ClassRunner and Moodle

ClassRunner manages your classes using a robust, open-source elearning software solution called Moodle (Modular Object-Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment). The Moodle software package is Copyright © 1999 onwards, Martin Dougiamas under the GNU GPL. Feel free to visit http://docs.moodle.org/en/Getting_started_for_teachers to learn more about the system and its many features.

We've collected some of the highlights below. (© This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it and the Aiken HS website)

School, Family and Community Collaboration

Some school organizations use Moodle to coordinate and foster collaboration among students, teachers, families, members of the community and local businesses.

Beyond the Text Book

Now that educational publishers are creating online resources correlated to their textbooks, it is important to help students find and use those resources. Moodle makes it easy to do.

Blogs

Each teacher has a Moodle-blog that he or she may use for school-related purposes. Teachers may make their blog posts visible to only their own students or to the entire online world.

Calendar

In addition to or instead of posting lesson plans, some teachers maintain online calendars to help students stay organized.

Discussions

Some courses are centered around forums in which students discuss content-related topics with fellow students and their teachers.

Documents

Teachers store important documents online so that students can access them from school and from home.

Email Confirmation

When students post to the forums, submit assignments, etc., teachers may elect to receive an email notifying them of this activity. It's a great backup!

Even on a Weekend? You bet!

Do students really log in to work on the weekend? Of course they do! Teachers do, too.

Every Day

In some classes, students Moodle only occasionally. In other classes, however, teachers post a Moodle activity or assignment every day!

Express yourself!

It is easy to dress up a Moodle course and change its appearance as desired. Teachers may choose a theme, choose a page layout, format text, add or remove blocks, add images, etc. (If teachers wants a disturbingly realistic eye peering at students from their course, no problem!)

Even better: Dress up your courses with student-generated images.

Glossaries

Teachers and students use the glossary module to create online dictionaries of necessary vocabulary.

Groups

Teachers may organize students into groups inside a class. The teacher may choose to make the work of one group visible or invisible to members of other groups. Students may belong to multiple groups.

This is useful, for example, when groups of students are collaborating on reports, Web Quests, presentations, etc. Sharing is good, but there are times you don't want too much of a good thing, right?

Hidden Stuff

Resources and activities may be made invisible to students until teachers wish to reveal them.

Homebound Instruction

Creating a Moodle "course" for a homebound student can greatly enhance the quality of that student's education while he or she cannot come to school.

I hate to repeat myself, but...

It's a good idea to use your Moodle course to reinforce the ground rules in your classroom. This is beneficial to the students, to their parents and to the teacher. Everyone wins!

Image Galleries

It is easy to create image galleries in Moodle. Just upload the images and put them into a gallery folder.

Instructional Units / Scaffolding

Teachers must create a sequence of activities to guide students through a well-conceived, well-designed instructional unit. Moodle makes this easy to do online.

Journals

Teachers use the journal module to facilitate student reflection and communication.

Last-minute Review

Teachers may have online cram-sessions the night before a test. Students can get the last-minute help they need to get a great grade.

Motivate Students

Some teachers use Moodle to help motivate students by creating activities that challenge and reward them for optional, "extra" work.

Surveys

In some courses, student polls collect and aggregate data related to content.

Moodle Central

Moodle is great for teachers who have been creating resources in many different places. They just display them as part of a Moodle course and Presto! , everything is in one, easy to find location.

Online Assignments

Using the assignment module, students may submit their work electronically. ( Look, Ma! No paper! )

My assignments?

When a students log into their personal dashboard ("My Moodle"), information about and links to pending online assignments are visible. In addition, links to new posts in active forums, pending chats, etc., are also visible. This is a powerful tool that can help students stay organized.

Online File Storage

Moodle makes it easy to give students a place to store their school-related files and documents.

Lesson Plans

Teachers use the blog module to post their lesson plans to help students and parents stay up-to-date .

Posting Notes

Some teachers post their class notes to help students review. Some even include images from their Smart Board sessions to help students remember what they did in class.

Power Point Pro?

Some teachers create excellent Power Point presentations to support face to face instruction. By uploading the presentations to their Moodle courses, teachers make these presentations available outside of class. Students (parents, too ) may review these presentations at their convenience or even download them to their own computers.

Presentations

Who needs PowerPoint when Moodle makes it so easy to present information to students, colleagues, members of the community?

Online Tutorials

It is difficult or impossible for some students to come for extra help after school. Many teachers create interactive, step by step tutorials to help these students review course content.

Teacher-made Books

Some teachers choose to create their own online text books for use in their classes. Using Moodle's book module, this is easy to do.

Online Grading

Because Moodle-teachers can grade student work online, students do not have to wait until everyone's work is graded to know how well they have done. As soon as the teacher has graded the assignment, the grade and the teacher's comments are available to the student.

Custom Grading/Feedback Scales

Teachers may design their own grading/feedback scales to use in forums and assignments.

Practice Quizzes

Teachers may create self-scoring practice quizzes to help reinforce face to face instructions.

Precious Memories

Wonderful things happen at school. Don't let them slip away! Preserve them in Moodle.

Rubrics

Students want to know how their work will be evaluated. Tell them in Moodle!

Support Parents

Parents want to know what's happening at school! Moodle helps us keep them informed.

Standardized Tests

There are courses that help students prepare for important standardized tests.

Student Activity Logs

Want to check student activity in your courses? Want to know which resources and activities are most popular? Want to know who is working in your course from home?

No problem, just check the daily logs.

The text and images above come from Aiken HS website, and were created by This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it and are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.