More And Better
Moodle: first you find it strange, then you get involved
Not all that glitters is gold and not that is multimedia is pedagogically good. No matter how sophisticated the design is or the technical resources are, we often do not understand what it is that a multimedia didactics brings more than a good book, for example. In theoretical classes and oral presentations, moving graphs, shaded colours, 3D shading effects, may even have a perverse effect, given that the form may be distracting in relation to the content. On Internet portals the same is true. However, computerised tools also have virtues, which may be turned into major advantages when used carefully by the teacher and used within a pedagogical plan that values the message and the efficiency with which it is transmitted. After all, the way that the message reaches the receiver may make it more or less credible and more or less perceptible. E-learning should be seen in this context, of major risks and great potential, with a critical spirit and without pre-conceived ideas, whether good or bad ones.
E-learning should not be confused with distance learning! Distance learning is something that e-learning tools make possible, but it has much greater possibilities, even for attended learning, such as at the FMUL. Let this not be misunderstood: the direct teacher-student interaction is the means par excellence for teaching and learning. The rest comes afterwards (but this doesn’t mean it makes no sense).
Moodle is the Internet interactive program currently available to University of Lisbon teachers in order to carry out the e-learning form they consider to be most suited to their teaching. It is a program that, among many other possibilities it provides, seems at first sight to be complex and difficult to manage. This feeling is only in appearance, and should not put one off. With the coming introduction of the competent team of technicians from the FMUL Support Group Learning with Electronic Means (in our case, with the always diligent Sofia Cruz, to whom our thanks are due) to the basic potentialities of Moodle, entering the logic of the program is very easy and accessible. One immediately manages to:
1) Make a repository of files (slides, scientific articles for study, texts on complementary aspects such as correlations with other subjects, videos, resolution of exams, etc);
2) Present links to Internet information sources;
3) Place notices about dates, places, classes, exams, timetables, systems of assessment, etc;
4) Create a glossary.
In a second phase, other potentials may be explored, such as the launching of self-assessment tools for students. This may even involve teacher-student interaction, as it allows its contents to be commented upon. From the student position, Moodle does not require substantial adapting. On matriculating the students automatically become possible users, and they navigate within it with the greatest normality.
The experience of the thematic area of biochemistry (Module II) with the use of Moodle is very positive, both for the teachers and the students. Agility in the availability of resources and diffusion of information, linked to the students’ predisposition towards using the computer, have made Moodle an obligatory tool for support for the classes in the field of biochemistry in Module II. Try it out! First you will find it strange, then you will get hooked.
Miguel Castanho
Biochemistry Institute, director
(Tel. 217985136, macastanho@fm.ul.pt)
E-learning should not be confused with distance learning! Distance learning is something that e-learning tools make possible, but it has much greater possibilities, even for attended learning, such as at the FMUL. Let this not be misunderstood: the direct teacher-student interaction is the means par excellence for teaching and learning. The rest comes afterwards (but this doesn’t mean it makes no sense).
Moodle is the Internet interactive program currently available to University of Lisbon teachers in order to carry out the e-learning form they consider to be most suited to their teaching. It is a program that, among many other possibilities it provides, seems at first sight to be complex and difficult to manage. This feeling is only in appearance, and should not put one off. With the coming introduction of the competent team of technicians from the FMUL Support Group Learning with Electronic Means (in our case, with the always diligent Sofia Cruz, to whom our thanks are due) to the basic potentialities of Moodle, entering the logic of the program is very easy and accessible. One immediately manages to:
1) Make a repository of files (slides, scientific articles for study, texts on complementary aspects such as correlations with other subjects, videos, resolution of exams, etc);
2) Present links to Internet information sources;
3) Place notices about dates, places, classes, exams, timetables, systems of assessment, etc;
4) Create a glossary.
In a second phase, other potentials may be explored, such as the launching of self-assessment tools for students. This may even involve teacher-student interaction, as it allows its contents to be commented upon. From the student position, Moodle does not require substantial adapting. On matriculating the students automatically become possible users, and they navigate within it with the greatest normality.
The experience of the thematic area of biochemistry (Module II) with the use of Moodle is very positive, both for the teachers and the students. Agility in the availability of resources and diffusion of information, linked to the students’ predisposition towards using the computer, have made Moodle an obligatory tool for support for the classes in the field of biochemistry in Module II. Try it out! First you will find it strange, then you will get hooked.
Miguel Castanho
Biochemistry Institute, director
(Tel. 217985136, macastanho@fm.ul.pt)
