New term - Day 3

The students are coming in and we haven't quite got the back MIS system to talk to the ULCC Moodle.  ULCC told us that we had an ambitious timetable to get this up and running and of course, they were right.  However, I don't think we're too far away from having everything working.  There are a number of serious people working on it and everyone is committed to the idea and feeling quite positive about the value it will offer students and staff.  This has to be one of the better ways of starting the term!

Communication is good so that we can say to people that xxx isn't ready yet but that it should be ok by xxx.  I think not knowing something is much harder to cope with than a known delay.  Of course the other thing to remember is that at the start of the term, students can't possibly remember everything they are told so the fact that something will change, or isn't quite ready, isn't as big a problem as it might be.  We also know that when it is ready, we will be offering them something which is of a high quality.

I've almost finished the ULCC Online Moodle course, which was very good.  Sharing information worked well and it was an incredibly useful way to remember what it feels like to be ignorant and to gain knowledge slowly.  Looking at well designed Moodle courses and comparing them to less well designed courses helps to clarify thoughts.  I am a bit overwhelmed by how many people are willing to share their Moodle courses.  This is so helpful!  For example, there is an excellent e-safety course that the the JISC RSC-SE have put together - link here.

By the way, I am really looking forward to learning to use Mahara better.  I think it's even better than Moodle for students!

The old start menu