Challenges in evaluating Hong Kong students perceptions of Moodle

The open source learning management system (LMS), Moodle, has been adopted by many people and organisations around the world because it offers a tightly integrated set of tools said to be designed from a social constructivist perspective. However, what advantages does Moodle really offer over other commercially available LMSs such as Blackboard, from the perspective of the lecturer or the student? In this study, Moodle was used in five teacher education classes in Hong Kong in a variety of ways. The experience of these classes was evaluated by institutional evaluations of teaching and a questionnaire specific to the use of Moodle. The results indicated only a partial preference for Moodle over Blackboard. Implications for pre-service teachers are discussed. Philosophy of the free software (open source) movement The terms free software and open-source software are sometimes used interchangeably in the discussions of software that may be distributed and downloaded from the Internet without charge. However, the free software movement has a specific definition of free. Free software is not free as free in the monetary sense, but users of the software should have the freedom to run, modify, adapt, customise and share without charge. The concept of free in this discussion is best stated as (Free Software Foundation, 2005): • The freedom to run the program, for any purpose (freedom 0). • The freedom to study how the program works, and adapt it to your needs (freedom 1). Access to the source code is a precondition for this. • The freedom to redistribute copies so you can help your neighbour (freedom 2). • The freedom to improve the program, and release your improvements to the public, so that the whole community benefits (freedom 3). Access to the source code is a precondition for this.  It should be noted that the Free Software Foundation does not entirely support the term open source. For the purposes of discussion and widely held understanding of open source, I have chosen to use this term in the paper. The open-source software, Moodle, fulfils the criteria listed above for free software and has rapidly built a community of users who share, modify and develop the software for the user community. Users of Moodle have the freedom to download, install, run, and modify the software without cost. This is in contrast to many enterprise systems that have been developed specifically by commercial vendors such as Blackboard or WebCT. Moodle: An open-source learning management system The LMS called Moodle (http://moodle.org/), is open source software, and can be configured to run on most operating systems (Macintosh OS X, Windows XP and Linux). Moodle was developed from a social constructivist perspective by Martin Dougiamas at Curtin University in Western Australia (Dougiamas & Taylor, 2003). Moodle has features not found elsewhere, including the ability to embed resources, communication and/or activities centred on a topic of study. The instructor may also specify a variety of modes of operation (from weekly formats, topic-based to social formats). The acceptance and adoption of Moodle has been extraordinarily successful. At the time of writing, there were more than 1800 registered Moodle sites in more than 120 countries, and it was available in more than 60 languages. The uptake of the software has been so successful that the first user conferences (called MoodleMoots) took place in July 2004. MoodleMoots have been (or will be) held in the United Kingdom, Germany, Ireland and the USA. Moodle is also beginning to challenge the dominance of the pay-as-you-go model of many of the commercial LMSs available. The Dublin City University in Ireland is phasing out WebCT and replacing it with Moodle in a attempt to provide an LMS that is easier for the institution to customize, cheaper to implement and developed in software that is well understood by the information technology services (ITS) department staff who will have to maintain the system (McMullin & Munro, 2004). 328 ascilite 2005: Balance, Fidelity, Mobility: maintaining the momentum? The potential of LMSs in teacher education People are more likely to teach as they were taught and this principle may be extended to people design educational environments based upon their experiences (and perceptions) of teaching and learning. Student teachers (STs) are more likely to adopt the paradigms that reflect their prior knowledge and experience, the manner in which they were taught, and the implicit (or explicit) models of teaching and learning they experienced in their own educational undertakings when they begin to design and develop their own educational environments (Bain & McNaught, 1996). There is a need for student teachers (STs) to learn the potential of available technology tools for the design of learning environments which can support students to engage actively with content-based learning materials, tasks and peer learners. Clearly, any learning design framework should focus on the affordances offered by a learning management system (LMS) and not just using technology without a specific (appropriate) pedagogical strategy. Figure 1 shows the major elements of a typical LMS divided into three components, communication tools, student tools and course tools. Some of the elements can be in two categories, depending upon how they are intended to be used by the teacher (e.g. the Wiki page). This study has two parts. The first part aimed to investigate if this smorgasbord of tools assisted STs in Hong Kong to design more effective student-centred learning environments in conjunction with developing a better understanding of the affordances offered by information and communication technologies (ICTs). The second part looked at the perceptions of students using Moodle for their learning. Figure 1: A generic LMS The context of the Hong Kong Institute of Education The Hong Kong Institute of Education was formed from the amalgamation of four teacher training colleges in 1994 with the specific mandate to provide high quality teacher education, upgrade the professional standards of the staff and to actively undertake research with the aim of improving teacher education and practice in Hong Kong (see http://www.ied.edu.hk/about_hkied/html/p_msg.html). In addition, the Institute also has the responsibility of contributing to and fostering the appropriate use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in education in Hong Kong. The Education and Manpower Bureau (EMB) of the Hong Kong government (what is referred to as the Education Department in several other countries) describes the aims of the Hong Kong school system in a decidedly constructivist fashion. Education in Hong Kong is said to strive to: • turn our schools into dynamic and innovative learning institutions where students can become more motivated, inquisitive and creative learners; • link up our students with the vast network of knowledge and information to enable them to acquire a broad knowledge base and a global outlook; • develop in our students capabilities to process information effectively and efficiently; and • develop in our students the attitude and capability for independent life-long learning. (Education and Manpower Bureau, 2004, Executive Summary) Home page Communication tools Student tools Course tools My Notes Student drop box