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media type="custom" key="7530525" align="right"Special Interest Group - Moodle

The focus of this special interest group is Moodle.
 * Focus:**

We want to use Moodle to help teachers improve the education of their students.
 * Area of Focus:**
 * Andrew ([|blog]) - Help teachers with using Moodle to assess students and provide timely feedback.
 * Charlene ([|blog]) - Help teachers design and implement Moodle into their classrooms.
 * Nicki ([|blog]) - Help teachers with using Moodle to differentiate instruction to reach at-risk and gifted students.

Our primary research will be from Moodle resource sites, which will help guide us on how to implement our TechQuest goals. These include: [|Moodle Help Forum], [|Moodle Rooms], and [|Moodle Docs].
 * Related Research:**

We have also collected research that is relevant to our individual areas of focus.
 * Andrew - Research focuses on formative assessment, its implementation, and benefits.
 * [|The Concept of Formative Assessment]
 * This article defines and discusses benefits of formative assessment. Formative assessments assess students during instruction to provide both the teacher and the students with feedback regarding classroom material. Teachers are able to check the progress of their students' learning and adjust instruction based on student responses. Students are provided with positive feedback that will help them improve with their learning.
 * [|Formative Assessment and the Design of Instruction Systems]
 * This article discusses how formative assessment can be used to promote student learning. It is important to use formative assessments are guiding tools to help students progress through their learning. Teachers cannot simply identify student responses as correct or incorrect. It is important for teachers to supply feedback that will help the students understand what is incorrect and why it is incorrect. Teachers also must guide students on how to self reflect on the feedback given to them.
 * [|The Benefits of Linking Assignments to Online Quizzes in Introductory Biology Courses]
 * This article discuss the benefits of using online quizzes as a form of formative assessment. Online quizzes are very helpful as formative assessments. Students are given immediate, personal feedback on their responses. Students also have the the option of multiple attempts, which can help them master the information. The implementation of these online quizzes is important. Research supports that giving students 10 minutes between attempts on quizzes improves their performance. This is because students are given time to reflect on their feedback and review over course material.
 * [|Benefits of Formative Assessment with Moodle]
 * This article discusses the benefits for teachers using Moodle. Since Moodle is online, students can take quizzes at anytime of day. This has multiple benefits. Teachers do not need to use class time for quizzes, which means there is more time for instruction. Students can take quizzes in the comfort of their own home, which reduces stress and improves student performance. This article also highlights the use of immediate feedback.
 * [|How to Set Up a Moodle Quiz]
 * This site helps teachers set up quizzes using Moodle. This is a very useful link for anyone who is inexperienced in using Moodle quizzes. It is written very clearly and explains each part of the process in detail.


 * Charlene - Research will focus on comparing Moodle with paid services, such as Blackboard and Angel.
 * [|E-Learning Guild] - This website will provide information for eLearning professionals. The E-Learning Guide offers information on research articles and allows educators to network with each other to gain valuable information regarding online education. The website gave me information on technology products that will help me develop an online class.
 * [|International Association for K-12 Online Learning] - A non-profit organization that provides research for online education. INACOL article: __How to Start an Online Program,__ gave me information on how to start my online program. The guide has detail information on budgeting, funding, curriculum, planning and learning management systems. The getting started section of the guide helped me plan and decide on what type of online class that I wanted to implement at the workplace. Here is the link: []
 * [|E-School News] - This website will provide the current news about technology. This digital newspaper helped me to keep up to date with the latest information on technology. The website gave me information on new products that will help advance online education. Here is an example from the Florida Virtual School. []
 * [|ISTE.org] - International Society for Technology in Education - ISTE is one of the premier professional organizations which provides information on educational technology. I needed information on the technology standards for teachers facilitating a class. Here is a link to the ISTE standards: []
 * [|NCOLR.org] - Journal of Interactive Online Learning - A joint venture by the University of Alabama, University of Texas at Tyler, & The University of Idaho. The website provides articles on online education. The following article by the professors from Northern Arizona University discusses the success of students in the Online Master's degree program. Here is a link to the article: []
 * [|USDLA.ORG] - United States Distance Learning Association - A non-profit organization that promotes the use of distance education. The article: __Practical Strategies for Teaching Computer Mediated Classes__ discusses the foundation of online teaching and learning. Here is the link to the article: []


 * Nicki - Research will focus on the benefits of differentiated instruction to reach all learners in the classroom.
 * [|Defining Differentiation]- This article goes in depth about what differentiation looks like in the classroom. It recognizes that students are being mainstreamed now, when 15 years ago they would have been in a special education class. The article helps teachers unravel this difficult task.
 * [|What Works for Differentiating Instruction in Elementary Schools]- This article gives wonderful tips and tricks about differentiating instruction for your classroom, and takes you through the steps starting with what to do in 5 minutes to 5 weeks to 5 years of differentiating!