Month: October 2018

Moodle Help Tips

October 20, 2018 / Troy / 2 Comments

I’ve had a another site for a while (Master Moodle), which I’ve struggled with creating. I had originally pictured doing friendly, in depth, comprehensive step-by-step Moodle tips. My plan was to make them focused on real world assignments.

That way, teachers would get helpful instructions that are couched in real world examples. Nothing purely theoretical, rather, specific examples of using Moodle in the classroom.

One problem. The guides that I was producing didn’t feel right. They were very comprehensive. Each step was explained in detail. Every choice had a suggested setting and an explanation as to why. Still, it just didn’t feel right. I shared a couple with other teachers. Their reaction was the same. (Oh, they were very polite, but the response was still “this isn’t right”.)

So, I’m trying something different. I’ve produced a “Saying ‘Hi'” with Moodle as a comic strip. This one feels better. I’m not completely convinced that it’s right, but I’d love to get some feedback. It’s not nearly as comprehensive with setting selections, but hopefully is enough to get teachers started.

So, if you’ve got a moment, please head on over and take a look. I’d love constructive feedback.

U.S. Moodle Moot Presentation

October 15, 2018 / Troy / 0 Comments

I’m very pleased that I will be presenting at the U.S. Moodle Moot in Denver, Co. This will be an exciting conference. I’ll get to share some of the great things my team has developed.

Focus on Learning: Moodle in PreK-14

Dearborn Public Schools developed the Fordson Theme to focus students and teachers on learning. Moodle’s greatest strength and weakness is its capability and options. As an educator and former principal, my perspective is on keeping the students focused on the learning. Our students come to us with a variety of cultural, educational and financial backgrounds. We’ll share some of keystones, questions and perspectives in our leading Moodle implementation. We’ll share some specific examples of learning activities that use Moodle to focus on learning.

Presenting the story of the work that my team has done is important for us in many ways. I get to valuable feedback whenever I present. Most importantly, I get to honor and recognize the great work that my team does.

UPDATE: The presentation is now posted. Join me on Day 1 at 11:30 a.m.

MAEDS Presentation

October 11, 2018 / Troy / 0 Comments

This morning was my MAEDS 2018 presentation. I presented “Creating Workflows with Open Source Software”. This presentation focused on creating workflows for the approval process.

As an example, I used the situation of a principal requesting an additional teacher. Traditionally, this has been done with paper. Recently, many people have moved to using Google Forms. While this is electronic and has some advantages over paper, it doesn’t solve the whole problem. Those problems include the original (in this case the principal), doesn’t know where the process is.

What I presented on today was using Joget. Joget is open source software that allows one to create a very easy to use system for end users. Although it isn’t quite as easy to create the workflows (you do need to have some basic understanding of programming), it is MUCH easier than other options that I’ve found. Joget is very visual based. To create workflows, you drag and drop elements.

The biggest issue is frequently defining exactly what the process is.

The group was a great group with good questions and suggestions. I will be following up the presentation with the suggestions that were brought forth.

Sharing is important. I was very pleased at the number and interest for my presentation.

Now back to the conference…

MAEDS Presentation

October 6, 2018 / Troy / 0 Comments

I’ll be attending the MAEDS (Michigan Association of Educational Data Systems) the fall, October 10th through 12th. This is usually a great conference. There is lots of good, practical information and discussions.

This year, I’ll be presenting. My presentation will be “Create Workflows Using Open Source Software”. This presentation will focus around creating a workflow (approval processes) using Joget.

Although certainly not as easy to create as a Google Form, Joget does allow one to create a form for users to complete. The real difference is what happens after that form is filled out. Joget will automatically advance the completed form to the right person to approve. If that person approves, it goes to the next person that needs to approve. If it is denied at any point, whomever originated the request is notified.

Let’s take a look at an example. Let’s say that a principal wants to add a new teacher to his/her staff. Let’s say that principal wants to use Title MCM funds to pay for the teacher. The principal would complete the form that has been created for adding staff. Then, the request would automatically go to the Title MCM coordinator for approval. If approved, the Director of Instructional Staff would be notified and able to approve. Once that Director approves, it could go to the Superintendent to approve. If the Superintendent denies the request, the principal would receive notice that the Superintendent has denied the request (actually, the principal receives notification all the through the process).

Joget will allow for full tracking of where everything is in the process. It also allows for historical records of knowing who was entered, approved, and denied.

There is a LOT of work to make this all work. Everyone has to agree on discrete steps and actions. All of that has to be programmed in Joget. The good news is that this is relatively easy to do. It is very graphical.

At the end of the day, Joget is a lot more work than Google Forms. However, Joget also is much more complete in providing an actual useful process.

There will be a lot to cover for my presentation. Wish me luck.