Moodle in Hawaii Public Schools
Lynn Pregitzer
Pepperdine University
GSEP
755 E-Learning
Elio Spinello
December 12, 2010
Moodle in Hawaii Public Schools
While working on the Moodle project I pondered the implications of a decentralized learning management system for the Hawaii public school systems. Like many other public school systems in the United States, Hawaii’s system is plagued with budget problems and behemoth bureaucracies. There are two formalized virtual learning projects offered by the Hawaii Department of Education (DOE), but both have a limited reach and are not used across the board by all high school students. This paper discusses the applicability of Moodle to an average high school student in Hawaii from the viewpoint of a teacher. The perspective I chose is the strengths and weakness I observed while working on the learning technology project, whether a public high school teacher could easily take on the implementation of Moodle as a learning management system (LMS) and my argument for providing an e-learning environment to a high school student that aspires to a higher education.
Personal Observations
The major advantage I gleaned from the learning project was the scalability of the Moodle LMS platform. Moodle is an open source software that is estimated to cost about $1,500 for a small setup with limited flexibility. The literature review revealed that smaller schools implemented basic tasks such as posting homework and grades (Brooks-Young, 2008). We learned, however, that the platform has unlimited potential as new “moodles” or plugins to the core platform can be attached and unattached as needed. This holds great appeal because Moodle a launching pad for the future. Moodle developers are not constrained by a proprietary code base, therefore having complete freedom to innovate. The Moodle website alone lists about 700 plugins, most at no cost. Such an open source setup spares the end user from the risk of an outdated platform. Unlike open sourced software, proprietary software packages are completed controlled by one vendor. If the vendor goes out of business, further updates could cease to exist and support can be cut off.
Another strength of moodle is its community of over 38 million users. Such a strong user base guarantees that fresh new ideas and up to date code changes will quickly be implemented. Accordingly, the active user base acts as self-perpetuating mechanism for a more integrated fully featured environment because of the common vested interest in sustaining the platform.
Moodle’s weakness comes from its greatest strength. That is a fully featured platform with sophisticated capabilities could cost up to $5,000 a month to host. We learned that there are many hosting websites offering a variation of plans, which could create confusion for a lay person that doesn’t understand server technology.
Moodle at Hawaii Public Schools
In 2007, the State of Hawaii legislature mandated the formation of a task force to develop e-learning programs for Hawaii. Two LMS were created by this task force. One, the Hawaii Virtual Learning Network, is an environment for public schools that pay a fee for membership and offers ePortfolio and Standards Toolkit as environments. The second LMS is separately operated ESchool, which is a venue where students with interest are able to sign up for online courses. ESchool is not integrated with a traditional classroom environment. Course credits can be used towards high school requirements. Faculty for these programs are specifically trained for online teaching.
Anecdotal information from personal conversations with my stepson, Micah Pregitzer, who is a high school teacher, suggests that barriers to implementing such a broad based strategic change to the pedagogy model in Hawaii public schools is difficult. Instructive strategies are determined by multiple authoritative bodies such as the elected Board of Education, the Hawaii State Teachers Union and the Hawaii DOE. The priorities of these governing bodies usually compete with faculty initiatives. Therefore, chasing down these barriers, albeit in the service of the students, diminishes teachers’ capacity to pursue measurable goals such as test scores.
Given these issues, however, the group demonstrated that an LMS certainly is within reach for someone with Micah’s education background. As a graduated from a major the University of Colorado in Boulder, he excelled in computer technology, his area of interest. Later in life, Micah, like many of his peers, built computers for internet-based computer, the rave of the 90s. As an experiment, a cohort member, Mark Leonard took on building a Moodle site. It took 15 hours for completion. There is an advantage, however, Mark has the technological background for building a Moodle platform. The group does conclude, however, that high schools have computer programs or centers of technology excellence within their districts that can help with this task. Current high school students can also assist with moodle apps as the group did by attaching Elluminate, blogs and FreeMind.
The ultimate factor for creating a collaborative learning system, is a teacher with the vision and will. Creating a maintaining the system could be a class project for a computer class. The groups experience strongly suggests that an LMS environment within the microcosm of one classroom is a reachable goal.
Advantages for Students Aspiring to Higher Education
Before I attended Pepperdine’s doctoral program, I had no experience with LMS. My personal experience was an indication of how much learning can take place in a collaborative environment where learning is documented and shared by a community of motivated individuals. Studies now indicate that over 92 percent of higher education institutions deliver course content utilizing LMS. I can conclude that there is a definitive advantage to a high school student that has experience with this tool.
Malcolm Gladwell states that there is a time when ideas will explode like an epidemic (Gladwell, 2000). My personal prediction is that this will happen in the next five years. The demand for LMS will come from within the mavens that start their own proliferation of LMS out of necessity, thus forcing all schools to adopt the new model of instructional design (Gladwell, 2000).
Conclusion
Although there are barriers to implementing a broad based LMS in every the classroom of the Hawaii public school system, the cost of delaying will be high. LMS are now a common tool common in the education setting, but my literature review indicates that it is proliferating in the business setting as well. Keeping pace with the implementation of technological tools in the education system is a critical element to producing competitive graduates that are ready for higher education and the business world. The Moodle system was proven to be a viable option for a small group with limited resources and time. There are definite costs associated with maintaining the platform, however, but reaching out to expert resources within the community puts Moodle within reach of an average educator.
References
Brooks-Young, S. (2008). Got Moodle? T H E Journal, 35(4), 28-29.
Gladwell, M. (2000). The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference: Little Brown.
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