AN EXPERIENCE OF THE USE OF “MOODLE” AT ISCAP
A Case study
Paula Peres, Manuel da Silva, Sandra Ribeiro
Polytechnical Institute of Oportol,School of Accounting and Administrationt, Rua Jaime Lopes Amorim s/n,
Oporto, Portugal
Keywords: E-learning; Blended-Learning; Learning Management Systems (LMS).
Abstract: Nowadays, a constant concern with the quality level of the educative/educational offers in Institutions of
Higher Education is verifiable. In order to accomplish that, they should acquire the capacity/capability to
adapt to the new characteristics of their target audience and the new communication and information
technologies that emerge every day. In such context, and as an answer to the upcoming demands, ISCAP
(School of Accounting and Administration has initiated a project called PAOL – Projecto de Apoio On-Line
(On-Line Support Project). Its main goal is to provide support to the implementation of computer assisted
teaching, it being constituted by human and material resources (software – an open source LMS, called
Moodle, and hardware). This article intends to reveal the knowledge acquired throughout the experience in
the use of the LMS Moodle at ISCAP, in the second semester of the 2004/2005 school year.
1 INTRODUCTION
The quality of the educative offers is a growing
criterion used by the students in the choice of higher
education institutions.
Information and communication technologies are
in constant evolution, providing an increasing
number of job offers, with which the students are
more familiar. For this reason they demand a greater
effort by the teachers and the institutions of
education, thus looking forward to explore these
technologies at an educational level.
Because of this social pressure, the institutions of
higher education need to act proactively in order to
provide suitable educational offers, adapted to the
new requirements and with the capacity to follow
change.
In this context, and as an answer to the emerging
demands, ISCAP (School of Accounting and
Administration) began a project called
PAOL –
Projecto de Apoio On-Line (http://paol.iscap.ipp.pt).
Its main goal is to provide support to the
implementation of computer-assisted teaching, it
being constituted by human resources (Coordinating
Unit of the Project) and material resources (software
- OpenSource LMS called “Moodle” and hardware)
that intend to stimulate the use of information and
communication technologies, by teachers and
students, in an harmonious and integrated form. The
pedagogical innovation and the temporal flexibility
of individual and collaborative study support of our
students present themselves as the vectors of this
project. These converge on the quality improvement
of the educational offers.
The objective of using an on-line LMS is to
allow the students, through the use of the Internet,
access to the subjects taught in class and to provide
new learning activities (individual and in group). It
does not intend to be a substitute of in-class lessons,
but an additional support to the students.
2 PLANNING
For the project’s implementation a model called “E-
learning P3 Model” was adapted. For Khan, Badrul
(Badrul, H. K.,2004) the implementation process of
an e-learning project is constituted by the planning,
designing, development, execution and maintenance,
and involves people, processes and products.
Although this model is usually presented for
large e-learning projects, it also predicts possible
adaptations to projects of smaller and medium
dimensions. It defines the responsibilities and
functions of the different interveners because, in the
case of smaller projects, that might lead to
accumulation of functions.
418
Peres P., da Silva M. and Ribeiro S. (2006).
AN EXPERIENCE OF THE USE OF “MOODLE” AT ISCAP - A Case study.
In Proceedings of WEBIST 2006 - Second International Conference on Web Information Systems and Technologies - Society, e-Business and
e-Government / e-Learning, pages 418-422
DOI: 10.5220/0001257404180422
Copyright
c
SciTePress
3 OBJECTIVES
The main objective of this project was to explore
technologies as a pedagogical resource and to
innovate the teaching/learning process. The
students’ preparation for their professional life was
also an objective that was pursued, as well as their
engagement in the study of the subjects. It was
important to motivate the students, to simplify their
access to knowledge, to create Internet using habits
in study and work activities, to make available, in
useful time, diversified material to back up study
and to provide different forms of learning, according
to the various individual learning styles.
4 INTERVENERS
The first phase of this project, which occurred in the
second semester of the 2004/2005 school year,
included the participation of all the teachers that
were interested in developing their own individual
projects, in the scope of their subjects/classes.
5 TECHNOLOGICAL CONTEXT
Moodle (Modular Object-Oriented Dynamic
Learning Environment) was the chosen
technological LMS. It is a tool, designed by Martin
Dougiamas, (Western Australia), to create courses
based on the Internet. It is an LMS available in 70
languages, including Portuguese. It is a continuous
project to support educational socio-constructivism.
In Portugal, its usage has been increasing, thus
justifying the opening of an open space to share
experiences. Moodle is an LMS that offers a set of
activities that are adaptable to the contents of the
most diversified subjects. It has several activities
that can be used differently as educational
instruments. It is possible to insert texts and
necessary documentation for the subjects, to suggest
assignments, promote discussion forums and to
create term glossaries in a cooperative form. The
assessment and self-evaluation of knowledge is done
through the pages of lessons and questionnaires.
6 ACTIVITIES
The activities began with the development of the
proposal document of the On-line Support Project
(PAOL) and the creation of the project image. This
was followed by its presentation to the school
community in a session that occurred in the
beginning of the second semester of the 2004/2005
school year.
As to the LMS, three Workshops were carried
out, one for the elements of the Coordinating Unit
and Technical Support, Pedagogical Direction and
Contents Management Direction, and the other two
for the teachers of the institution. These workshops
included the presentation of some suggestions as to
the use of the LMS.
The next stage was composed by the definition
of a strategic plan to implement IT according to the
curricula, the educational environment and the
declaration of Bologna. The computer science
teachers of
ISCAP took the responsibility of the
students’ training while users of Moodle.
Parallel to these activities, the project
coordinating team offered continuous support to the
production of on-line contents and the use of
Moodle.
A site was also developed - available at
http://www.iscap.ipp.pt/paol, - to divulge the main
objectives of the project, activities and the national
and international events on computer-assisted
teaching. It was equally intended to use the site to
give support to the user and to promote the reflection
of the intrinsic concepts of the On-line Support
Project and computer-assisted teaching, such as: e-
learning, blended-learning, learning objects,
LMS,
etc
The Coordinating Unit has also developed two
guides with performance specifications of the LMS,
one meant for the teachers and another for the
students; these are available in the Project site.
On the 9th of May, 2005 a debate about the
theme e-learning was promoted, in a conference
called “The non-attended teaching in the University
of Aveiro in initial training and postgraduate
courses: genesis, experience and lessons“ having as
invited speaker the Professor António Moreira, PhD.
At the end of the semester an inquiry was
carried out to evaluate the implementation process of
the project. The participants were the students and
teachers that had participated in the project.
At this moment an eventual participation in
European projects is being studied. Investigation in
this area is also underway.
AN EXPERIENCE OF THE USE OF “MOODLE” AT ISCAP - A Case study
419
Metric
Results of the evaluation inquiries on the
implementation process of PAOL:
Subjects in which there were answers
Total of subjects analysed: 37%
Corresponding population: 30%
Answers obtained from the teachers
Total of consulted teachers: 28
Corresponding population: 24
Figure 5: Course Percentage of on-line subjects.
7 EVALUATION OF THE
PROCESS
It was possible to verify, from the analysis done on
the use of the LMS at ISCAP, that since its
implementation, from January until April 2005, that
the number of accesses reached its maximum in
February and March.
Figure 1: Total Number of accesses to PAOL.
Figure 2: Number of student and teacher accesses.
Student and Teacher accesses to Moodle.
Figure 3: Number of user registration in the LMS.
Figure 4: Moodle Activities.
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It must be said, that the workshops for teachers
had been carried out on the 10th and 25th of January
and on the 2nd of February of 2005. This possibly
justifies the few accesses during January. During the
Easter holidays, that occurred between the 23rd of
March and 3rd of April, the LMS was not available,
for maintenance reasons.
During January and February the teachers
accessed the LMS more times. These values are
justified by the necessity of previous configuration
and the insertion of contents onto their subjects, to
use the LMS later on in their classes.
Between January and March there was an
increasing number of registrations, stabilizing, with
a small decrease in value in April.
The activities used more often by the teachers
are the resources, the forums and assignments, and
the ones that register less use are the glossaries, the
lessons and the quizzes.
The resources are the main activity chosen by
the teachers, probably because it is the easiest way
to access and provide documentation to students,
therefore eliminating the necessity of physical
delivery.
The forums were also very used by teachers
essentially for the accomplishment of group work
and for the debate of themes related to their subject.
Teachers also used activities like assignments,
probably because they are simple to suggest, to
program and to correct. Perhaps due to the time of
preparation, lessons and quizzes were not as used.
However, teachers do recognize their importance.
The evaluation process only took into account
those teachers that used PAOL. Among those, only
the classes that were not delivered to the same group
of students were taken into account in the second
phase of the analysis. The first stage clearly
demonstrated that the highest number of subjects on-
line occurred in the Languages and Secretarial Skills
course, with 12 different subjects contemplated. This
constituted 32% of the total number of subjects on-
line.
As to the total number of teachers using PAOL
in ISCAP: it seems to be a considerable number of
teachers that have adhered to the production of on-
line contents in such a short time.
2
nd
Stage – Evaluation – Questionnaire analysis
As we’ve said, the analysis of the
questionnaires was based on the subjects and users
that weren’t repeated (as there are several subjects in
the same course, it would be not correct to consider
all the questionnaires answered, because we’d be
duplicating the results).
As to the number of teachers using PAOL,
some of them duplicated the contents because they
had the same subject in different courses. It was also
noted that some didn’t answer the questionnaires
appropriately, or didn’t answer them at all, so we
just considered a part.
The number of teachers using PAOL was
considerable right from the beginning (a total of 28
teachers out of 220) and everyday more and more
teachers are adhering. However only 21 out of the
28 answered the questionnaires appropriately. There
were 37 subjects on-line, 30 of which were
considered in this study.
The evaluation criteria were as follows:
- User’s profile
- Type of Internet access, conditions and
user’s resources
- Evaluation of on-line contents (subjects)
- LMS performance evaluation
- Users overall level of satisfaction with LMS
In this study we asked if the contents available
on-line for each subject would be sufficient without
the traditional classes, so we could foresee the
possibility of migrating the subjects to e-learning
courses. However, 61,49% of the students (as
opposed to 31,51%) claimed that the contents were
not sufficient. The main reasons given to explain
their position, was considerable importance given to
human intervention as this gave them the possibility
of contacting the teachers easily (they seemed
concerned with the teachers availability).
Traditional classes were preferred. Students
were also asked to compare traditional classes with
on-line lessons. 48,98% of the students referred to
them as the same, 26,19% classified on-line as being
worst while 24,83%, considered them better.
8 STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS
The analysis of the questionnaires allowed us to
verify that 87,79% of the students, were satisfied
with the LMS (only 12,21% expressed a different
opinion). Some difficulties were noted in terms of
access (31,72%), file uploads (13,1%) and file
downloads (7,59%). Students also expressed the
existence of unnecessary steps to locate the contents,
and difficulties in using forums. They were not
satisfied with the organization teachers used;
claimed to have an excessive number of contents
available, and expressed difficulty in using the LMS.
8,28% of the students questioned commented on the
fact that the LMS wasn’t available during the Easter
holidays.
The importance given to this initiative and its
impact in students’ academic life was also
considered. 96,49% of the students questioned
considered this initiative extremely important as
AN EXPERIENCE OF THE USE OF “MOODLE” AT ISCAP - A Case study
421
opposed to 3,51%, which considered the Project as
irrelevant.
9 TEACHERS' PERCEPTIONS
As to the perception of the teachers, a good adhesion
of the teachers from all areas was noted. The
analysis of the questionnaires denounced associated
difficulties in uploading files (19,05%), accessing
the LMS (9,52%) and establishing group work (as
workshops weren’t working efficiently). The lack of
computers at the students’ disposal and the fact that
a synchronous tool (chats) was not available was
also noted. 38,1% of the teachers didn’t reply and
9,52% found no difficulties.
In spite of the revealed difficulties, 90,48% of
the teachers said to be satisfied while 9,52% didn’t
answer the question.
10 CONCLUSIONS AND
RECOMMENDATIONS
The evaluation that took place after the first
semester showed that the adhesion of the students
was good and that the use of the LMS by the
teachers functioned as a stimulation for the use of
the Internet as a working tool.
Therefore, we can confirm that the use of a
technological LMS could constitute a chance of
innovation in the teaching/learning process, and can
be an interesting leverage for the creation of new
educational contexts.
To stimulate the use of the LMS and to give
continuity to
PAOL, new workshops and involvement
of marketing students to divulge the project as
innovative and productive in the teaching/learning
process of the school is foreseen in the next school
year.
We also foresee the befalling of seminars and
further work on the reflection on the use of
Information and Communication Technologies,
namely in the production and publication of
educational contents on the Internet, contemplating
students’ individual learning styles.
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