Rocky View Schools is a school division located west, north and east of Calgary, Alberta. It has 42 schools and over 18,000 students, making it the 5th largest in the province. In 2008, Rocky View Schools launched a new vision and 3-year plan to engage 21st century learners. This involved adopting new foundation statements and goals. The plan included moving to more interactive online learning environments like Moodle. Teachers received professional development on Moodle, starting with introductory courses. While some teachers adapted well, others remained uncomfortable with the change. Over time, with school-based support and peer learning, more teachers have begun using Moodle in the learning zone.

1. Help!
They want me to
Moodle...
Joan Kollewyn, Lucie Pratte
Rocky View Schools, Alberta

2. Rocky View Schools
Rocky View Schools is shaped like a
horseshoe around the west, north,
and east boundaries of Calgary. We
have 42 schools and are home to
18,000 Kindergarten to Grade 12
students, making it the fifth largest
school division in the province of
Alberta

3. Rocky View Schools
In 2008 RVS launched its new
vision with the three-year
plan – a roadmap to move
to 21st Century Learning. Its
theme “Engaging 21st
Century Learners” included
new foundation statements,
six goals, and related
outcomes and strategies.

4. Engaging 21st Century
Learners
RVS 3YP Goals:
• Learners have their basic and diverse needs met.
• Learners are competent, qualified, and dedicated.
• Learners are civic, social, and environmental
stewards.
• Learning opportunities are distinct, continuous, and
systematic.
• Instruction challenges and engages the learner.
• Learners work in 21st century learning environments

5. RVS Learning Model
The learning model
guides our
instructional design
and is centred on our
learners.

6. Background
• All teachers have a MacBook
• All schools wireless and infrastructure enhanced
• Plone was used for student access to teacher
information – only to retrieve information
• Through our 3YP, teachers, especially at the high
schools, were expected to create "anytime, any
place, any path, any pace" access to information
for students.
• Rocky View Virtual School/WeConnect

7. Comfort Learning Panic
Based on
thinking that
learning
does not
occur in
comfort or
panic zone
but in the
learning
(challenge)
zone
Seth Sandler Jan 2011

8. Professional Learning
Moodle
Stage 1 - Learning Zone
•PL targeted High Schools only and most
teachers volunteered
•PL Centrally developed/Centrally based
•Offered to schools/admin
•Created online PL courses in Moodle
•Brought in a trainer from Remote Learner

9. Professional Learning
• 3 facilitators for the district
• Created Moodle 1 introductory course – put
teachers in the role of student
• Moodle 2 – teachers given a shell and worked on
creating their first course
• Both courses were facilitated and offered every
three months
• Some teachers liked this, many did not

10. Professional Learning
Stage 2 - Panic Zone
• PL became contextualized and school based
•Moodle in place for a year and many had not
looked at it – were still relying on Plone
•Administration in many schools set deadlines
•Students needed a more interactive
environment and were requesting Moodle
access for all courses

11. Professional Learning
• Staff were more comfortable with school based
PL in Moodle
• Champion Model – created Moodle leads in each
school
• Schools facilitated Moodle 1 and 2 in their
buildings with varying degrees of success
• Few standards were implemented
• No consistency

12. Professional Learning
Stage 3 - Pushing the Comfort Zone
• Support from specialists in schools on
demand but also support from peers in the
schools
• More conversations focused on the end goals
of the courses
• Move teachers to creating more interactivity
and move away from having all PDFs and
worksheets

13. Where we are now
• Creating master courses to be shared through
the division or school / can be copied and
repurposed
• Moving into middle and elementary schools - as
virtual staff rooms/AISI/ some Communities of
Practice
• District Leadership housed in Moodle and
Google Sites
• Used with support staff
• Provides a corporate record

14. Now
Fewer staff in
the Panic and
Comfort
Zones and
more working
in the
Learning
Zone.

15. Professional Learning
After more than 10 years teaching online, the core group of
weConnect teachers developed a common layout for
Moodle courses based on experience and from current
research. The goal is to have the courses easy to use from a
student’s perspective.
• Recommendations for Expectations and Standards
• Recommendations for Physical Layout
• Instructional Design Framework
• Communication with students and parents

16. Art 30
This course is taught in a ‘blended’ situation where online students and in-class
students are in the same course. The teacher use the same Moodle content for all
students and had no experience in online course design

17. Science 30
This course is taught in face to face only and is content rich! The teacher chose
to have a shell for each unit rather than have all of her content in one shell. She
uses a variety of technologies in her class and Moodle is an access point for all
classes as well as holding content.

18. forensics 35
http://moodle.rockyview.ab.ca/course/view.php?id=2463
This course is taught to online students only. An effort is
made to minimize the number of tabs and keep the
screen ‘clean’ and streamlined

19. Lucie Pratte Joan Kollewyn
RVS Learning Specialist RVS Learning Specialist
lpratte@rockyview.ab.ca jpkollewyn@rockyview.ab.ca
• Rocky View Schools - Engage With Alberta Educatio
n
• Rocky View Schools http://www.rockyview.ab.ca/
• Rocky View Schools 3YP
http://www.rockyview.ab.ca/3yp_2
• Rocky View Schools Learning Model
http://www.rockyview.ab.ca/3yp/assets/Learning
%20Model-June-09.png/view
• Moodle 2.0 training
http://moodle.rockyview.ab.ca/course/view.php?
id=2647
• http://sethsandler.com/productivity/3-zones/
• http://squaretwocoaching.wordpress.com/2011/02
/04/from-comfort-zone-to-panic-zone/