OK, the new class format

I decided to try an interactive syllabus, linked to graded activities in Moodle. My special thanks to the Moodle fairy (Mary Cooch) and Andrew Field for showing me, via Twitter, how to have a standard web page syllabus that links to Moodle exercises without hiding them and making them inaccessible. I almost had to give up the interactive syllabus as soon as I thought of it, but when I tweeted my despair, these two came through with this great suggestion.

As a result, the main page in Moodle is really focused:

Clicking on the Interactive Syllabus brings up one internal web page with everything linked from it:

They will have to bring something to class each day, and write a lot. For Mondays, they have typed homework, plus must post the thesis from that homework before class. At first I tried Assignments for that, but it didn’t let them see each other’s theses. Since thesis writing is a major historical skill, I want that more transparent. So I did it in Forums, one for each week, simple format. Then I’ll rate them using the same ratings I use for homework anyway. Because my default on my site lets students rate posts, I used the Override function for each forum to Prohibit students from “Rate posts” and “View any ratings”. That way their work is public, but their grades are private.

So I’m back to the idea that they must work online, here in the interest of sharing the most difficult task of the class: developed historical theses. I have tried small groups for this, or reading the theses aloud, but this is really more efficient. What I really wanted was to use the Q&A forum format, because they have to post first before they see what the other students posted. But the button to post said “Ask a question” (it’s supposed to be used for that), and I thought they’d be confused, since they aren’t asking a question. Just another way the technology controls the desired pedagogical method. Moodle giveth, and Moodle taketh away.

I kept it in Moodle even though I would have liked something more open. Partly this was for thesis sharing without fear, but mostly because of two issues: management (not always a big deal if I like what I’m doing) and materials. I confess: some of my materials are copyrighted by others, or not linked for attribution. For Fair Use, those should be behind a passworded system.

I’m thinking I need to design an open course from the ground up, without a textbook or other pre-conceived ideas. But for now, we’ll see how this works. As we start, I intend to let James Zull’s The Art of Changing the Brain (2002) influence what I actually do in class, as well as what I learned from Stephen Downes’ ideas of modeling and demonstrating as being a teacher’s main responsibility.

On to the England class….