Moodle Makes its Way to Amity
Printer-friendly versionAmity’s online Moodle service has experienced a boom in use since the H1N1 flu scare. Earlier this year, on October 28 and 29, Amity teachers were trained in the use of Moodle in department-oriented groups headed by teachers already skilled in the usage of Moodle. The end result was that every teacher had created a Moodle site that could be used to list class work, post homework, host class discussions, and even provide sample quizzes to students.
Amity’s Moodle has been in use for over three years, and it looks like the Modular Object-Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment here at Amity is here to stay. To prevent students from falling behind should they be absent for extended periods of time, the administration requires every teacher to post homework and class work online. After the flu outbreak subsides, teachers will no longer have to post on the Moodle, but the hope is that many still will.
Estelle Fanucci, a Chemitry teacher at Amity High School, is one of those teachers. Fanucci has been using the Moodle since the spring of 2009 and likes the Moodle service because it is “very handy and very user-friendly.”
Fanucci also stated her belief that “it is much more convenient for her to upload homework sheets onto the Moodle than to make copies for each student.” Across the board, feedback from teachers has been very positive. Most feel that Moodle is a wonderful resource that they will continue to use to even higher levels in the future.
“Technology like Moodle is the future here at Amity,” believes Amity High School principal, Dr. Charles Britton. Britton sees a day when online resources will be as common as textbooks. “Entire lessons can be taught using the Moodle service, teachers can post discussion questions, which students can answer, and to review, teachers can post short quizzes which students can take,” elaborated Britton.
But while this technology might be a breeze for students who are old hands at websites such as Facebook, it’s not so easy for teachers used to teaching out of textbooks. “It’s new and we’re throwing it at them very quickly,” said Dr. Britton, referring to the new Moodle site requirement.
Dr. John Brady, Region Five’s Superintendent, agrees. Brady believes, “between iPass, the new grade inputting system, the new Amity literacy requirements, and Moodle, teachers have a lot to think about.” However, the efforts of teachers to integrate Moodle into their classes is commendable and is being praised by the administration.
Feedback from parents has been positive as well. Parents like that they can follow along with their children’s work. Students on the other hand have displayed mix responses to Moodle. Some find Moodle very accessible, others hate it, but most lie somewhere in between.
Sophomore Rashmi Pashankar enjoys the resources that Moodle provides, but she doesn’t like how it replaces communication between teachers and students. “Because teachers post homework on Moodle, they tend to forget to tell students when homework is assigned,” explained Pashankar.
She is not alone in admitting that she has missed assignments as a result of Moodle. The problem is that many teachers don’t post homework on Moodle in an understandable and timely fashion. Often it is necessary to check several times before homework will appear and even then, it is the student’s responsibility to print assignment sheets.
On the plus side, many teachers post a week’s worth of homework at once, so students can get ahead on homework. Regardless of the mixed reviews, one point remains clear—whether you love it or hate it, Moodle is here to stay.
