The idea of flipping the classroom has gained a lot of popularity in the press & among proponents in recent years. In principle, the “flipped” classroom is no different to traditional homework tasks of assigning readings before the next class: The teacher gives learners an assignment, a reading, a video to watch, &/or exercises to… Continue reading Online is already flipped: Transforming the flipped classroom with online learning
Category: Moodle
Online ELT & CALL activities in Moodle
Great news! For those of us who use Moodle to create online English language learning/teaching (ELL/ELT) activities & courses, things just got better. Previously, I’ve held off from writing about H5P because, although it is very useful & has great potential, I found the Moodle integration problematic & difficult to manage, but with the latest Moodle upgrades I think that we can take online ELL/ELT to a whole new level.
Monitoring & supporting students during online synchronous lessons
Introduction In this article, I have a suggestion for ways to improve the quality of English language teaching (ELT) via webinar apps, e.g. BigBlueButton, Blackboard Collaborate, Adobe Connect, Cisco WebEx, or Zoom, while making minimal changes to learning & teaching as they are currently being practised as emergency remote teaching due to the COVID-19 pandemic… Continue reading Monitoring & supporting students during online synchronous lessons
Enabling web conferencing in Ubuntu Linux
Ubuntu Linux and other distributions like Edubuntu, Kubuntu, Lubuntu, and Xubuntu have come in leaps and bounds in recent years and are becoming more fully featured and easier to use. I think they are now getting to the stage where they are potential replacements for Microsoft’s Windows and Apple’s OS X for elearning. Well, almost…… Continue reading Enabling web conferencing in Ubuntu Linux
Free and low-cost Moodle hosting options
Every year, web hosting and installing web apps becomes less technically demanding, quicker, and simpler and it’s getting to the point nowadays where it’s a consumer level endeavour. Here’s a few of the easiest low-cost options for hosting Moodle that I’ve seen so far. [Please note: This article is now out of date & Moodle… Continue reading Free and low-cost Moodle hosting options
Update: Do you want to get started with Moodle?
Back in 2012 I wrote the article, Do you want to get started with Moodle? which turned out to be one of the most read and most cited articles on this blog. A lot has happened with software and web tools in the following two years so I’ve decided to write an update to it.… Continue reading Update: Do you want to get started with Moodle?
Using chat to facilitate more interactive classes
Here’s how you can make your face to face lessons more inclusive and interactive quickly and simply by using a chat session during class, and open up a range of benefits that aren’t immediately apparent. How does it work? Before a face to face lesson or lecture begins, the tutor/teacher/TA opens or schedules a chat… Continue reading Using chat to facilitate more interactive classes
New readability analysis filter for Moodle
This is a quick announcement to let you know that I’ve just started a new plugin project for Moodle. It’s a filter module that analyses text on Moodle pages and rates their readability according to the six most popular readability formulas: Flesch-Kincaid Reading Ease Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level Gunning-Fog Index Coleman-Liau Index SMOG Index Automated Readability… Continue reading New readability analysis filter for Moodle
Update to SWF Activity Module for Moodle 1.9
This is a quick update announcement for the SWF Activity Module for Moodle 1.9. It fixes some issues that some users were experiencing with sending grades to Moodle’s grade book and some other functions. You can find the latest version released today on the project downloads page at Google Code. What was the bug? PHP… Continue reading Update to SWF Activity Module for Moodle 1.9
Dr. Rod Ellis: TESOL Written Corrective Feedback
Professor Rod Ellis, gave a presentation which is available on YouTube.com. In it, he focuses on written corrective feedback. I’ve written a basic summary below. Get a drink, a snack, your notebook, make yourself comfortable and enjoy an allusive, informative explanation of the current state of affairs regarding written corrective feedback; the types and strategies,… Continue reading Dr. Rod Ellis: TESOL Written Corrective Feedback