I am in the process of grading the Computer Competency Exam that all 8th grade students have took the week of March 27, 28, and 29th. They had 3 days to take four sections which meant they needed to use study hall or free time to complete the exam. Over the course of the 3 days, 19 students were absent and 2 were absent the entire 3 days. Since we use Moodle for this and all of my teaching since I do not have a scheduled course with any grade in the Middle School, I am happy to report that once again, Moodle has provided the perfect tool to extend my classroom. The 2 students who were absent all 3 days, are done with all 4 parts without even talking with me. The directions and needed resources were all on Moodle so they simply did it from home. One student who missed over a week of school did it last night and scored a 96 average. She did say it took a long time and yes it did according to her log file. She completed it at 11:36 PM last night from her home computer. This confirms my belief that students need access to the various learning components that Moodle offers as life is messy and learning is not always done in the timeframe we set for it. Students today are connected and learning at different times of the day. As one person who I do not remember said in a podcast, students of today are the We generation.
Artifact of the process:
From 7:59 until 11:37
The conversation we need to be having it how to make sure all courses have this level of access as a basic component of our learning environment. The parallel conversation then is how do we structure our learning time so students are able to manage their time so they do not need to complete work at 11:37 PM as I have a suspicion that students who do this are involved in many more activities then just school. How can Moodle help the student who is involved in sports, travel, health related issues, or other activities/events that demand time? Learning is not just done in a classroom in front of a teacher. Schools and teachers who understand this will employ the tools of Moodle so the information is available and the learning takes place under the banner of “We the learners…..”
Spring break beckons….
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