• http://docs.moodle.org/en/Teaching_Do’s
• http://docs.moodle.org/en/Teaching_Don’ts

The bullets from the poster are lifted directly from that resource (and it’s great to know that there are even more than made it onto the poster…with explanations to boot!).

A few gems not on the poster:

• Don’t let Moodle overwhelm you
• Don’t dominate discussions
• Don’t Worry about it!
• Do show students how the logs work
• Do Make a sincere effort to keep the size of uploaded Moodle files as small possible

Looks like a great started another updated Do’s and Do Not’s poster.  What would you add?  Download an editable copy or PDF for your staff room here.

The original poster: http://docs.moodle.org/en/Teaching_do’s_and_don’ts

“What are some of the most important requirements for a school wanting to use Moodle?”

The most important considerations across the board were

1. Establishing staff buy-in at all levels
2. Identifying a “Moodle Guru” to help with course design and training (one suggested that this person should be a teacher, not someone from the tech staff)
3. Considering how users will be synced/uploaded to Moodle (integration with an existing system or SIS can take extra effort/time upfront but create efficiencies thereafter)

Prerequisite knowledge (what every school contemplating Moodle should know):

Administrators and teachers should understand that the workload needs to be shared (and how)

Talking about implementation does not equal action!

Setup and initial course development require a major time investment.

Buyin

The Principle must have it as a primary goal on her/his agenda!

Management buy-in

Buy-in from administration.

Willingness of teachers to use it, cost effectiveness, ability to train all managing users (i.e. support staff and teachers).

buyin from staff, support form admin for use and implementation

Staff needs:

A knowledgeable person on staff able to assist with all Moodle needs. Corporate organizations also need to consider who is going to develop the content. I’m currently tasked with content development and Moodle admin for my organization which can be difficult to juggle.

A good moodle admin

identify at least one leading stuff member with extra knowledge of Moodle course (and system) administration. for bigger picture support.

Training/technical support

Have a teacher not a network admin teach teachers

Seek help with learning about course design initially

Good documentation, and learning resources. Spend time on staff and student help manuals.

training the teachers to change the way they teach

Access to technical support either in-house or external

good server support

weekly, live, teacher support/instructional meetings in small groups.

Technology

Consider how you will enroll students, i.e SMS (Student management system) of manually via c.s.v file in a daily/weekly upload

Authentication management is an important consideration

Adequate hosting and bandwidth

Also allow time for organizing roles within Moodle

deciding to self host or to use a Moodle Partner

Who hosts? Who does the work to make it work for your school? What kind of help do you offer and who offers?

I’m really excited to let everyone know that Rhonda (@Moodlenator) and Mel (@Moodlerific) have joined the MoodleMonthly.com team.  They’ll be posting at will in the future to tune in and enjoy their posts!

Their experiences and expertise will be a welcome addition to the regular Moodle coverage we’re already providing.

Welcome them in the comments!

Note:

I (@josephthibault) am off all week on my honeymoon.  Posts will be automatic but if you want to spread the word, check out our new feature where you can post a comment on any post and @Moodlenews will tweet it out.