It’s Elementary

It was another great show with James Gates of Tipline - Gatesʼ Computer Tips taking us through Moodle, and it’s features. Jim was excited and passionate about this subject as you’ll be able to tell from the show audio.

Jim started with a slideshare on Moodle in the classroom:
[slideshare id=104451&doc=moodle-for-elementary-grades765&w=425]

1. He then talked us through the slides which highlighted the features in a moodle.
2. It’s a great walled garden system that has a number of modules that you can pick and choose from.
3. There is even a great basic wiki, and word list/glossary builder feature.
4. There is a free moodle services available at http://globalclassroom.us/

Our Diigo links for this show include some school sites using moodle. Many have guest sign-in that will let you look at pages without editing privileges.

Please join us in Monday September 24th, 2007 at 4:00pm Pacific, 7:00pm Eastern for a discussion of social networks in Education with John Pederson.

Download Podcast and view Text Chat log at Edtechtalk

Join us Monday September 10th, 2007 at 4PM Pacific/7PM Eastern 23:00 GMT as we discuss the use of Moodle in the Elementary classroom. Our guest James Gates of Tipline - Gates’ Computer Tips talks about;

• obviously extends the classroom, but it also…
• provides a space where the KIDS can contribute
• will discuss my favorite features like:
  • the glossary and random glossary entry block and various examples of its use
  • the wikis and various uses
  • the automatic linking of glossary and wiki words throughout the class and what that does to motivate kids
  • the various assignment types (online text assignment has lots of potential for writing prompts, etc)
  • discussion forums
  • FAR more than the old frontpage-made teacher pages
  • podcasting module
  • ability to embed objects from various web 2.0 sites like slideshare and splashcast, etc
  • ability to include rss feeds in a block
  • a blog (still not very good for real blogging but good for note-taking, etc) has variety of visibility levels
  • Not keen on gradebook or quizzes
    • they promote true/false and m/c questions, for one
    • not a very friendly gradebook, for two
  • kids WANT to have something to do!!
  • Moodle is a playground for YOUR content!
  • Some teachers give kids fake names in moodle so they feel freer to contribute
  • traditional features such as ability to post links, give assignments where students must submit a file, etc
  • VERY easy to use!

To Particpate live:  To listen, go to http://worldbridges.net/listen and choose the player next to the session that  is currently streaming. To join in on the chat end of things so that you may ask questions, etc., go to http://edtechtalk.com/chat and you’ll know what to do from there. 

This was our Back to School Special. We discussed the following;

1. We explored the differences between a traditional classroom and a Web 2.0 Classroom.
2. We discussed the new NETS standards for technology. We looked at student profiles and what students are expected to do in the different grade levels.
3. We talked about how we use Web 2.0 tools in our classrooms.
4. We then opened up a round table discussion.

Other resources from the show:

• Our show outline can be viewed here

Listen or Download at edtechtalk.com

Our next show will be on Monday September 10 at 4 p.m. PDT/6 p.m. CDT/8 p.m. EDT, on the subject of the use of Moodle in the elementary classroom with our guest, James Gates. Join us then, at http://edtechtalk.com/chat!

Join us on Monday July 23rd at 23:00 GMT for show #2 on the edtechtalk channel of the Worldbridges network. We will be discussing the use of webquests in Elementary School. You maybe familiar with the work of Bernie Dodge the creator of webquests. On this show we will; provide and overview of webquests and reasons to use them in your classroom, give examples of webquests, talk about resources to get you started, and open up the lines for a rountable discussion. If you are an elementary school teacher interested in using technology with your students, this is the show for you. New teachers to webcasting can get help here, help for newbies.

Our Diigo links are here.