I was part of a team that attended the Moodle Mountain Moot. This is a practical Moot that has been running for 10 years.

All members of the team presented. All of us came away with powerful learning. Amy Gwizdz did a great job of presenting on the use of Moodle at the elementary level. She really focused on solving instructional problems, not just using Moodle. Robert Harrison provided a fantastic opportunity for users to experience the Workshop Module. Chris Kenniburg presented on the Fordson Theme.

Sometimes you really don’t recognize or appreciate the wonders of those that you work with. Chris Kenniburg is one of those folks. Though I do think that I recognize how valuable he is, it is still interesting to be able to see how others see him. He is rightly revered for the work that he has done on the Fordson Theme. It was fun to see Chris receive kudos and praise for his work on the theme. His theme is so popular that he was asked to do another session. (The conference has a block of ad-hoc sessions).

Chris was asked to participate in the additional ad-hoc session. It was interesting to me to remember and revisit why we made some of the decisions that go into the Fordson Theme. Lots of people make requests for the Fordson Theme. These are usually additional features that they want. For example, one person requested blocks that collapse and expand. This reminded me of why we wanted blocks limited in the first place. I sat down and discussed this with the requestor.

My tiny role in developing the Fordson Theme would be in the cognitive focus. Two columns allow the user to be focused on the content (which is on the left-hand side). The right-hand columns need to be limited and extra. Many users have pretty much trained their brain not to really look at that right-hand column as that is usually “ad” space.

So, the discussion with the requestor for blocks that collapse focused on why and how are blocks used. If you are using blocks for significant information, should that be some kind of change? That way, your brain knows that it is switching tasks and looking for something. His response was interesting. He hadn’t actually thought about the process, he was just used to having tons of information.

I was discussed how the theme is really focused on the student experience. Students need to know what to do next. The [Fordson Theme] tries to always keep that in consideration. Students shouldn’t have to work hard to know what to do.

The Mountain Moot had a wonderful cast of presenters. Emma Richardson had a couple of wonderful sessions that I attended. She has such great knowledge and a wonderful attitude. Emma co-presented with Amy Tessitore. Amy is another wonderful resource. Michelle Moore always provides great tips. She is a wonderful resource for Moodle, and for training.

I also presented at the conference. My presentation was Glossary Lollapolooza. I had a full house. The feedback was very positive. (Though, one of the biggest “take-a-ways” for folks seemed to be when I gave them the tip that you could double click on an activity to select it and open rather than clicking on it and then scrolling down to the “Add” button). At least one person was impressed with the effect of spotlighting something on a screen.

I asked a few people what they wanted to get out of the session as they were entering. I was able to touch on those in the presentation.

I am now considering how we could get more classroom teachers involved though. The conference was wonderful, lots of rich learning. The one thing that I think is missing though is classroom teachers. Specifically, K-12 classroom teachers. I shall continue to ponder that.