Have you heard of Moodle? However strange it may sound, it has become a great tool for teaching and learning at CDH, as well as many other schools.
TechTerms.com defines Moodle this way:
Stands for "Modular Object-Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment."
Moodle is an open source course management system, originally developed
by Martin Dougiamas. It is used by thousands of educational
institutions around the world to provide an organized interface for
e-learning, or learning over the Internet.
Moodle allows educators to create online courses, which students can
access as a virtual classroom. A typically Moodle home page will
include a list of participants (including the teacher and students) and
a calendar with a course schedule and list of assignments. Other Moodle
features include online quizzes, forums, where students can post
comments and ask questions, glossaries of terms, and links to other Web
resources.
Just one year after Moodle was introduced at CDH, teachers have created 74 currently active course websites for this year. The sites are as varied as the teachers and courses they represent. Some are used primarily for discussion forums to supplement classroom discussion, some include assignments, reviews, quizzes, glossaries and more. Use of Moodle is optional for teachers, but most students have at least one course website on Moodle.
Each student has his/her own user id and password, and enrolls in courses. Students are required to use their CDH email address to enroll; this enables us to protect students by limiting enrollment to our student body. Parents can access Moodle pages as guests, but should not attempt to enroll in the courses (enrolling puts you on the teacher's roster). To enter as a guest, obtain a course key from your student's teacher.
Moodle can be a terrific addition to a class. Ask your student to give you a tour!
