Surveying the Landscape of Online Education

Introduction to Online Learning with Moodle

Activities

What's inside a virtual learning environment?

• Watch the introductory clip above.
• Consider what you saw in the clip that stimulates your prior knowledge of online learning tools.

KWL Database

• In your course, go to Topic 2: Virtual Learning Environments. Click on the KWL Database.
• Submit your contributions to a class KWL chart about VLEs. For more information on KWL see What is KWL?

Comments

• With your workshop colleagues, query the KWL database by using the Search tab.
• Review the responses for each column (K, W, and L). When you identify common themes, try searching that word in the Item box.
• Identify key questions in the Want to Learn column that can be explored throughout the day. 
• Add comments on items indicating your reflections.
• NACOL Primer
• NACOL Blended Learning
• Jigsaw Forum
  • You will be divided into small teams of 3-4 participants. Quickly give your team a name.
  • Each team will assigned one of the following:
    • NACOL National Primer on K-12 Online Learning (pp. 4-9)
    • Promising Practices in Online Learning: Blended Learning: The Convergence of Online and Face-to-Face Education (pp. 4-8).
  • In your groups you will read your section.
  • As a team, summarize key takeaways.
  • Post your takeaways as a new topic to the Jigsaw forum, note in your topic title if you read the Primer or the Blended Learning pages. (Topic title example: The Dragon Team Reads the Primer.)
  • Read the takeaways from other groups (start with groups that read the pages you didn't read) and discuss these with your group. Create a group reply to add to other groups' topics.
  • Note that this is a modified jigsaw :)

Post-Workshop Extension / Bridging Activities

Blurb about putting learning to practice in classroom and then sharing progress with others via blog, wiki contribution, etc.

Find out more about VLEs

• Wikipedia Entry
• Activity 2 w/ resource links

Share your learning

• Return to the KWL database and add items in the L column.
• Query the Learnings of others using the Search tab.