I would like to use Moodle course management system to set up a distance learning class. Anyone know of a free tutorial that will walk me through configuring Moodle with a server?
Congratulations on using Moodle! I would love to switch to that system. I currently use Blackboard because I don't have to pay for it. (My state provides it to teachers.)
The Moodle website itself has a lot of information about setting it up. I also found this:
[link removed]
It might help you to get more information if you would tell what OS you are using. The website I'm offering is for the Fedora flavor of Linux. I know that the setup is different on Windows and on Apple systems.
I do know that you will need some other software besides Moodle. You will need to be on a web server and you will need database software. Do you have a reliable system and a fast internet connection?
Just for fun, I did once set up my machine as a Moodle server. I had a typo (I think in the password) and could not access it or fix it. This is quite a program. It is great to use but does require some technical understanding to set it up.
I would suggest the Moodle website and searching Google for information.
I taught for a little while at an online school but then they merged with another and didn't have enough positions for everyone. I wasn't observed or interviewed so I can only guess it was because I was there a short amount of time.
Anyway I would like to apply to online schools again and have some questions.
1. Does anyone know of a school that will accept NBPTS certification instead of state cert? I hate the idea of paying for bunches of licenses when I may not get hired. Don't mind obtaining the official cert. after getting hired.
2. I'm finding that a lot of schools want to get a reference from my current principal. I have no doubt I'd get a good recommendation but he flips out every time I apply for a part time teaching job because he thinks he's losing me. I would like to keep this job and teach online.
SimonUnfortunately, one of the downsides to National Board certification is that it has been difficult to convince states to accept it in lieu of that state's certification/credentialing. Hopefully, that will change in the future, but it is unlikely to happen anytime soon.
teacherwhere can i apply for online teaching jobs ? i can teach englinsh language communication skills economics financial and cost accounting auditing
Does anyone know the best way to find out about online teaching jobs. I am a tenured professor and currently teach developmental reading and writing. I will be starting to teach an online class for a company on an aspect of creative writing. I have three masters degrees and a doctorate (teaching of reading and English at community college level, remedial college - or I could teach anything online in creative writing, or teach in a teacher education program (a teacher ed course in teaching reading at secondary level or post secondary level). I have just about ready to finish up a Certificate in Teaching in Online Teaching.
Hi Amy -- a certificate in online teaching won't do any good. Every school has its own training for new online teachers and all new online teachers are required to take the training before they can teach for the school. Training usually lasts about 2-6 weeks (not paid either). That said, check out the links on my website about teaching online.
On 12/23/07, Amy Acheson wrote: > Hello: > > Does anyone know the best way to find out about online > teaching jobs. I am a tenured professor and currently teach > developmental reading and writing. I will be starting to > teach an online class for a company on an aspect of > creative writing. I have three masters degrees and a > doctorate (teaching of reading and English at community > college level, remedial college - or I could teach anything > online in creative writing, or teach in a teacher education > program (a teacher ed course in teaching reading at > secondary level or post secondary level). I have just about > ready to finish up a Certificate in Teaching in Online > Teaching. > > Thanks.
I teach an online class with 29 students and the university expects me to grade papers within 24 hours. Since they only hire part-timers at $1100 a course, they know this is a "second job."
Do you think this is the university's way of saying that I should mostly just give A's? I don't see how I can grade under these conditions except perhaps to write one sentence commentary per student and maybe two sentences when I'm not giving an A.
On 3/14/08, ~VP~ wrote: > I teach between 6-9 classes every semester including summer. I > make well over 80K a year. The community colleges pay the worst > and my grad courses pay 3000 per 8 weeks per section. I teach as > many of those as I can!! > > It's not about how many classes, it's about how many students > you teach at any given time. I teach 150 on average each > semester. > > I do this full time so in 30 hours a week I have plenty of time > to connect individually with each student at some point during > the week. I also provide at least 300-500 words to each student > in feedback on all written assignments. > > Check out my bl*g linked below for more info on how to > effectively teach online and make a great salary teaching full > time. > ~VP~
The link didn't work for me. Can you re-post it please?
I will agree it is about the number of students, not the number of classes. I could never handle 150 students at a time...perhaps 50.
I have taught fully on-line and hybrid courses. My caution to anyone who is thinking about teaching a lot of courses on-line is to try it first and make sure it is your "cup of tea."
I have taught quantitative courses on-line which takes a lot of explaining at times. Note that I did get paid to spend many hours creating narrated video clips to supplement the course...I would never agree teach a math-based course purely from the book.
I prefer teaching face-to-face because I love the interaction. When I retire I plan to keep teaching part time, and hopefully most of that will be hybrid or face-to-face.
I found I have to get very organized to teach fully on-line. I have everything at my fingertips, book pages indexed, copies of solutions, etc...it makes a huge difference. I also respond to student questions ASAP...probably 95% of the time within 12 hours of the original message.
When grading written papers or projects on-line, I found that most of the comments I make are repeated. I make a set of master responses which I copy and paste, then customize. Everyone gets a unique response, but the boilerplate saves me a lot of time.
The longer I teach online, the easier it gets. I've been doing this full time for quite a few years now. Here's the URL for the bl og -- you'll need to close up the spaces and copy/paste into the web browser to get the webpage:
[link removed]
There are a lot of tips and tricks for managing time to do the most amount of work in the least amount of time.
How does one become a distance teacher? Thank you for any information. I left teaching 10years ago due to family responsibilities. I have been woking insurance and miss teaching.I am exploring options.
On 1/11/08, Synthya wrote: > How does one become a distance teacher? Thank you for any > information. I left teaching 10years ago due to family > responsibilities. I have been woking insurance and miss > teaching.I am exploring options. > > Thank you, > > Synthya
Synthya,
Having been involved with distance teaching and learning for only about 6 years, I have come to my own conclusions. But here they are:
1. The pedagogy is much different. 2. Much of what is going on in the distance learning world is not educationally sound. 3. If you really enjoyed face-to-face teaching, it does not necessarily guarantee you will like distance teaching. 4. There are lots of issues and a variety of methods involved. 5. The technology side of the process can drive you crazy. 6. Some schools use collaborative learning and call it distance learning. 7. No person should be allowed to teach an on-line course if they have never taken one themselves. 8. It takes a lot more time to develop a good distance lesson than face-to-face. 9. Distance teaching is more work that you would think if done right. 10. Done right, an on-line course can be better for learning than a traditional face-to-face course. 11. Done wrong, an on-line course can be worse for learning than a traditional face-to-face course. 12. If an on-line student cannot read or write proficiently they will have trouble being successful and you will spend a lot more time helping them than if you were in the classroom.
Let me know what you think about it if you dig in. Internal email and the gradebook are particularly interesting.
Also, I hope they made a lot of fixes to the test tool. With WebCT, for example, if I made a mistake on the answer key I could correct it and it would regrade everyone's test to fix the score instantly. Not so with Bb! You have to manually fix any mistakes. (Just finished manually fixing 27 quizzes)
On 5/23/08, marjoryt wrote: > My summer classes begin on Tuesday, and Bb just came back up, > before the course is populated (probably on Sunday). The > gradebook does look VERY different, even with no students in it yet. > > The internal email feature in Bb is "messages".
The K-12 voluntary standards were posted here as a link to the following article. They look useful.
Voluntary Online-Teaching Standards Come Amid Concerns Over Quality By Andrew Trotter
As learning over the Internet grows in both popularity and controversy, experts are hoping that a new set of national standards for online teaching may help bring clarity and credibility to an industry that some analysts say sorely needs both.
The voluntary standards , released Feb. 21 by the North American Council for Online Learning, or NACOL, a trade association based in Vienna, Va., are designed to serve as a checklist for good online teaching.
The new standards will “allow policymakers to have some sort of independent review of the online programs,” and give course providers a reference point for their own programs’ quality, said John F. Watson, the founder of Evergreen Consulting Associates, an Evergreen, Colo.-based firm that publishes “Keeping Pace With K-12 Online Learning,” Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader an annual policy report
Hello- I was wondering if anyone knew of any online colleges that were hiring for criminal justice profs. I have a BS and MA in criminal justice but, no teaching experience. Thanks in advance.
What type of distance learning are we talking about here?
I have been student teaching in a distance classroom -- not online, but through a screen/camera. We have the cart system where we can call up two other schools and have them showing on a big screen, or a distance lab where there are separate televisions for the pictures from each site.
We still send a lot of paper assignments to the other schools, although some distance classes are going completely paperless -- online assignments.
Distance learning can mean a variety of scenarios that, in my opinion, have caused some confusion and make a large difference in the pedagogy.
The distance classroom you described has been around since the beginning of distance learning and most instruction is the same as a traditional classroom except delivered from a remote site. I have taught that way and comments from students in one classroom could even be heard by students in the other classroom. It took a lot of time to coordinate and all the facilities and technicians had to be reserved in advance.
Use of CD/DVD/video tapes or streaming video is another variation of distance learning. The challenge here is no live interaction. I find this method works best for mature adults who are trying to learn material to pass an exam. Younger students would be bored beyond tears with this method and probably learn very little.
Then we have the internet-based on-line courses that can be hybrid (part face-to-face and part on-line) or fully on-line. Within the on-line scenarios we can be synchronous (all on at the same time with chat, voice, and/or webcam), or asynchronous (on-line uses discussion boards, email, and other activities to keep students engaged). There are now an array of tools and techologies available to assist with all of that, such as Adobe Presenter.
I have tried almost all forms of distance learning and have the following biases and suggestions:
1. No person should teach a course using a technology they have not experienced personally. I am thankful I took an on-line course before I tried to design one and feel very strongly about this.
2. A well-crafted on-line course takes a lot of work, but the rewards are great learning experiences for the students and you can re-use the materials. Remember that in addition to learning the course materials, the students must also learn how to use any techology that is new to them. Sometimes we forget about that.
3. Be prepared to respond to student inquiries via email, chat, discussion board or phone on a daily basis. My practice is to answer student email as soon as I get it, unless I just can't. This is a major issue.
4. Purchase a punching bag and keep it handy since the techology does not always work as expected.
On 4/23/08, Kelsey wrote: > What type of distance learning are we talking about here? > > I have been student teaching in a distance classroom -- not > online, but through a screen/camera. We have the cart > system where we can call up two other schools and have them > showing on a big screen, or a distance lab where there are > separate televisions for the pictures from each site. > > We still send a lot of paper assignments to the other > schools, although some distance classes are going > completely paperless -- online assignments. > > What is everyone else's experience with this?
Good evening , Its Phindani Tabengwa in Botswana a mechanical Lecuturer in a Technnical college. I wanted to learn from you that what advises you got from your inquiry for distance teaching.
Congratulations on using Moodle! I would love to switch to
that system. I currently use Blackboard because I don't have
to pay for it. (My state provides it to teachers.)
The Moodle website itself has a lot of information about
setting it up. I also found this:
[link removed]
It might hel...See More