Sorry its taken so long to post this final commentary. Following the ‘knowledge cafe’ I attended two final Workshops, the final keynote and then debated Moodle, Mahara, Family and professional life-work balance with Roger from Solent University (quick plug for Solent’s Mahara Conference). So, back to Mootuk11.
Course, Chat and Match – Creating a Moodle Course as a Game
I have followed and tweeted sporadically with Alex Büchner from Synergy Learning for maybe a year now. Just informal Moodle conversation. Alex’s tweets are purposeful, Moodle focused and therefore enable me to ‘piggy back’ the thinking of an experienced practitioner deeply immersed in Moodle. An added bonus, is that it would appear that Alex also has a healthy interest in the gamification of learning with/in Moodle, so together with Pieter van der Hijden (Mootuk10) and myself that would make at least of three of us? Anyone else? If there is, please get in touch.
By his own admission, Alex was trying to repurpose only the core Moodle features and modules to create a Moodle learning / gaming experience. Relying mainly on ‘conditions’ and learning cul de sacs, Alex created a basic game complete with leaderboard, possible a cheat thrown in there too. I am sure that a number of plugins would solve some of the problems he was discussing with the audience, for example stamp collection module to collect required items and awards and the checklist module as an alternative assessment tool, but respectful, Alex stuck to his self-imposed parameters. Sadly he ran out of time, chat never quite made it. I am hoping to explore this learning approach with Alex and other interested Moodlers further (@suggsburgess) and you are of course welcome to join us. It will be Moodle 2.0 based, so servers two purposes, getting to know Moodle 2.0 and exploring a Moodle games based learning model.
Introducing the new Moodle question engine
The new Moodle question engine has been an 18 month working project, ready to go “fingers crossed,” into Moodle 2.1. Until the moot, few people outside the Open University had seen it and Tim Hunt was kind enough to take delegates on a LIVE tour. Tim’s presentation not only demonstrated his commitment to this module but sheer depth of his Moodle knowledge and know-how. I separate the two definitions for a very good reason. Tim clearly knows Moodle (he made a number of insightful contributions in one or two workshops we coincidentally attended), but what impressed most was his awareness of how the quiz engine would later be employed and his understanding of how questioning could be employed to reveal student learning. Tim is openly looking for feedback so do get in touch, I would think preferably through the Moodle Tracker.
Closing Keynote
Tim Anstiss – Dr Tim Anstiss provided us with an overview of the emerging science of personal wellbeing and his top 10 tips for protecting and improving our levels of happiness, wellbeing and resilience into the future.
Personally, I thoroughly enjoyed the conversational style and polished delivery of this former Gladiator’s competitor and physician, drawing comment from the audience, immediately aligning it with psychological research speak. Inspired by Tim’s keynote I do hope to find time to write a post on “happiness and Moodle,” so for now, that is it. Do self medicate and watch the video when it is released.
The final point of note from me, is a personal one. Together and the very amiable Jim Judges, we presented our light-hearted conference reflections.
Here I again encourage you to attend next year’s moot, where ever it may be, for this simple reason
Digital communication enhances relationships, it does not replicate or replace them. (Gráinne Conole)
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