cheriseroseportfolio.weebly.comcheriseroseportfolio.weebly.com/.../evaluationstudygroup… · Web viewSection 1: Context. In 2006, the Michigan Department of Education mandated

Running Head: MOODLE FOR ONLINE TRAINING IN PRESERVICE TEACHERS: EVALUATION STUDY 1

Using Moodle as a Venue for Training Pre-Service Middle School Teachers to Develop Online

Units at Eastern Michigan University: An Evaluation Study

EDMT 653Summer 2013

Dr. Michael McVeyBy:

Brian AiosaAmy CastelliPeter Deyo

Sarah MoellerCherise Rose

MOODLE FOR ONLINE TRAINING IN PRESERVICE TEACHERS: EVALUATION STUDY 2

Table of ContentsPart 1: The Analysis....................................................................................................................................4

Section 1: Context...................................................................................................................................4

Section 2: Technology- A literature review.............................................................................................7

Introduction:........................................................................................................................................7

Online learning course management systems in the training of pre-service teachers...........................7

Online learning course management systems in school systems........................................................10

Online pedagogy used in school systems...........................................................................................12

The digital divide...............................................................................................................................14

Conclusion.........................................................................................................................................16

Section 3: Stakeholders and Goals.....................................................................................................17

Part 2: Design Phase..............................................................................................................................19

Section 4: Methodology.....................................................................................................................19

The process........................................................................................................................................19

The survey.........................................................................................................................................20

Pilot teachers’ feedback conclusion...................................................................................................20

Approval for Human Subjects Committee.........................................................................................21

Part 3: Implementation: Results and Discussion........................................................................................21

The Professor Survey Themes...............................................................................................................22

Theme 1: Meeting the goals of standard 7.........................................................................................22

Theme 2: EDMT 330 class and assignment organization..................................................................23

Theme 3: Using Moodle to teach pre-service teachers.......................................................................24

Theme 4: Content management systems in general...........................................................................25

The Pre-service Teacher Survey Themes...............................................................................................25

Theme 1: Meeting the goals of standard 7.........................................................................................25

Theme 2: EDMT 330 class and assignment organization..................................................................26

Theme 3: Using Moodle to teach pre-service teachers.......................................................................26

Theme 4: Content management systems in general...........................................................................28

Data Interpretations, Meaning and Implications....................................................................................29

Confidence in the Findings....................................................................................................................32

Conclusion.................................................................................................................................................34


References.................................................................................................................................................36

Figures.......................................................................................................................................................40

The Professor Survey Figures................................................................................................................40

Figure 1.............................................................................................................................................40

Figure 2.............................................................................................................................................40

Figure 3.............................................................................................................................................41

Figure 4.............................................................................................................................................41

The Pre-Service Student Survey Figures...............................................................................................41

Figure 5:............................................................................................................................................42

Figure 6:............................................................................................................................................42

Figure 7.............................................................................................................................................42

Figure 8.............................................................................................................................................43

Figure 9.............................................................................................................................................43

Appendices................................................................................................................................................45

Appendix A...........................................................................................................................................45

Moodle Pre-service Teacher Pilot Survey..........................................................................................45

Appendix B...........................................................................................................................................60

Moodle Pre-service Teacher EDMT 330 Student Survey..................................................................60

Appendix C...........................................................................................................................................75

Moodle EDMT 330 Professor Survey...............................................................................................75


Part 1: The Analysis

Section 1: Context

In 2006, the Michigan Department of Education mandated a seventh standard in teacher

education in response to Michigan’s online learning requirement for students. The new law for

students requires that upon high school graduation, students are to have an online course or

learning experience. High school graduates are expected to have 30 hours of online experiences

during their time in school from 6th grade to 12th grade (Michigan Department of Education,

2008). As expected, the seventh standard for teacher education came about in order to train pre-

service teachers in online education. The objectives for standard seven focuses on the use of

technological tools, operations, and concepts to enhance learning, personal/professional

productivity, and communication.

There is strong importance for the seventh standard to be implemented during the

education of teacher. Although there are various types of online learning implemented in school

districts, the use of virtual learning course management systems (CMS) has surfaced in recent

years. The environment of course management systems allows online learning to be very

organized and interactive for teachers, students and their parents. The tools within can be used to

create an environment for active and creative learning for students. For example, students can

discuss important topics in the virtual discussion forum (asynchronous communication) and

virtual chat room (synchronous communication). Wikis, webquests, and blogs are also examples

of tools that can be used in most content management systems which allow for students to be

very active in their learning. Additionally, course schedules and student grades can be recorded


through the course management systems and parents can have the opportunity to follow their

children’s progress. Thus, virtual course management systems are also a great meeting place for

teachers and parents to interact. It is very important that college students enrolled in a teacher

education program are introduced to these programs during their college education so that they

are ready to use them when their career as a teacher starts.

In an effort to meet the goals of the seventh standard in teacher education, universities

must decide the best way to meet the objectives of the standard. The question arises on how to

train the pre-service teachers at the University level in order for them to be completely confident

before their graduation. At Eastern Michigan University within the Educational Media and

Technology (EDMT) department in the course, Instructional Applications of Media and

Technology (330), the students are to learn and practice the goals of standard seven. They are

able to actually practice their skills rather than just write about them in a paper or journal. The

students in the course are currently being taught how to use and teach in the online learning

environment through Moodle. This type of learning allows the students to actually explore and

practice online pedagogy (M. McVey, personal communication, July 8 2013). The intent of this

authentic, hands-on style of education is to train the students to use the program in their future

career. Moodle was founded in 2001 and Moodle 1.6 was released in June of 2006. Based on the

social constructivist framework of education, Moodle is an open source software used to create

internet based courses and websites (About Moodle, 2013). It is a great venue to keep students

and parents organized and in the loop regarding homework, long-term assignments, and general

school news. Some of the sub-objectives of Michigan Department of Educations standard seven,

amongst many others, include understanding the issues around using technology in schools,

successfully use and reflect upon collaborative learning, and demonstrate an understanding of


and the ability to create an on-line learning experience. The Moodle system offers the

environment (tools and applications) to directly meet these sub-objectives and others within

standard seven. One of the main reasons why Moodle was chosen by Eastern Michigan

University was because it allowed for 700 students a year to have access to the program.

Additionally, EMU has access to a server that could be configured by them and the Moodle

software is a free, open sourced software that is widely available (M. McVey, personal

communication, July 8, 2013). Moodle is used by many schools across Michigan, so students

will get an experience that is very much like real life.

The use of Moodle in EDMT 330 has been implemented over the last four years. The

question arises on if this type of training is teaching students the skills to meet the objectives of

standard seven. Within the EDMT 330 class, students are broken into groups. The groups are

early elementary education, upper level elementary, middle school and high school. This

evaluation study focuses on pre-service teachers that created their Moodle course design

specifically for middle school students within the EDMT 330 course at Eastern Michigan

University. In addition to just creating Moodle and using it in the middle school classroom, other

factors need to be taken into count such as if Moodle is effective for use in middle schools.

Moodle is seemingly a great program, however there are some underlying issues that affect

middle schools. First, not all students and parents have access to Moodle in their home.

Additionally, determining if Moodle is appropriate for the middle school age group is another

important point as well as determining what skills the middle school students are learning by

using Moodle. Pre-service teachers must learn to be an expert at the technology so that they can

teach and guide their students and their students’ parents in the use of the online learning course

management systems and the technology that goes with it.


Section 2: Technology- A literature review

Introduction: In an effort to fully understand online learning systems and the training

that is needed to implement them, a literature review was completed. . In order to evaluate the

use of Moodle as a means for teaching the standard seven skills for pre-service teachers in

EDMT 330 a literature search was conducted. The literature was searched in order to completely

understand online course management systems and what has worked for others in the training

process of pre-service teachers. Additionally, it is just as important to understand how online

systems work at the school level to be able to completely understand and evaluate Moodle as a

tool for training pre-service middle school teachers. Furthermore, a complete understanding of

the components of a course management system is helpful in gauging its use at the university

level for training as well as understanding how the course management system can meet the

needs of the best practices for online learning within the school systems. Lastly, understanding

how the digital divide plays a role in the success of technology implementation in the schools

will aid in the complete understanding not only where we are lacking, but how we can fix it.

The sections of this literature review include reviewing research on online learning

course management systems in the training of pre-service teachers, online learning course

management systems within the schools systems, online pedagogy in the school systems, as well

as the digital divide.

Online learning course management systems in the training of pre-service teachers.

Universities have the task of adequately preparing pre-service teachers for success in the

classroom. Educational research on technology shows the importance of the use of technology in

the teacher preparation courses (Serhan, 2009). Technology has developed from CD’s, DVD’s

and other basic software on the computer, to use in the classroom in a “Blended learning


experience” (Duhaney 2012). Blended learning experiences can be obtained through the

implementation of a Content Management System (CMS), defined as a combination of three

main components; content, process and technology/software as a part of the learning experience

(Altun, Gulbahar, & Madran, 2008).

While CMS’s have been in heavy development over the past several years as they try to

keep up with todays’ technology, there have been three main emergent systems that have gained

most of their popularity of the state’s school districts; Moodle, Blackboard, and formerly WebCT

( now a part of BlackBoard). The two in current use by school districts around the state,

therefore are the prime choice for use in pre-service teacher training, are Moodle and

Blackboard, Both contain course shells that house content created or linked to by the instructor.

They are able to manage the students’ progress throughout the coursework by means of

discussion postings, chats, online assessments. While both are similar in respect, they fill the

same role in differing ways. Moodle is the systems used at EMU for pre-service teacher training.

The course is free in the sense that it is open sourced and able to be hosted by the user and

therefore highly customizable by the user. However, it does take a technical user to create the

hosting capabilities for the user database. Blackboard is the polar opposite, proprietary, often

hosted for the educational institution, (i.e. the county Intermediate School District, or other

outside private company hosting it for school districts to use). The individual school districts do

not need the technical expertise of hosting such equipment; however they have to rely on the

county or other company for their creation and development of the CMS. There is a need to

continually develop and innovate technology training resources in the teacher preparation

program in order to meet the needs of the K-12 public education system (Lawrence, 2009).


The use of Moodle during pre-service training, was shown to have a positive effect on

pre-service teachers perceived understanding and the appropriate use and implementation of a

CMS as used in an educational setting. In a study conducted by Celik (2010), Moodle was used

within the course entitled “Instructional Technology and Material Design”. The perceptions of

using Moodle in the course were studied on 196 students through the use of a descriptive type

survey. Findings significant to this study were that students described that learning with the

visual elements of Moodle aided in their understanding of course design and also encouraged a

meaningful authentic type learning environment. Similarly, in a Turkish study entitled, The Use

of a Content Management System for Blended Learning: Perceptions of Pre-Service Teachers,

an online learning tool called ENIYISI was created to be used by 191 pre-service teachers. 65 of

those pre-service teachers volunteered to take the questionnaire. The findings significant to this

evaluation study are that pre-service students thought that the document sharing interface and

communication tools were very affective and they aided in creating a in the sense of the virtual

community. Additionally, the pre-service teachers described that the CMS systems were very

useful to education (Altun, Gulbahar, Madran, 2008). It can be inferred that this motivation for

learning the systems and the students’ thoughts on the CMS being very useful to education, will

help in the students motivation for use during their future career. This could also aid in creating

effective online teachers in the future.

Along with the task of helping a foster a perceived usefulness in the context of e-learning,

one study looked at e-learning with several determinants: learning environment, course delivery,

tutor attribute and facility conditions, and how they play a role in the success of educating pre-

service teachers to utilize e-learning. In the study conducted by Tio (2011), 189 pre-service

teachers were enrolled in a 24-hour technology integration lesson. The students were to practice


their skills and participated in discussion forums and taking e-learning graded assignment,

participating in tutor- and student-led online forum discussions, and taking online quizzes in the

Blackboard CMS system. Important findings from this study include that perception of the

importance of use is key in effective use of CMS. Additionally, the use and practice of CMS

during undergraduate education is very important in order for students to understand their role as

a facilitator to their students in online instruction. So not only should students practice in the

creation of learning systems, but they should be encouraged to enroll in online courses to help

gain the knowledge of course organization and design and their future role as the facilitator

According to the research, allowing pre-service students to have an authentic

environment to learn where they are able to practice their skills has posed to be most meaningful.

Although there are some perks to the use of different types of CMS systems the greatest benefits

are shown to be versatile lesson capabilities including communication capabilities and practice

with those systems. According to the research, in order for the student to fully understand the use

of CMS, they must be able to practice and use them. Preliminary research shows some form of

personal and professional growth and development of technological skills in the process of

implementing an online educational presence once pre-service teachers enter the education field.

The pre-service teacher feels more prepared in their ability to create and develop an online

learning experience for their students through the use of a CMS if they are able to practice and

use important tools within the systems.

Online learning course management systems in school systems. Education has made

movements to morph into an environment that meshes with today’s student. While meeting high

stakes standards set by the Department of Education, institutions around the country had shifted

toward online instruction to some degree within coursework for various levels such as middle


schools, high schools, and colleges. Educators are propelled to do this not by student requests,

but driven by policy and institution requirements (Morgan, 2003). These online courses are

designed, organized, and facilitated through course management systems (CMS).

As described briefly previously, a CMS is a system that is engineered for teachers and

students as a virtual teaching and learning environment (Morgan, 2003). In 1997, CMS’s were

introduced in the education scene and have been increasing in popularity due to their benefits in

student learning. Course management systems may enable many simultaneous activities for

students and teachers. Teachers post course content through text, video, and examples while

participating in discussions, keeping an online gradebook for data management, posting

news/announcements, email, and testing (Unal & Unal, 2011; Gupta & Payette, 2009). One of

the main attractions with a CMS is the collaborative tools which allow students to interact with

one another and the teacher through doc sharing, emails, discussion threads, and virtual lounges

to assist with questions & answers related to the course.

Within the CMS industry, there are two platforms, proprietary and open-free source. Both

of these course management systems are effective. However, the advantages to using free open-

source course management systems are that they can be updated electronically and immediately

for users for little or no cost (Unal & Unal, 2011). Consequently, open source software requires

the user to be somewhat knowledgeable to be effective implementing it with a learning

community. Proprietary software has support staff to assist with questions and user issues. The

main event contenders in the world of CMS are Blackboard and Moodle. There are many studies

comparing the two systems. Blackboard is a product used by academic institutions and

universities. Moodle is open source software which “has more than 45 thousand deployments in


over 100 countries and has been translated into 45 languages (Unal & Unal, 2011).” There are

other CMS programs available like eCollege, Schoolrack,Sakai, Schoology, or WebCT.

Using CMS “enables teachers to extend the classroom beyond its traditional boundaries of

time and space (Ullman & Rabinowitz, 2004).” They allow students to have a richer and

extended learning experience with access to power points, videos, discussions, audio, etc.

Students are able to work at a pace and interest that powers them to be focused longer than in a

traditional classroom setting only.

Online pedagogy used in school systems. With a view to attracting more students,

offering flexible learning opportunities and teaching students transferable technology skills,

online teaching and learning is becoming increasingly widespread across the country. Due to the

recent developments in technology, distance learning and education over the past two decades,

questions regarding the best teaching methods for the classroom have emerged. The

understanding of these best practices will aid in identifying the direction that universities should

gear pre-service teacher’s knowledge and practice.

Key themes that have emerged are changes in teacher pedagogy, effect on student

learning experiences, impact on classroom behavior and management, potential for improved

communications, and suggestions to address professional development needs.

There is a growing body of research relating to computing efforts with middle grade

students. Researchers have studied the types of assignments and activities the teachers choose to

use when one-to-one computing is available. They found teachers had students use computers

most frequently to do online research in conjunction with productivity tools such as word


processing or presentation. Additionally, they found e-communications, such as classroom

websites, in use (Long, 2010). The students demonstrated their learning in varied and creative

ways through the use of computer-based lessons. Although some students were distracted by

gaming and chatting opportunities, learning benefits were reported for students of varied ability

levels (Storz, 2013).

A recent study specifically showed that the benefits of the online learning in middle

school students. Online courses are increasingly seen as a viable way to expand the number and

types of courses offered and broadening access to key courses, particularly in small and rural

schools. To study the effectiveness of using an online course to broaden eighth graders’ access

to Algebra, the Education Development Center, Inc. performed a three-year study examining the

effects of offering a fully online Algebra course to eighth-grade students in mostly rural schools

in Main and Vermont. The study demonstrated that, compared with traditional classroom

instruction, students with access to online Algebra learned more algebra that year and later

doubled their chances of taking advanced math courses in high school. These results show that

online Algebra 1 offered benefits students by boosting algebra knowledge and skill and by

opening doors to more advanced course opportunities in later years (Heppen, 2012).

The development of knowledge as a function of education is dependent in many respects

on the teaching method used to communicate, integrate, utilize and re-enforce that knowledge.

Professors, educators, and researchers have all discussed certain teaching methods to be the most

effective in terms of knowledge retention. Many of these “best methods” are considered staple

methods that have been embraced by the academic community over the years. Some of these

methods utilize and encourage more individualistic and competitive approaches to learning,

whereas, others focus on more cooperative, group thinking approaches (Kupczynski, 2012). Due


to developments in technology, distance learning and education, questions regarding the best

teaching methods for the virtual classroom have emerged amongst faculty members teaching

online courses. While traditional individualistic methods have long been seen as the most

effective methods for knowledge retention, developing research has seen a shift in this trend.

Cooperative learning has been demonstrated to yield better test scores, allow for more focus to

be given to the task at hand and lead to better long-term knowledge retention. An important

feature of cooperative learning is small group discussion. Successful collaboration in online

courses is directly related to the types of tools used to facilitate and achieve collaboration

(Kupczynski, 2012). Discussion boards also play a critical role in the learning process within the

online course environment by creating a space where a student can receive feedback from the

instructor and their peers. Student interactions and collaboration can be further facilitated

through the use of threaded discussions. Therefore, the online instructor, as a facilitator, as well

as the clarity of the instructions and expectations become very important for the virtual

classroom to be successful.

The digital divide. Where the term digital divide comes from exactly is difficult to

determine. The term has been in use for over a decade (Foster & Borkowski, 2004). Educators

and politicians use the phrase when addressing issues of empowerment and democracy or

pandering. What remains clear is that the digital divide is a complex issue which addresses both

types of Internet and computer access, and the availability and use of these technologies

(Banister & Reinhart, 2011).

The complexity of the issue leads to multiple factors in its clear definition. As we look at

the implementation of the Moodle course management system, it is important that we consider

these factors in their relation to that system. Simply, it is obvious that schools suffer from


inadequate funding, lack of resources, and a teaching staff that is often inexperienced or

unqualified (Banister & Reinhart, 2011). Access is a clear focal point when addressing the

digital divide, the divide being between those who possess technology hardware and those who

do not. Beyond access, however, lies the reality of opportunity for use in the digital divide

debate. Those who collect statistical data on the number of computers and Internet connections

oftentimes interpret this information as reflecting progress in narrowing the divide. However,

just because computers are present, one cannot immediately assume that they are functional and

put to use. Especially in school settings, studies have shown that marginalized student

populations receive little or no opportunities to use computer technologies in productive and

creative modes (Bull, 2003; Swain & Pearson, 2001). So, in a sense the digital divide is a simple

outgrowth of social inequity and is multifactorial.

Seemingly, it would be a difficult task to affect this divide if that were solely true.

However, some researchers have questioned this conceptualization of the digital divide, arguing

that ‘it would seem that the “digital divide” is more a “home-school divide”’ (Honan, 2006).

There is ‘a growing sense that the divide is actually between the rich multi-literate practices used

by young people in their homes and the narrow and restricted practices engaged in by schools

and teachers’ (Henderson & Honan 2008). However, it could be the teachers’ implementations

of technologies that create the divide and not access. A teacher’s understanding, not only of

subject matter and expertly selected methods of teaching that subject matter to students, but the

knowledge of the various digital technologies available to teach the content and how to best

select and integrate these technological resources is a factor in the divide (Banister & Reinhart,

2011). In order for teachers to be well versed in technology engaged education, they must spend

time in both learning the mechanics of various technologies, as well as studying how to match


specific technology tools to specific learning needs (Banister & Reinhart, 2011). Efforts have

been made to incorporate job related professional development to target teacher’s need for

technology education and implementation with the support of district resources and directed

education in effective techniques with positive outcomes for diminishing the digital divide

(Banister & Reinhart, 2011).

This gap can be crossed with directed effort and support. It seems then an obvious

outcome that the use and pedagogy of technology must be modeled in teacher education

programs in order for students to be more prepared to enter their professions in a position to

bridge the digital divide (Banister & Reinhart, 2011).

Conclusion. The training of pre-service teachers is multifactorial. The literature was

scanned regarding the training pre-service teachers using CMS, content management systems

and online pedagogy used in school districts and the digital divide that is faced in educational

technology. It can be determined that practice with content management systems at the pre-

service level is of high importance in training. Encouraging pre-service students to both take

online courses themselves and also practice in creating lessons within course management

systems is best. This will allow them to have a model of how to organize the course and gain an

understanding of the important factors of online learning. When students are able to practice

what they have learned it will increase their motivation to use content management systems

during their career as educators. One of the biggest problems with technology integration in

schools is not having skilled teachers in technology. The modeling and practice of the

technology skills prepare teachers to enter their professions in a position aid in closing the gap in

the digital divide (Banister & Reinhart, 2011).


Schools systems are using course management systems in an effort to meet the

technology standards and policies for high school graduates. According to recent research, online

learning can create a greater sense of collaboration and community and has been proven to be

very successful in schools (Kupczynski, 2012). Additionally, specifically at the the middle

school level using online technology has shown that knowledge and skill can be boosted as well

as the increased ability to take more advanced courses online in the future (Heppen, 2012).

Therefore, the policies and standards implemented in the school systems aid in education of K-

12 students and also help them develop technology skills needed for their future.

It can be determined that it is best to be able to use course management systems that are

most like the ones that students will be using in the future, such as Moodle or Blackboard,

however the skills obtained in developing a course in any reputable course management system

will prove to aid in the education of the pre-service teachers. The advantages to using free open-

source course management systems are they can used immediately for users for little or no cost

(Unal & Unal, 2011). Through the use of any course management systems, the basic

understanding and practice of the course organization, online lesson planning, collaborative

options and facilitative role of the educator is very beneficial to pres-service teachers education.

The hope is that the skills will be transported to their careers as teachers.

Section 3: Stakeholders and Goals

According to the United States Department of Education, a stakeholder is a person or

group of people who are affected by the innovation at hand. They have a direct interest in the

success and outcomes of the innovative program (United States Department of Education, 2009).

Most programs in education have a ripple effect to administrators, school districts, other teachers

and students and the program being implemented at EMU in EDMT 330 is no different. Eastern


Michigan University and for any College of Education, faculty are in charge of creating an

effective program to train pre-service teachers. For the context of this program, the students

taking the EDMT 330 course at Eastern Michigan University are the local, direct stakeholders

because their success is dependent upon this programs training. The faculty members

implementing the program are also stakeholders.

The hope of the faculty members creating the innovation was that it would give the

students an authentic learning experience that would directly mimic an experience that would be

used in real life. The Moodle program was specifically chosen not only for its functionality

perks, as staked previously, but because many school districts use Moodle. The EMU faculty are

striving to create an environment as close to real life as possible. The important skills that the

EMU faculty hope the students learn through practice in EDMT 330 are numerous and each skill

is important for the pre-service teachers’ future career. First, learning the skill of how to create

an environment for their students that is connected in a way that the distance between the

computers is irrelevant is very important (Moore, 1991). Students need to learn how to create a

sense of a virtual community. Secondly, understanding that there are different ways to organize

content and assess students within an online course then in an in-class course. The idea that the

students need to practice the skills of using communication tools such as discussion boards and

using assessment tools such as online quizzes, interactive assessments and project learning is in

the forefront of the minds of Educational Media and Technology faculty at EMU. Additionally,

EMU faculty strive to create an authentic environment that is meaningful for the pre-service

students enrolled in the EDMT 330 course. They even have broken down the students into their

area of expertise, such as high school, middle school, upper elementary, and lower elementary

(M. McVey, personal communication, July 8, 2013).


The EMU faculty feel as though the type of lesson being implemented is a meaningful

and authentic lesson where the students’ skills can be transferred into the classroom. In order to

know truly how effective the lesson is, some form of interview must be completed by the pre-

service students in the EDMT 330 course. According to Dr. Michael McVey, the faculty would

like to see how the students feel about their learning experience. Do they think they are equip

with the skills and knowledge needed to teach at their level (in our case middle school) during

their career? In addition, do they understand the lessons purpose and what the instructors were

trying to accomplish? These are some components that this evaluation study will research (M.

McVey, personal communication, July 8, 2013).

Part 2: Design Phase

Section 4: Methodology

The process. There are two target populations for the evaluation study. The first target

population will consist of the pre-service teacher students that were enrolled in EDMT 330 in the

Winter 2013 and first part of Summer (Summer 1) semester. The Program Coordinator contacted

all 389 students enrolled by email and asked if they were willing to participate in a questionnaire

about the use of Moodle in teacher preparation. Of the 389 students 77 of the pre-service

teachers offered to participate. Of the 77 students who offered to participate, 12 are middle

school geared pre-service teachers and will be included in this evaluation study. A second group,

the two faculty members that teach EDMT 330 will also be included in the study.

The focus area of the research is to evaluate the opinions of both the faculty members and

pre-service middle school students in using Moodle to teach pre-service teachers to instruct

online. The type of sampling used for the pre-service teachers is a stratified sample. 19 percent of


students enrolled in EDMT 330 in the Winter and Summer one semesters volunteered to be

included in the study (77 of 398) and 15 percent of the students who volunteered will be included

in this evaluation study because they are in the middle school group (12 of that 77). Both groups,

the middle school pre-service teachers, and the two faculty members will be surveyed using

Google Docs Forms. Participants will be contacted by email to participate in the evaluation

survey. The survey itself will be sent through email. The survey will approximately 5-7 minutes

and includes both open and closed ended questions. Before the survey was finalized, it was

piloted on four teachers that volunteered through a teacher Facebook group in which one of the

evaluators in this study is a part of. Our evaluation study advisor, Dr. Michael McVey also

reviewed and edited the survey.

The survey. The survey was created in google documents in the form tool. The survey

tool in Appendix A was administered to the pilot teacher study participants. Then based off of

the pilot teacher feedback we revised the survey tool to the updated form listed in Appendix B.

The survey being given to both EDMT 330 professors is located in Appendix C.

Pilot teachers’ feedback conclusion. A pilot test of the survey was conducted on four

K-12 teachers. The pilot offered feedback on whether the survey’s wording and clarity is

apparent to all respondents and whether the questions mean the same thing to all respondents.

Checklist during the pilot test:

Do the respondents understand the objective of the survey?

Do the respondents feel comfortable answering the questions?

Is the wording in the survey clear?


Are the answer choices compatible with the respondents’ experience in Moodle?

Is the survey too long?

Are there any questions that generate irritation or confusion?

There were a few changes made to the survey questions to evaluate the competence.

Some of the wording needed to be more concise. For example: Survey question “Do you feel that

Moodle is an effective program to teach Middle School students” to read “Do you feel the

Moodle is an effective tool to teach Middle School students”. Where the word ”program” is

replaced by “tool” instead. Other minor changes included switching around the order of the

question. In the question “What features do you use the least?” We changed to” What features

did you use the least?”

The estimate length of the survey took about five to seven minutes. The respondents felt

comfortable answering the questions and some of the wording was revised. The respondents

indicated that the answer choices were compatible with their experiences.

Approval for Human Subjects Committee. Link to Human Subject Committee Form .

We have completed the adapted human subjects form explaining our request for a study on

human subjects. The form has been sent in for committee review.

Part 3: Implementation: Results and Discussion

C:\\Users\\Moeller\\Documents\\Sarah\\Documents\\Eastern\\Summer2013\\EDMT653\\Groupassignment\\implementation\\Implementationdocs\\Human Subjects filled.pdf


Both professors that were emailed responded to the survey (100 percent response rate).

Only 3 of the 11 students emailed responded to the survey (28 percent response rate). The

responses were evaluated by analyzing the raw data. The closed ended questions were also

analyzed by viewing pie charts. The responses for many answers for the pre-service students

were very similar, so there was not much variance in the population for many of the questions.

However, there were some responses that were very variable amongst the respondents. Thus,

because of the small sample size and the variance among the sample, the information may not be

able to be generalized to the population of all middle school pre-service teachers that took

EDMT 330 and participated in the Moodle lesson. For the most part, the professor survey

answers were not variable, thus giving us reliable data, however there were a couple of distinct

questions in which the professors responded differently. The responses did give us some

knowledge of the professors and pre-service student’s option on both the quality of the lesson

and the use of Moodle for the lesson.

The sections for the results and the discussion of the results will be broken down into

parts. First we will explore the major themes of both the surveys, starting with the professor

survey. Second we will interpret and explain the meaning of the data and discuss its implications.

Lastly we will discuss the level of confidence in the findings.

The Professor Survey Themes

Theme 1: Meeting the goals of standard 7. Both professors felt that the assignment in

EDMT 330 using Moodle to give pre-service teachers practice with designing lessons and

courses in Moodle was very effective in meeting the goals of Standard 7, as displayed in figure

1. Although only one professor responded to the question on if the pre-service teachers are ready


to implement Moodle in their own classroom, that professor felt that it was very likely that the

pre-service teachers are ready to do so. Both professors reported that the lesson using Moodle

created a sense of confidence for the learners. However, the professors reported that the pre-

service students may not understand how to assess their students and they may not know best

way to show learner support in online programs. Additionally, because their own skills are still

being developed, learners may not yet be able to teach parents and students how to use Moodle.

Theme 2: EDMT 330 class and assignment organization. The professors felt that the

EDMT 330 course was organized in a way that would be effective in teaching students, however

one professor additionally stressed the importance of continual help for the students especially

those enrolled in EDMT 330 online. The professor stated that video conferencing helps to show

the students the ropes, but it is still a struggle. One professor reported that learning through

having students set up their own course in a content management system such as Moodle is the

most relevant real-life lesson possible. It long as the lesson is well written and a reputable

content management system is used, students can be successful. However, later in the report

some specific issues with Moodle are described which concludes the need to try a new Content

Management system for this lesson, such as Blackboard.

Many of the challenges in teaching the course were similar to other courses and not

necessary specific to Moodle. Some of the examples are students waiting until the last minute

and not following directions. However, other challenges were because of the specific content

management system lesson. One professor reported that some students did drop the course

because of the Moodle content management system creation requirement. One professor reported

that some changes could be made to better the lesson and decrease the challenges that the pre-

service teachers had. Changing the class components to specifically cater to the needs of students


in each category (middle school, elementary, highschool etc) would help. Additionally, focusing

more on pedagogy and giving students better practice with that would be helpful and make for a

better understanding of how to not only use the technology, but teach with it.

Theme 3: Using Moodle to teach pre-service teachers. Both professors think that using

Moodle, or other content management systems is a great way for pre-service teachers to practice

using content management systems and only one professor reported that most students had one

problem during its use. Both instructors agreed that Moodle is a fun, engaging learning

environment that has many tools to cater to many learners. Both instructors also agreed that

Moodle allows for collaboration and interactive learning among those who have access to the

course such as teachers and students. Both professors agreed that Moodle also allows for creation

of problem based learning and is supported by those in the technical education world.

One professor reported that there were some issues with the servers, so that caused so

slow downs and problems. That same professor reported that a different content management

system may be better. For example, the maximum video upload is 8 mb, which is not enough for

multimedia instruction. Additionally, it was reported that there may be some content overload

and poor design for designers of the Moodle unit, as displayed in Figure 2. It was also noted that

Moodle itself is not very easy to navigate. Additionally, although collaboration through Moodle

is possible, both professors agreed that Moodle is not visually pleasing for the participants.

Although there are many tools available in Moodle, some were reported to be used by the

students and some were not. Wikis, lesson builder, survey and glossary were not used by many.

The webpage, chat web page, discussion and quiz were used more often. One professor also

reported that discussion forums and quizzes are difficult to set up in Moodle. The professors’


responses on if the Moodle has excellent availability of activity resources was split, as displayed

in Figure 3. Because of the issues described above, the professors that teach EDMT 330 may

choose another content management system in the future such as blackboard.

Theme 4: Content management systems in general. Both instructors agreed that

content management systems allow for all participants to view the content at any given time and

in any place. One professor reported that when using content management systems, like Moodle

for online courses some of the collaborative aspects of a face-to-face environment will be lost,

such as immediate classroom feedback from teachers. However, content management systems

allow for other types of interaction not possible in the classroom, such as discussion forums and

also some great feedback mechanisms such as the gradebook feature. However, there was a split

response for if forum communication is effective using Moodle, one professor agreed and the

other disagreed, as displayed in Figure 4.

The Pre-service Teacher Survey Themes

Theme 1: Meeting the goals of standard 7. The survey feedback from participants of

EDMT 330 shows that the students feel the lesson did indeed meet the requirement of standard 7,

as displayed in Figure 5. After the EDMT 330 Moodle assignment students think they have a

better understanding of creating genuine content for students in a learning management system.

100 percent of students agreed that they have become confident in using content management

systems through the lesson. However, all survey participants agreed that although they were able

to create successful online experiences, they may need additional guidance when using Moodle

in their own classroom. 100 percent of the students agreed that the lesson was a valuable

component of their individual professional development as a teacher. Two participants (67

percent) agreed that the lesson taught them how to assess their learners, while one participant (33


percent) neither agreed nor disagreed (figure 6). Learner assessment is a very important

component of online teaching, so insuring that all students feel comfortable in doing so is

important. Lastly, an important component of teaching online is being able to teach students and

parents to use the technology. Two (67 percent) participants agreed that they feel comfortable

teaching parents and students to use Moodle, while one participant (33 percent) neither agreed

nor disagreed, as displayed in figure 7.

Theme 2: EDMT 330 class and assignment organization. All pre-service participants

responded that they understand that the reason they had the lesson was to learn how to use

technology to teach and interact in their future classrooms. Each participant gave different

recommendations for what they think would be beneficial for future students in the course. One

student responded more support from the teacher and students because learning the Moodle

program is challenging. Another student responded more time is needed for the lesson. Lastly,

one student reported that it was very difficult to teach another student in the class because you

had to rely on their participation. So potential tweaking of the assignment structure itself would

be helpful. One student replied that more automation is needed with how to move within the

Moodle site. The students had split responses for if the lesson was clear on describing what

needed to be done in the project. One participant said it was always clear and one participant said

it was frequently clear. On the contrary, the last participant responded that the lesson was rarely

clear. There was mixed reviews on if Moodle was the best content management system for the

lesson.

Theme 3: Using Moodle to teach pre-service teachers. Analysis of the feedback from

participants determined that they felt that the Moodle lesson was an important component of

their professional development in preparation for becoming a teacher. Two of the participants


(67 percent) agreed with the professors in that the Moodle course management provides a way to

make learning engaging, fun and interesting for middle school students, while one participant (33

percent) neither agreed nor disagreed. Additionally, the students felt that Moodle allows for a

range of different activities for their students and provides an effective teaching

framework/structure. They also liked that Moodle can be used anywhere and anytime and

allowed students to work at their own pace. All participants agreed that Moodle can enable the

problem based learning approach into instructional design. Additionally, all participants agreed

that Moodle is designed to cater to a variety of teaching and learning needs. Two of the three

participants (67 percent) agreed that Moodle allows for group work, interactive and collaborative

learning while one participant (33 percent) disagreed that Moodle can offer that. Additionally,

the participants enjoyed using the discussion forums in Moodle.

The students think that there are many positive attributes of using Moodle in the

classroom, however they admit that there are some major limitations. All participants ran into

three or more issues when completing their Moodle design as described in Figure 8. One student

expressed that learning the program was very frustrating and time consuming. The students

expressed numerous limitations while designing and implementing. These limitations are

described in figure 9 in the form of a bar graph. All three students felt that Moodle had technical

issues that were challenging to overcome. Some of the other limitations included poor confusing

interface, difficult to assess students, may be difficult to keep students on task and Moodle may

become a distraction to their students. Additionally, the participants felt that it is time consuming

to create lessons in Moodle. 67 percent felt that arrangement and availability of module

resources and activities was excellent, showing that there is need for improvement for over all


organization. Additionally, only one student believes that Moodle is stable and supported by the

international community of educators.

It is important that using Moodle in middle schools students is discussed. Two of the

students agreed that Moodle is an effective tool in creating online pedagogy for middle school

students, while one student replied neither agree or disagree. As expressed previously, one of the

biggest issue with Moodle and any content management systems is that middle school students

may get distracted and the teacher may have trouble keeping students on task. Another concern

that was given is if middle school students know where to turn assignments in once completed in

Moodle. So that participant expressed that middle school students must be trained in using the

content management system itself which may be a daunting task based on the frustration of the

pre-service teachers. Additionally, one student expressed that Moodle should be used only for

exercises and activities at the middle school level, thus trying to keep the tools at a minimum to

aid in lowering confusion and distraction.

All in all, based on the responses from the survey questions, the participants would not

hesitate in trying the lesson on a different content management system. One participant even

expressed that in an open ended question. However, two of the participants (67 percent) agreed

that they would try Moodle again within their own classroom, while the other disagreed (33

percent).

Theme 4: Content management systems in general. The participants agreed that one of

the biggest benefits of content management systems is that they are available at any time and that

students are able to work at the own pace. All participants liked that they could create and

manage their profile making the experience more personal and better able to connect and


understand peers. Also 100 percent agreed that a system like Moodle can help not only make

learning more engaging, fun, and interesting; but it can also better cater to different learning

styles. Additionally, the participants agreed that online interactions, such as discussion forums

can be a great way for students and teachers to interact. On the contrary, two participants (67

percent) disagreed that content management systems, such as Moodle allow for more effective

learning material creation than traditional courses, while only one student agreed (33 percent).

This determines that pre-service teachers are not confident in the benefits of using content

management systems such as Moodle in their classroom vs. teaching with traditional classrooms

environments.

Data Interpretations, Meaning and Implications

After implementing the Moodle Pre-Service Teacher Survey, the data has validated the

focus objective of the EDMT 330 course to meet Standard 7 of the ISTE Standards. Overall, the

Moodle learning module for pre-service teachers provided positive exposure to Learning

Management Systems. None of the participants had previous experience using, creating, or

navigating with a LMS. Even though the participants felt Moodle was valuable tool and useful

because most schools use it, they felt they needed more support from the instructors and learning

community of pre-service teachers. The respondents stated that they didn’t feel the experience

was well directed or supported many times. The lesson was reported as frustrating to complete.

They perceived that the experience was lacking a supportive and collaborative community to

learn Moodle and familiarize themselves with the system. Except for one professor, students did

not feel that their instructors helped them to be successful during the LMS learning phase of the


lesson. Our educators already in the field share similar competence struggles in relation to

technology because the schools suffer from inadequate funding, lack of resources, and a teaching

staff that is often inexperienced or unqualified (Banister & Reinhart, 2011). Eastern Michigan

University’s College of Education has been given the charge to make an impact for change and

growth to build confident and technology literate educators.

Some of the students had negative reactions to the peer teaching experience within

Moodle. They sensed that other students didn’t have enough time to evaluate or provide quality

feedback to shape their lesson design. Consequently, there seemed to be a high level of

frustration amongst the student sample group. By the same token, they felt that the assessment

component was useful, but the group didn’t use it effectively due to lack of modeling. Others

concerns from the pre-service teachers, as previously described were that the students may be

distracted by the technology and online environment, have inequitable access to internet and

computers, or miss the personal connection of traditional classroom learning. Conversely, our

research has stated that the students demonstrated their learning in varied and creative ways

through the use of computer-based lessons. Although some students were distracted by gaming

and chatting opportunities, learning benefits were reported for students of varied ability levels

(Storz, 2013).

However, two of the participants were inclined to feel that they would use Moodle in

their future classrooms, but not without additional training. Furthermore, they all agreed that

Moodle provides an effective teaching framework. In addition, the survey results demonstrated

that the Module was valuable to their professional development as teachers. The undergraduate

students pointed to several positive and attractive features within Moodle such as the flexibility

for students and teachers to access the content based on their own time schedule. As the literature


review revealed earlier in our evaluation process, Using CMS "enables teachers to extend the

classroom beyond its traditional boundaries of time and space (Ullman & Rabinowitz, 2004)."

Also, they felt that Moodle provided a student paced and interest learning environment that can

develop capabilities to process information effectively and efficiently. This will facilitate growth

toward developing 21st Century classrooms.

Based on the survey results, there are some suggestions for restructuring or designing

EDMT 330 in the future. The first is provide a stronger sense of community throughout the

Moodle course learning module by creating discussion threads and class meetings times to allow

for collaboration and peer coaching through the course shell. If they were not previously able to

view examples from earlier semesters of the course, then allow them to peruse the Moodle

courses designed by students from the past. This exercise will facilitate comfort in regards to

expectations for Moodle design. Providing a water cooler type of space within the course shell

for EDMT 330 students will create a safe community to share ideas and questions as they

explore and learn about Moodle. Also, it would be beneficial for students to have more guided

modeling and feedback early in the learning with an existing Moodle course facilitated by the

professor. They can experience the facets first within a learning model with a more structured

class scaffolding. This will expose them to the many features, designs, and collaborative tools

that Moodle offers to online course development and management.

Lastly, based on our findings, EDMT professors should not hesitate in trying a different

content management system. There are other content management systems out there that may

have less navigational and server issues. However, Moodle is often used in schools, so keeping

Moodle as the content management system in EDMT 330 would offer a very real-life lesson for

the students.


Confidence in the Findings

The aim of this study was to focus on the effectiveness of Moodle for an online training

program to meet the ISTE standard 7. 11 students taking the EDMT 330 course at Eastern

Michigan University were contacted to take the survey. 3 participants of the 11 responded to the

survey. The sample is not large enough to accurately represent the population of Moodle users

and is more like a pilot study. In terms of validity or trustworthiness of the survey questions, we

believe that the researchers used strategies to maximize validity. Strategies such as peer review,

participant feedback, and naturalistic generalization were used. Even though the sample was

small there were several areas that were all in agreement.

Positive reactions;

Moodle provides an effective teaching framework/structure.

Moodle experience created a sense of confidence using LMS in their future classrooms.

Many tools/applications available allowing a range of activities.

Ability to suit a number of different teaching and learning needs.

Ability to meet the needs of creating, use and conduct lessons for standard 7

Available 24/7

Moodle is a valuable professional development tool for teachers.

Teachers liked the feedback given to other students via the forum.

All agree that Moodle is an effective program for educators to use with Middle School

Students.

Negative reactions;

Teachers ran into problems while completing the Moodle design more than three times.

Agree and strongly agree to needing additional guidance to use Moodle.


Moodle is visually pleasing for students, parents, and teachers to use.

No clear agreement;

Do you feel that Moodle will help turn our schools into dynamic and innovative learning

institutions where students can become more motivated, inquisitive and creative

learners’.

Moodle can develop in our students the attitude and capability for independent life-long

learning.

Moodle is stable and well supported by an international community of educators and

technical people.

Formal communication is very convenient and effective.

On- line materials in Moodle were easy to locate.

Moodle interface was easy to navigate.

Moodle provides easier links to external sources than other LMS.

Moodle creates more effective learning material than tradition style courses.

There are limitations in the collection of data for our study. First, there are always factors

to consider when conducting a survey on-line. The hope is that participants are not in a hurry

and that they are reading the questions carefully. However, that may not always be the case.

Additionally, it was clear that all of the participants in our study have the same technology

experience with Moodle and had not previously used a content management system. However,

this may not be true of all the participants in EDMT 330. These examples are just a few as to

why it is important to have a larger sample size to promote reliability and be able to generalize

the results to the population.


What does this data say to the stakeholders? Overall the feedback is mostly positive on

the goal of the lesson was met. However, based on the above findings, a few recommendations

for supporting the implementation of Moodle would be more guidance in implementation and

solid pedagogical approaches to help their learners. Teachers have a variety of skills in the

classroom to reach all learners and this same idea is carried over in planning a Moodle lesson.

However, because the teacher is not physically standing in front of the students, lessons need to

be altered to excite and motivate the learners. This is something that will come with practice and

trial and error. Clear expectations in terms of comments and feedback are also highly important

in being successful in Moodle.

Conclusion

The goal of this study was to determine if the lesson in EDMT 330 meeting the goal of

standard 7 and also determine if Moodle is the best venue for the lesson. Lessons in content

management systems can be very powerful if created appropriately. Moodle itself offers

numerous different tools that can be used by teachers to create interactive and technology

integrated lessons.

There we some strong themes throughout our study, but because of the small sample size,

we treat this study as more of a pilot study. We cannot say with confidence that the results are

generalizable to the population. Although the responses of the participants in our study were very

similar, there was some variation. The survey tool that was completed by two professors and

three pre-service students concluded that Moodle is a good system, but does have its fair share of

issues. If the professors of EDMT 330 continue to use Moodle, more support should be given to


the pre-service students on navigation and pedagogy training, amongst others. Pre-service

teachers need the support of classmates and teachers to get through the lesson.

Our study shows that using Moodle at the middle school level is possible with some

specific guidelines. Middle school students get distracted easy, so keeping the tools used within

Moodle at a basic level will be helpful in lowering distraction level. Also, teachers must train

students on the technology to make sure that they are not frustrated during the process. Students

that are frustrated will not learn at the level they should and the technology may be more of a

barrier to learning then an enhancer. If used properly, based on our results, we believe middle

school students can indeed benefit from the use of Moodle in the classroom.

Based on our results, professors should not be married to Moodle. Other content

management systems may be easier to work with and have less server error. However, the fact

that many schools use Moodle should be taken into count in the decision. Teachers are expected

to know how to create lessons in Moodle. Previous training in Moodle during undergraduate

studies would be helpful for the future. Our main recommendations would be that with any

content management system chosen for EDMT 330 next year, ensure adequate support amongst

students and the professor of the course. For future studies, possibility research what content

management systems graduate students feel would be best for the lesson based on their

experience with numerous systems. Additionally, to get a better response rate, try surveying

students that are currently enrolled in the EDMT 330 course.


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Figures

The Professor Survey Figures

Figure 1

Figure 1: The pie graph visually shows that both professors (100%) found the lesson in Moodle was very relevant in meeting the goals of standard seven.

Figure 2

Figure 2: The figure displays that one professor noted that there is both information overload confusion in the designing with the Moodle interface.


Figure 3

Figure 3: The graph displays the fact that one professor finds Moodle’s resource and activity arrangement and availability to be excellent while the other professor does not.

Figure 4

Figure 4: The graph demonstrates that there was a split response on if communication within forums is efficient and effective.

The Pre-Service Student Survey Figures


Figure 5:

Figure 5: The pie graph visually shows that all three students (100%) found the lesson in Moodle was very relevant in meeting the goals of standard seven.

Figure 6:

Figure 6: The pie graph shows that 2 participants (67 percent) agreed that the lesson taught them how to assess their learners, while 1 participant (33 percent) neither agreed nor disagreed.

Figure 7


Figure 7: 2 (67 percent) participants agreed that they feel comfortable teaching parents and students to use Moodle, while 1 participant ( 33 percent) neither agreed nor disagreed.

Figure 8

Figure 8: This figure shows that 100 percent of students ran into problems during completing the Moodle project.

Figure 9


Figure 9: The bar graph in figure 9 displays the participant’s responses to the limitations of Moodle.


Appendices

Appendix A

Moodle Pre-service Teacher Pilot SurveyEDMT 330 Pre-service teachers Moodle Online Course Management System You have been selected to participate in a survey regarding your experiences creating, using and conducting online learning environments using Moodle. Your personal information will not be shared with other sources. We would like your input to further guide our pre-service teacher training to facilitate the needs of our students with rigor and real-world learning experiences to prepare them to be successful 21st Century teachers. Please read each question or statement carefully and respond according to the directions or prompt. Thank you in advance for your assistance with helping EMU's College of Education create authentic and applicable learning modules.* RequiredWhat professor did you have for EDMT 330? *Copeland, McVey,etc

Do you feel ready to implement Moodle and other online learning systems in your career? *

Very likely

Somewhat likely

Neutral

Somewhat unlikely

Very unlikely

Did you find the lesson to create, use, and conduct lessons in Moodle to meet the goals of standard 7 ? *7. Technology Operations and Concepts Use of technological tools, operations, and concepts to enhance learning, personal/professional productivity, and communication, including the ability to: a. Understand the equity, ethical, legal, social, physical, and psychological issues surrounding the use of technology in K-12 schools and apply those principles in practice; b. Successfully complete and reflect upon collaborative on-line learning experiences; c. Demonstrate an understanding of and the ability to create an on-line learning experience, and demonstrate continued growth in technology operations and concepts including strategies for teaching and learning in an on-line environment; d. Plan, design, and evaluate effective technology-enhanced learning environments and experiences aligned with Michigan’s content standards and grade level expectations and Michigan educational technology standards for each student; e. Implement curriculum plans that include technology-enhanced methods and strategies to maximize student learning; f. Apply technology to facilitate a variety of effective assessment and evaluation strategies; and g. Use technology to engage in ongoing professional development, practice,


productivity, communication, and life-long learning. Cite: http://www.michigan.gov/documents/mde/Item_S_233488_7.pdf

Very relevant

Somewhat relevant

Not at all relevant

Was the lesson writing clearly to help you understand what you were to do in during the project? *

Always

Frequently

Sometimes

Rarely

Never

Did you run into any problems while completing your Moodle design? *

Once

Twice

Three times

More than three times

Problem is still unresolved

Do you feel that Moodle is an effective program to teach middle school students? *

strongly agree

agree

neither agree or disagree

disagree

strongly disagree

What do you feel are the challenges specific to middle schoolers- how did you overcome those challenges within your specific Moodle course site? Were you prepared for those problems by the EMU faculty? *


Do you feel that you have a good sense of how to assess online learners. *

Strongly agree

agree


disagree

strongly disagree

Do you feel comfortable enough to teach your students and their parents how to use the systems. *

strongly agree

agree


disagree

strongly disagree

What processes do you think need more automation? *

Moodle provides easier links to external sources. *

strongly agree

agree


disagree

strongly disagree

Do you understand why the instructors made the Moodle lesson project? YES/NO and Explain your answer. *


What suggestions do you have to make this lesson/experience better for future EDMT 330 students? *

Moodle can address different learning styles, student needs, and cater to different groups. *

strongly agree

agree


disagree

strongly disagree

Moodle provides a way to make more engaging, fun, and interesting learning content. *

strongly agree

agree


disagree

strongly disagree

Do you feel that this experience created a sense of confidence using LMS in your future classroom? *

strongly agree

agree


disagree

strongly disagree

What would you change about this experience using Moodle? *


What were some of your frustrations using Moodle? *

Did all members of your Moodle class respond positively to the course content that you created, used and conducted/facilitated? YES/NO Explain. *

Does Moodle allow teachers to create long-term lesson plans? *

strongly agree

agree


disagree

strongly disagree

Does Moodle allow collaboration among teaching staff? *

strongly agree

agree


disagree

strongly disagree

Does Moodle allow student review of the material? *

strongly agree

agree


disagree

strongly disagree


Moodle creates more effective learning material than traditional style courses. *

strongly agree

agree


disagree

strongly disagree

Did you use Moodle to assess your students? How effective was that utility? *YES/NO and Explain

What are some limitations of Moodle when it comes to designing and implementing learning experiences for students? *Check all that apply

requires computer/internet access/technology problems

too much information/information overload with design

smaller range of tools/limitation with tools

time consuming to create sequence

may be difficult to keep students on task

Moodle may become a distraction instead of learning

Requires technology literate students

poor/confusing interface or design

difficult to assess student progress

too structured/linear

might not accommodate students with disabilities

boring/repetitive

teacher lacks control

requires teacher to be familiar with Moodle

poor collaboration tools

may require independent learners


difficult to provide feedback

Do you feel that you may require additional guidance to use Moodle? *

strongly agree

agree


disagree

strongly disagree

Moodle saves time and paper. *

strongly agree

agree


disagree

strongly disagree

Moodle allows for better access to teacher. *

strongly agree

agree


disagree

strongly disagree

Moodle is visually pleasing for students, parents, and teachers to use. *

strongly agree

agree


disagree

strongly disagree


I liked that Moodle is available anytime/anywhere. *

strongly agree

agree


disagree

strongly disagree

Moodle has many tools/applications available allowing a range of activities. *

strongly agree

agree


disagree

strongly disagree

Provides an effective teaching framework/structure. *

strongly agree

agree


disagree

strongly disagree

Moodle allows group work, collaborative learning, interactive learning, and diverse approaches. *

strongly agree

agree


disagree

strongly disagree


What features do you use the least? *

What features do you use the most? *

Is there an aspect of the traditional classroom that you cannot recreate through your system? *

What part of your system does not work the way you would like? *

Please provide with some contact information if my Graduate team can contact you later with further questions. *

email

What are some of the advantages afforded by Moodle when it comes to designing and implementing learning experiences for students? *

What are some of the limitations of using Moodle when it comes to designing and implementing learning experiences for students? *


Before using Moodle, did you already use a LMS? Which one? *

Did you prefer creating online learning activities using Moodle or using another LMS that you already use? Please explain why? *

In the future do you think you would be more likely to use Moodle or another LMS? List at least 2 or more reasons? *

Do you feel that Moodle will help turn our schools into dynamic and innovative learning institutions where students can become more motivated, inquisitive and creative learners? *

strongly agree

agree


disagree

strongly disagree

Do you feel that Moodle links up our students with the vast network of knowledge and information to enable them to acquire a broad knowledge base and a global outlook? yes/no. Please give examples or explain your thinking *

Does Moodle develop in our students capabilities to process information effectively and efficiently? *

strongly agree

agree



disagree

strongly disagree

Does Moodle develop in our students the attitude and capability for independent life-long learning? *

strongly agree

agree


disagree

strongly disagree

Moodle is designed to suit a number of different teaching and learning needs? *

strongly agree

agree


disagree

strongly disagree

Moodle is stable and well supported by an international community of educators and technical people? *

strongly agree

agree


disagree

strongly disagree

Moodle can enable problem-based learning (PBL) approach in instruction design. *

strongly agree

agree



disagree

strongly disagree

The module was valuable to my professional development as a teacher. *

strongly agree

agree


disagree

strongly disagree

Through this module, I have become a more independent learner. *

strongly agree

agree


disagree

strongly disagree

The learning activities inspired me to think. *

strongly agree

agree


disagree

strongly disagree

The Moodle interface was easy to navigate. *

strongly agree

agree



disagree

strongly disagree

The online materials in Moodle were easy to locate. *

strongly agree

agree


disagree

strongly disagree

I liked the link between the forum and my own email account. *

strongly agree

agree


disagree

strongly disagree

The organization of the resources into groups (week or topic) was useful. *

strongly agree

agree


disagree

strongly disagree

I liked being able to update my profile. *

strongly agree

agree



disagree

strongly disagree

I liked being able to view the feedback given to other students via the forum. *

strongly agree

agree


disagree

strongly disagree

I would consider using Moodle in a school when I graduate. *

strongly agree

agree


disagree

strongly disagree

Forum communication is very convenient and effective *

strongly agree

agree


disagree

strongly disagree

Arrangement and availability of module resources and activities is excellent. *

strongly agree

agree



disagree

strongly disagree


Appendix B

Link to actual tool: Survey to be given to student participants

Moodle Pre-service Teacher EDMT 330 Student Survey

EDMT 330 Pre-service teachers Moodle Online Course Management System You have been selected to participate in a survey regarding your experiences creating, using and conducting online learning environments using Moodle. Your personal information will not be shared with other sources. We would like your input to further guide our pre-service teacher training to facilitate the needs of our students with rigor and real-world learning experiences to prepare them to be successful 21st Century teachers. Please read each question or statement carefully and respond according to the directions or prompt. Thank you in advance for your assistance with helping EMU's College of Education create authentic and applicable learning modules.* RequiredWhat professor did you have for EDMT 330? *Copeland, McVey,etc

Do you feel ready to implement Moodle and other online learning systems in your career? *

Very likely

Somewhat likely

Neutral

Somewhat unlikely

Very unlikely

Did you find the lesson to create, use, and conduct lessons in Moodle to meet the goals of standard 7 ? *7. Technology Operations and Concepts Use of technological tools, operations, and concepts to enhance learning, personal/professional productivity, and communication, including the ability to: a. Understand the equity, ethical, legal, social, physical, and psychological issues surrounding the use of technology in K-12 schools and apply those principles in practice; b. Successfully complete and reflect upon collaborative on-line learning experiences; c. Demonstrate an understanding of and the ability to create an on-line learning experience, and demonstrate continued growth in technology operations and concepts including strategies for teaching and learning in an on-line environment; d. Plan, design, and evaluate effective technology-enhanced

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1GbFfaQ4VD92s4mM55Wnl8VkP8uF79HOhxviIweAtAAI/viewform


learning environments and experiences aligned with Michigan’s content standards and grade level expectations and Michigan educational technology standards for each student; e. Implement curriculum plans that include technology-enhanced methods and strategies to maximize student learning; f. Apply technology to facilitate a variety of effective assessment and evaluation strategies; and g. Use technology to engage in ongoing professional development, practice, productivity, communication, and life-long learning. Cite: http://www.michigan.gov/documents/mde/Item_S_233488_7.pdf

Very relevant

Somewhat relevant

Not at all relevant

Was the lesson writing clearly to help you understand what you were to do in during the project? *

Always

Frequently

Sometimes

Rarely

Never

Did you run into any problems while completing your Moodle design? *

Once

Twice

Three times



No problems

Do you feel that Moodle is an effective tool to teach middle school students? *

strongly agree

agree



disagree

strongly disagree

What do you feel are the challenges specific to middle schoolers- how did you overcome those challenges within your specific Moodle course site? Were you prepared for those problems by the EMU faculty? *

Do you feel that you have a good sense of how to assess online learners?*

Strongly agree

agree


disagree

strongly disagree

Do you feel comfortable enough to teach your students and their parents how to use the systems?*

strongly agree

agree


disagree

strongly disagree

What processes do you think need more automation? *

Moodle provides easier links to external sources than other LMS? *

strongly agree

agree



disagree

strongly disagree

Do you understand why the Moodle lesson project was a part of EDMT 330? YES/NO and Explain your answer. *

What suggestions do you have to make this lesson/experience better for future EDMT 330 students? *


strongly agree

agree


disagree

strongly disagree


strongly agree

agree


disagree

strongly disagree

Do you feel that this experience created a sense of confidence using LMS in your future classroom? *


strongly agree

agree


disagree

strongly disagree


What were some of your frustrations using Moodle? *

Did all members of your Moodle class respond positively to the course content that you created, used and conducted/facilitated? YES/NO Explain. *


strongly agree

agree


disagree

strongly disagree


strongly agree

agree



disagree

strongly disagree


strongly agree

agree


disagree

strongly disagree


strongly agree

agree


disagree

strongly disagree

Did you use Moodle to assess your students? How effective was that utility? *YES/NO and Explain

What are some limitations of Moodle when it comes to designing and implementing learning experiences for students? *Check all that apply













boring/repetitive






Do you feel that you may require additional guidance to use Moodle? *

strongly agree

agree


disagree

strongly disagree


strongly agree

agree


disagree

strongly disagree


strongly agree

agree



disagree

strongly disagree


strongly agree

agree


disagree

strongly disagree


strongly agree

agree


disagree

strongly disagree


strongly agree

agree


disagree

strongly disagree


strongly agree

agree



disagree

strongly disagree


strongly agree

agree


disagree

strongly disagree

What features did you use the least? *

What features did you use the most? *

Is there an aspect of the traditional classroom that you cannot recreate through your system? *

What part of your system does not work the way you would like? *

Please provide with some contact information if my Graduate team can contact you later with further questions. *

email




Before using Moodle, did you already use a LMS? Which one? *

Did you prefer creating online learning activities using Moodle or using another LMS that you already use? Please explain why? *

In the future do you think you would be more likely to use Moodle or another LMS? List at least 2 or more reasons? *


strongly agree

agree


disagree

strongly disagree




strongly agree

agree


disagree

strongly disagree


strongly agree

agree


disagree

strongly disagree


strongly agree

agree


disagree

strongly disagree


strongly agree

agree



disagree

strongly disagree


strongly agree

agree


disagree

strongly disagree

The module was valuable to my professional development as a teacher. *

strongly agree

agree


disagree

strongly disagree


strongly agree

agree


disagree

strongly disagree


strongly agree

agree



disagree

strongly disagree

The Moodle interface was easy to navigate. *

strongly agree

agree


disagree

strongly disagree

The online materials in Moodle were easy to locate. *

strongly agree

agree


disagree

strongly disagree

I liked the link between the forum and my own email account. *

strongly agree

agree


disagree

strongly disagree


strongly agree

agree



disagree

strongly disagree

I liked being able to update my profile. *

strongly agree

agree


disagree

strongly disagree

I liked being able to view the feedback given to other students via the forum. *

strongly agree

agree


disagree

strongly disagree

I would consider using Moodle in a school when I graduate. *

strongly agree

agree


disagree

strongly disagree

Forum communication is very convenient and effective *

strongly agree

agree



disagree

strongly disagree


strongly agree

agree


disagree

strongly disagree


Appendix C

Link to actual tool: Survey to be given to EDMT 330 Professors

Moodle EDMT 330 Professor Survey

EDMT 330 Professors- Moodle Online Course Management System You have been selected to participate in a survey regarding your experiences creating, using and conducting teaching online learning environments using Moodle with pre-service teachers. Your personal information will not be shared with other sources. We would like your input to further guide our pre-service teacher training to facilitate the needs of our students with rigor and real-world learning experiences to prepare them to be successful 21st Century teachers. Please read each question or statement carefully and respond according to the directions or prompt. Thank you in advance for your assistance with helping EMU's College of Education create authentic and applicable learning modules.

* RequiredHow many years have you been teaching EMDT 330? *

Do you feel that pre-service teachers are ready implement Moodle and other online learning systems in their careers after your course? *

Very likely

Somewhat likely

Neutral

Somewhat unlikely

Very unlikely

Did you find the lesson to create, use, and conduct lessons in Moodle to meet the goals of standard 7 ? *7. Technology Operations and Concepts Use of technological tools, operations, and concepts to enhance learning, personal/professional productivity, and communication, including the ability to: a. Understand the equity, ethical, legal, social, physical, and psychological issues surrounding the use of technology in K-12 schools and apply those principles in practice; b. Successfully complete and reflect upon collaborative on-line learning experiences; c. Demonstrate an understanding of and the ability to create an on-line learning experience, and demonstrate continued growth in technology operations and concepts including strategies for teaching and learning in an on-line environment; d. Plan, design, and evaluate effective technology-enhanced learning environments and experiences aligned with Michigan’s content standards and grade level expectations and Michigan educational technology standards for each student; e. Implement

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/192JD4Lhst3GWpRwCSbmJ13BNE8kUM_UxX1mAHFuSuyg/viewform


curriculum plans that include technology-enhanced methods and strategies to maximize student learning; f. Apply technology to facilitate a variety of effective assessment and evaluation strategies; and g. Use technology to engage in ongoing professional development, practice, productivity, communication, and life-long learning. Cite: http://www.michigan.gov/documents/mde/Item_S_233488_7.pdf

Very relevant

Somewhat relevant

Not at all relevant

Do you feel that the lesson writing clearly to help your students understand what was expected of them during the project? *

Always

Frequently

Sometimes

Rarely

Never

Did your students run into any problems while completing their Moodle design? *

Once

Twice

Three times



No problems

Do you feel that Moodle is an effective program to for educators to use with middle school students? *

strongly agree

agree


disagree

strongly disagree


Were there challenges specific to your preservice teachers during your course? How did you overcome these challenges? Were you prepared for those problems?*

Do you feel that your preservice teachers have a good sense of how to assess online learners?*

Strongly agree

agree


disagree

strongly disagree

Do you feel that your preservice teachers are comfortable enough to teach their students and their parents how to use the systems? *

strongly agree

agree


disagree

strongly disagree

What suggestions do you have to make this lesson/experience better for future EDMT 330 students?*


strongly agree

agree


disagree

strongly disagree



strongly agree

agree


disagree

strongly disagree

Do you feel that this experience created a sense of confidence using LMS with your students to use in their future classrooms?*

strongly agree

agree


disagree

strongly disagree


What were some of your frustrations in working with your students using Moodle? *

Did all members of your EDMT Moodle class respond positively to the course content that you asked them to create, use and conduct/facilitate? YES/NO Explain.*


strongly agree

agree



disagree

strongly disagree


strongly agree

agree


disagree

strongly disagree


strongly agree

agree


disagree

strongly disagree


strongly agree

agree


disagree

strongly disagree

What are some limitations of Moodle when it comes to designing and implementing learning experiences for students? * Check all that Apply













boring/repetitive






Do you feel that your students may require additional guidance to use Moodle?*

strongly agree

agree


disagree

strongly disagree


strongly agree

agree


disagree

strongly disagree



strongly agree

agree


disagree

strongly disagree


strongly agree

agree


disagree

strongly disagree


strongly agree

agree


disagree

strongly disagree


strongly agree

agree


disagree

strongly disagree



strongly agree

agree


disagree

strongly disagree


strongly agree

agree


disagree

strongly disagree

What features did your students use the least? *

What features did your students use the most? *

Do you or your students fell that there is an aspect of the traditional classroom that you cannot recreate through your system?*




In what way did you previously help your undergraduate students to create online experiences before using Moodle to have them design online modules? Which method of meeting Strand 7 from ISTE is more effective? Explain.*

In the future do you think you would be more likely to use Moodle or another LMS? List at least 2 or more reasons?*


strongly agree

agree


disagree

strongly disagree




strongly agree

agree


disagree

strongly disagree


strongly agree

agree


disagree

strongly disagree


strongly agree

agree


disagree

strongly disagree


strongly agree

agree


disagree

strongly disagree


strongly agree

agree



disagree

strongly disagree

The module was valuable to the undergraduate students' professional development as a teacher. *

strongly agree

agree


disagree

strongly disagree


strongly agree

agree


disagree

strongly disagree


strongly agree

agree


disagree

strongly disagree

The Moodle interface is easy to navigate. *

strongly agree

agree



disagree

strongly disagree

The online materials in Moodle are easy to locate. *

strongly agree

agree


disagree

strongly disagree


strongly agree

agree


disagree

strongly disagree

Forum communication is very convenient and effective*

strongly agree

agree


disagree

strongly disagree



strongly agree

agree


disagree

strongly disagree