Moddle in the math classroom

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Matt Townsley on January 5, 2009 at 7:52pm

Hi David,
I am a high school math teacher and have been experimenting with Moodle in my Statistics & Discrete Math course. Here are my initial thoughts:

1. Students seem to enjoy it. In the two semesters I've used it, I have showcased a few of the features on our "maiden voyage" and then let the students poke around a bit. My students enjoy sending messages to one another. :)

2. The "wiki" and "glossary" modules are a bit clunky. Other wikis such as wikispaces are much more user-friendly, in my opinion.

3. The forums and assignments modules come in handy for asking conceptual questions and getting students' feedback. I've used these as a pseudo-journal as well as asking questions to ensure students have done their assigned textbook readings. It's nice to provide grades and feedback in a quick and efficient manner via these modules as well - a strength of Moodle in my book.

4. Because our district uses PowerSchool, it takes a bit of manual transfer of my end to enter grades into Moodle and then in to PowerSchool as well. There's not a quick and efficient way for parents to view their students grades (that I know of at least), so an administrative system is still a must for our district.

5. Our Moodle server is synced with our district's LDAP server which students are accustomed to for accessing their network file storage. Students don't have to learn a new user name in this setup.

6. I think there's probably a math equation add-on of some sort for Moodle, but I haven't ever used one. This is a downfall of Moodle in the context of math, in my opinion. I'd like for my Stats students to 'show' their thinking using greek symbols, etc., but this isn't easily done, at least from my experiences so far.

7. Moodle is a great way to post links to useful websites; pdfs of handouts and worksheets; and polls/surveys to quickly tally students' feedback all under one 'virtual roof.'

I'm still experimenting with Moodle and hope to take the next leap by using it on a weekly basis (cross my fingers) next semester. I look forward to hearing others thoughts here, too. Thanks for starting the discussion, David!

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by David Cox on January 5, 2009 at 7:59pm

HI Matt
Thanks for the feedback. I have been using pbwiki for my class and my kids love it. They can use LaTex to incorporate math symbols into their work. I like the idea of having the forum and having a place to "organize" class assignments. I have seen that there is a test/quiz module, but it seems like it would be easier to create something with examview and just export it to html. Hopefully there are some other math teachers out there using moodle.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Kevin W on January 5, 2009 at 10:40pm

Hi David, have you taken a look at the Moodle Mathematics Tools Forum?

http://moodle.org/mod/forum/view.php?f=130

Also, this site has some information about some of the tools available:

http://docs.moodle.org/en/Mathematics

Also, a bit off topic, but have you ever used OpenOffice's Formula Editor? In Open Office, you can go to: Insert Object Formula. This brings up Formula mode. Formula mode is a split screen mode where you can either interact with the formula in the document itself, or even a bit nicer to use the math codes in the formula area. See this video for a visual look at it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ELpxZ-K7QQ

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Joanna Phillips on January 6, 2009 at 9:54am

I have a Moodle website for my high school trig class. I used the record feature on my SmartBoard to record all my lessons. I post the lessons on my Moodle site so that the students can watch the lessons from home, study hall, where ever.

It is working very nicely. Students who are absent get the advantage of seeing the full lecture. Students who have a question while doing homework, can pull up the video and rewatch that section. Students with learn difficulties are now successful because they can rewatch, pause, rewind as many times as they need.

The kids love it. Not all of them use it. But I figure its like eyeglasses. It's there for those who need it ... when they need it.

I also post handouts, homework assignments, etc. That way if a student loses something they can print out another copy.

Moodle also allows me to broadcast announcements to my students. So when there is a snow day or change in the schedule or some other thing, I can send instructions to all of my students via email at one shot. They can also email me with their questions.

It is working so well that I am thinking about making lecture the homework and doing other activities during class time. Two teachers in CO were describing how this was working for the AP chemistry class at the ISTE conference this past summer. It certainly is an interesting avenue that creates alot of possibilities.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by David Cox on January 6, 2009 at 7:31pm

Hi Joanna
I have been recording examples via the smart software as well. However, in order to post the examples, I have had to use movie maker to compress the files. Have you adjusted the recording settings on your smart recorder, or does Moodle compress the file for you? The normal .avi file created by smart is way to big for students to download from home.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Kendra Larmour on October 22, 2009 at 8:20pm

Are you able to record voice as well as what is shown on the board? I've played around with the feature but can't seem to capture any sound. Thanks!

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Tamra Lanning on January 6, 2009 at 11:25am

I have had experience in USING a Moodle with courses that I have been taking. For one class, I created a Moodle site "to be used" by my fifth grade class. As much as I like Moodle and love open source software in general, I really don't know if it is appropriate for elementary age kids. It can get very deep and in my opinion, confusing. I don't know if I would try it in my classroom. It is better for older kids. I'd be interested in hearing any success stories from the younger grades.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Matthew Gale on January 6, 2009 at 11:33am

I have been most excited this year about using moodle as a context for extended writing about reasoning in mathematics. Writing can be an odeous task for many children at the best of times, writing about mathematical reasoning, noticing the progression of ones thought process is difficult to incentivise sometimes. Moodle forum posts were most succesful last year in encouraging the children to discuss the how rather than the answer. I am a fan. Moodle-pip-pip! Learning journals for maths were useful.

Increasingly there is http code that can be added to our moodle site to jazz it up. The childrne enjoy the instant feedback. Also particularly popular has been online 'gaming' style realtime maths challenges. First matheletics and then tutpup took us by storm. Lots more besides. I have found some of the features (quiz) etc more time counsuming than rewarding, but the moodle continues to develop, so I'm sure this will improve. Notice there are now some sites where you can download ready made quiz type stuff.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by David Cox on January 6, 2009 at 7:35pm

Hi Matthew
What is a "learning journal for maths?"
I like the idea of using a forum for students to post their thoughts on process rather than answer. I completely agree with you there.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Joanna Phillips on January 7, 2009 at 5:32am

Yes, I do use Movie Maker to convert/compress the Smart avi file. I literally tried each one of the video formats and found the HIGH QUALITY VIDEO (LARGE) setting to be the best. It had very little pixelation and the could be streamed over dial-up connection.

When I get some time, I will look for a way to convert the video into flash format. www.download.com is a good website to find free computer software and demo's. But if anyone knows of a good (simple) flash converter, please let me know.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by David Cox on January 7, 2009 at 6:30am

So do you just take your new compresses file and upload it to Moodle?

I am just beginning to work with Camtasia Studo and it seems to be a pretty simple flash converter. It's not free, though.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Sanjib Kumar Parida on January 15, 2009 at 2:34pm

If you want to try moodle and use it for your class. You can have a shot at www.hiddenguru.com. It has all the features, is free and has no ads. Its an effort to create the knowledge facebook of the world.

• ▶ Reply