Evaluation by users
The content of the staff training modules will be tested again by our new staff in the upcoming Induction program. 15 new staff will test how well we have trained them in using Moodle. I will design a questionnaire to attach to the training course and have staff fill this out. This should be an essential part of any course, to ensure that the content being deilvered is relevant to students. This is really important particularly when training staff, their professional development time is limited and there need to have relevant and timely training is essential.
Having used this blog and am now thinking of ways I can use blogging for the staff training needs. We have already begun using blogging within Moodle as a reflective tool. Perhaps that would be a useful way to use blogging with staff also? Perhjaps the best evaluation tool I can use with staff is a discussion forum , where I have a constant presence.
Staff induction e-learning uses
Like most school we have a passing parade of teachers that drop in and out of the school due to leave replacements . To cater fro these people and to support existing staff in their use of Moodle in the school. We have created a course that holds many captivates on how to do everything in Moodle. They are available on our Intranet which also uses Moodle. This area provides ongoing support as well as being available for those staff that do not ebgin at the beginning of the yar when formal Induction is done.
To this end I have asked one such "new " staff member to try out the course. The staff member I chose was a particularly good test subject because of her lack of experience with LMS's and her disinterest in technology in general. Her comments where very useful in the delivery of any online content that is delivered to staff, because of the broad range of abilities they have. It is also applicable to a degree in the classroom where there is often a broad range too.
The course requires some introduction so that it is apparent what the intended purpose of this course is. This course thus far has been soley as a follow up after training sessions, so it was less necessary. I will add an introduction to this course to aid "new" staff. It would also be helpful to provide a printed booklet to give to new staff that start at different times of the year. That will part of the induction process to further develop.
It was also thought that it would be good to have some actual examples to explain content.
To re-purpose this site it is neccessary to make some changes to ctare for this group. Those will be made.
Using logs in courses
Logs in Moodle courses have been very useful in tracking areas of high use across all of our Moodle site. It has been particularly useful in tracking the use of Learning Objects and forums.
I have used it in my own course fro students as well as training courses for staff.
For me there has been the complication of moving some of our training material from one Moodle site to another. But nonethless it has proved useful. The use of Forums and the logs attached to those, also can be used to establish patterns of communication across the college, which is of significance to me.
I am less interested in looking at logs of staff use in my training courses for purposes of establishing who has done what. As my courses do not have a finite beginning or end.
New staff tests
Following the launch of Moodle training in the college all staff where given access to the captivate training sessions and encouraged to use them when they had any new areas of learning.
To cater for new staff using Moodle over the year, we have provided continuing access to the course of of online learning objects to train them. They have also got access to one on one training with myself, and access to the users discussion forum.
Some of the comments from new staff and returning staff have been very encouraging.
This course " covers all areas very well and even those who weren't computer literate would fell comfortable using it." and "The format works well because you can see how to do it through movie examples as well as being talked through the steps needed.
The course has supported teachers through the change process of adopting an LMS in the college and provided a level of comfort in the learning process.
From the college point of view it has provided another opportunity to induct staff that miss out on the formal beginning of year induction. This group has historically proven difficult to cater for. The challenge for us is to make sure that the content stays current enough to reflect the moodle version we are using now.
Week One
This is a blog to support my learning journey.
My staff are my students and they were inducted through a "launch" where the features and value of Learning Management Systems and e-learning were esposed. Followed by group modelling and introduction to captivate online tutorials.
