with their students, and the District is excited to see this new program grow.

To learn more about Moodle and what it has to offer contact the Department of Instructional Media and Technology Services at (813) 794-2451.

Published Thursday, March 05, 2009

 

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District Wide Accreditation • Southern Association of Colleges and Schools • Heather Fiorentino, Superintendent
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