E-Learning in Mexico

International Collaboration Between Educators

Primary Participants

• Sofia Cota – UniSonCoordinator for the B.A. in ELT

• Rebeca Gutiérrez – UniSonFull-time instructor

• María Antonia Morúa - UniSon Full-time instructor, Academic Counselor at the Self-Access Center (SAC)

• Steve Sorden - NAUITS E-Learning & Training ManagerC&I Doctoral Student

Introducing...... Moodle! Moodle is an alternative to proprietary commercial online learning solutions, and is distributed free under open source licensing. An organization has complete access to the source code and can make changes if needed. Moodle’s modular design makes it easy to create new courses, adding content that will engage learners.

Moodle’s intuitive interface makes it easy for instructors to create courses. Students require only basic browser skills to begin learning.

modular object-oriented dynamic learning environment

Moodle Features

Course Management Features - ModulesAssignmentUsed to assign online or offline tasks; learners can submit tasks in any file format (e.g. MS Office, PDF, image, a/v etc.).

Chat Allows real-time synchronous communication by learners.

Choice Instructors create a question and a numberof choices for learners; results are postedfor learners to view. Use this module todo quick surveys on subject matter.

Dialogue

Property screens guide instructor through setup when creating a new Assignment

Assignment activity can require the learner to upload a completed project.

Allows for one-to-one asynchronous message exchange between instructor and learner, or learner to learner.

Moodle Features

Course Management Features - ModulesForumsThreaded discussion boards for asynchronous group exchange on shared subject matter. Participation in forums can be an integral part of the learning experience, helping students define and evolve their understanding of subject matter.

Students can Rate a forum post, based on Scales set up by the course creator

Moodle Features

QuizCreate all the familiar forms of assessment including true-false, multiple choice, short answer, matching question, random questions, numerical questions, embedded answer questions with descriptive text and graphics.

Course Management Features - Modules

Instructors have granular control in defining course assessments, and can import quiz questions from popular formats like Blackboard, IMS QTI and WebCT. Moodle also supports embedding audio into a quiz.

Moodle Features

Learner Management Features – AdminThe Administration control panel puts all important learner management functions a single click away. Teachers and Students can be manually enrolled or removed from a course. Configuration of course Backup and Restore is achieved on a single screen.

Restoring an existing course or Uploading a file archive from storage is accomplished with a single mouse click. Moodle makes it easy to re-use and share courses with other teachers. Backup can include or exclude student files and course data.

Moodle Features

Learner Management Features - LogsMonitor when and what course resources the learner has accessed. Moodle's Logs provide detailed learner activity.

Logs pin-point where a student is within coursework. Easily locate specific course, student, date and module activity access.

Moodle Features

Learner Management Features - FilesCentrally locate all course resources within the Files area of Moodle so they are available when creating new activities.

Files storage area resembles your computer, making it easy to add, move, zip and delete resources.

Moodle Features

Over 1150 organizations in 81 countries had registered Moodle sites by April 2004 (http://moodle.org/sites). This number is growing by about 10% each month as educators and trainers learn the value of implementing open source Moodle.

Moodle is an ideal online learning solution for:

"My first live class just ended and it was a tremendous success, both in the behavior of the program and the quality and longevity of my participants. Moodle has been terrific to work with. Somehow it doesn't seem to be as tedious to work with as other courseware programs such as Blackboard and WebCT."

- Paula Edmiston, Trainer

K-12 Schools

Colleges

Universities

Governmental Agencies

Businesses

Trade Associations

Hospitals

Libraries

Employment Agencies

Who is Using Moodle?

Using Moodle at the University of Sonora

Conception

• Idea developed through a friendship withan UniSon professor.

• Excuse to travel

• Doctoral internship

Getting Started

Visited Hermosillo once in early May of 2005 to present the project to faculty and administration.

Summer Workshop

Faculty came together for a one-week workshop in June where we learned about Moodle and online learning environments.

Ongoing Contact & Support

• Email

• Yahoo Messenger

• Skype

• GoToMeeting

• Moodle Communication Features

During the past year,

we’ve only met in person three times.

Current Setup

• Hosted by NAU

• Unix, Apache, MySQL, PHP

(Runs equally well on Linux and Windows)

We’re using Moodle 1.4

Latest version is Moodle 1.5.3

S. Arizona - N. Sonora Map

University of Sonora

at

Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico

http://www.uson.mx

General Information

• University of Sonora is a public institution serving a population of 16 000 students

• One of the goals of the new administration: the use of technology for academic and teaching purposes– Design of a platform: Portal de Enlace Académico (in

progress)– Several departments use Moodle for academic

support

• No. of computers: 2816 (1497 Ss / 1319 Teachers)

Department of Foreign Languages

Offers four different programs:• General English courses• Other Language courses (Italian, French,

German, Japanese, etc.)• Self-Access Center*

– Objective: to promote independent learning and virtual learning - 40 computers

• BA in English Language Teaching*– Objective: to prepare professionals in English

language teaching

B.A. in ELT

Students:• Intermediate to advanced level of English• The majority of Moodle users have computers• Part time and full time• Age ranges 18-40 years old• Receive computer training (2nd semester)• Take two specific courses on technology for

teaching purposes• Specialization in Technology for

learning/teaching purposes

B.A. in ELT

Teachers:

• Mainly adopt a student-centered approach

• Content area instructors

• Some use computers for academic support: Online courses, Power Point, Moodle, Yahoo

Academic/Administrative Strategies

• Project presented to the Head of Department• Mandatory course for teachers• Computers and technical support• Teams structured for academic work• Coordinator asked teachers to experiment with

Moodle• Moodle introduced to 1st and 3rd semester

students

Impact of the Project

• Future design of distance courses

• Promotion of online courses

• Budget for a new server & equipment

• Hiring teachers from different countries to teach courses

Strengths and Weaknesses

Strengths and Weaknesses

Strengths

The use of Moodle promoted:

• Students’ (80%) confidence about the use of computers for online learning activities

• Access to different sources of information

• A practical way of turning in assignments

Strengths (cont.)

• Accessibility at anytime, anywhere• Independent learning• Online learning• Awareness to the use of technology in a learning

environment• Motivation to work outside the classroom

Weaknesses

• To a certain extent, lack of experience in using Moodle for teachers and students.

• Teacher time management– Not enough time to prepare Moodle activities – Not enough time for grading assignments

(large classes)– Not enough time for giving feedback

(large classes)

Weaknesses (cont.)

• Technical problems affecting completion of tasks

• Students’ access to Internet outside school

• Students’ frequency of use of the online courses

• Equipment characteristics affecting connectivity

Recommendations

• Making the connectivity more efficient

• Making activities more entertaining

• Raising awareness about the advantages of online learning within our community

How we are using Moodle…

http://www2.nau.edu/~uson-p

How the Students Liked Moodle

• We were hoping for a favorable student response towards Moodle and online learning in end-of-semester surveys.

• The students’ responses greatly exceeded our expectations!

The Future?

• Upgrade Moodle to latest version

• Move physical location of server to Hermosillo

• Improved system for adding and managing students

• Continue to add new courses

E-Learning in Mexico

International Collaboration Between Educators