Teachers in our large Canadian rural division have created two Moodle sites that have made a big impact on teaching and learning. The first site is a teacher collaboration site for sharing strategies and materials. It works to improve teacher practice and ultimately, student learning. The second site is for the students both in our on-line school and in a technology mediated classroom environment. Students have access to high quality on-line courses on their Moodle site (24/7) in addition to classroom instruction. Evidence of student engagement and promising strategies will be shared. Come and see how the classroom has changed!

1. Easy, Open Collaboration with Moodle Joan Coy Wanda Dechant

3. Your educational role

5. Access to the collaboration site and on-line courses This is our teacher collaboration site: http://collaboration.pwsd76.ab.ca This is where our students access on-line courses: http://ecommunity.pwsd76.ab.ca

6. Creation of an open sharing environment using Moodle Started as small group of teachers, online school Group within school division Taking courses to students in classroom Multi-School division Looking at working with a provincial group to share courses

7. Ideas about effective learning communities - Relationships http://www.flickr.com/photos/divemasterking2000/2156349505/

8. Ideas about effective learning communities - Respect http://www.flickr.com/photos/courosa/3677605158

9. Ideas about effective learning communities - ownership http://www.flickr.com/photos/lagohsep/4626873569

10. Ideas about effective learning communities - open/accepting http://www.flickr.com/photos/calvinfornia/4740637825

11. Ideas about effective learning communities - no egos http://www.flickr.com/photos/carlo-arioli/1657433876/

12. Ideas about effective learning communities Relationships are the foundation – time is needed to build trust Respect is needed for time and contributions of each and every member Teachers need to have ownership of the activities of the community An atmosphere of openness and acceptance is necessary for all members “Check egos at the door” to allow for real sharing

13. Teacher Collaboration Site http://collaboration.pwsd76.ab.ca In groups of about 3-ish, please take 5 minutes to discuss/brainstorm the following: What features do you see as essential in creating and maintaining a learning community? What does sharing mean to you?

14. Ideas re: Sharing Define sharing before entering collaboration Open sharing – little bits or chunks – share what you can Talk with your jurisdiction, what does sharing mean to them? Minister of Ed… reminded us that we are employed provincially, not only jurisdictionally Take what you need, use, change and re-share … Some might not want our resources “bastardized”…..

15. Ideas re: Sharing What is of value… content, framework, components, best practices, ability to edit/modify, etc Focus on best practice, not just on Moodle Voluntary participation for sharing How are parents involved… communication with families and communities.. How can we all work together to share information and resources (parents have great ideas & are a huge support in education) Encourage 2-way sharing… give and take….

16. Ideas re: Sharing Time – how can we work for effectively to save ourselves time Share at any point – it does not have to be perfect… the process of sharing and tweaking is so important, also helps the “takes” to be more willing to customize the course for their context Courses are not static… we are not publishing One teacher starts a project/course/resource with the time they have, then pass it on to another teacher to add their time and viewpoint into it… accumulation of efforts

17. Strategies to Integrate on-line Materials into Classroom Setting Students control over their learning therefore require students to be responsible for their own learning Choice for quick group opinions Self checks Lesson Self reflections using questionnaire Glossary Students as Creators

18. E-Community Site The E-Community site is for the students http://ecommunity.pwsd76.ab.ca

19. Aligned Improvement The team of teachers, administrators, IT and central office working together… gives a much higher chance of success Lisa Miller Aligned Acts of Improvement Goals Student Achievement System Performance

20. Research Base

21. Evidence of Student Engagement

24. Continuing the Conversation Joan Coy joancoy@pwsd76.ab.ca @joancoy Wanda Dechant wandadechant@pwsd76.ab.ca @wdechant