First Go on Moodle

Well, I've just tried out Moodle with my year 6 maths group. I created a new topic called Pie Charts, and set them an assignment to create a pie chart using excell, and then embed it into word with a suitable evaluation. To finish, the students had to upload it back onto Moodle. I was then able to grade the work (out of 10), and give constructive comments on each one.

First of all, they all found it very easy to log on - apart from a couple of laptop specific problems which is nothing to do with Moodle. From there, they looked at my example spreadsheet and word document, and used that as a basis for their own pie chart. A few tried to upload their spreadsheet, but because I had allowed resubmission, this wasn't a problem - any later uploads replaced earlier efforts.

Once they had finished, I asked them to save the document into "My Documents" and then upload it back to Moodle. A few weren't sure about where to go to do this, but with practice, I'm sure it won't be a problem in the future.

When they had done this, I allowed them to explore Moodle a bit more. Inevitably, they all headed to the forum that I had set up for year 6, and to sending messages to each other!

The students thoroughly enjoyed using Moodle, and the feedback was very positive. They enjoyed using the computers in a Maths lesson, and also learning about pie charts in excell and word. It also fit in nicely with the work we have been doing in the classroom.

I would have liked to have given them more time on this, and might have another lesson next week to finish their initial pie chart, (having taken on board the feedback I gave), and then do another one for their weekend day, and then comparing the two. It would also be nice to have a computer for each person, and the issues with specific laptops is being looked into.

Next week, I am going to set them an investigative task to explore, write up, and then submit on Moodle. I have also put their homework on the page for them to fill in, and then re-submit. For those without access to the internet, I will, of course, supply a normal paper copy!