Centre for Information Technologies, FoA
E-learning Office
Creating Support for E-learning
Distance learning has little tradition in our country. However, there is nothing to worry about. For example, Open University in the United Kingdom has been fully based on distance education since the 1960s thanks to technologies. We have a few tips for you on how to choose a suitable platform, whether you want to create electronic support for your teaching or an entire online course.
How to choose the right platform?
Analysis, design, implementation, evaluation and redesign - these are the basic stages in the education process. So what should be considered at the beginning?
- What do you know about the students? How many of them will be, approximately?
- What do the students need? What is the level of their knowledge?
- What are the educational goals of your subject? What are the expected outputs from learning?
- What tools can best help you achieve these goals?
You can use the iPadagogy Wheel. It connects the levels of Bloom’s taxonomy with activities and useful tools.
The iPadagogy Wheel (Android) The iPadagogy Wheel (Apple)
Platforms that can be used
LMS Moodle / ELF
Moodle is a learning organization and management system. Its installation used by the Faculty of Arts MUNI is called ELF, but Moodle can be found all around the world. It is an open-source platform, which enables creating and managing e-learning courses. Moodle offers a modular structure to assemble the e-learning course from various modules, which function as study materials, tests, assignment collection, etc. Moodle is suitable for b-learning (or blended learning, combination of attendance courses and remote online support) as well as for fully e-learning courses.
The benefits of Moodle:
- Easy and intuitive operation.
- Wide range of testing and test analysis options.
- The courses can be transferred (to a limited extent) between different installations of Moodle, i.e., a course from MUNI can be copied to Moodle installed by another institution.
The disadvantages of Moodle:
- It is not 100% integrated with the MUNI IS.
- Record of attendance is not interconnected.
- Marks from ELF cannot be entered in the IS.
- It is necessary to spend some time to make the courses visually appealing.
ELF User Documentation for Moodle/ELF Moodle - official site
Interactive syllabus in the MUNI IS
Interactive syllabus in the IS is effective when you want to set up a simple b-learning course or if you have specific requirements for integration within the IS.
The advantages of interactive syllabus in the MUNI IS
- Integrated in the MUNI IS.
- Individual requirements can be addressed.
- Improved appearance.
Umbraco
Umbraco is a content management system that the Faculty of Arts MUNI uses for its websites. The system can also be used for educational content, which is open to the public. Umbraco is suited for more experienced users. If it is used for teaching a course, it needs to be combined with a learning management system (Moodle, IS, Google Classroom). It is used, for example, for some of the KISK courses (KPI11, KPI33).
If you want to create a faculty course website in the Umbraco content management system, you can use the support services of CIT FF.
Creating Web Pages at the Faculty of Arts Documentation for Umbraco WebCentrum
Google Classroom
Google Classroom is a tool for managing in-class activities, which can be linked to the IS. You can communicate with students and assign tasks to be delivered, for instance, by means of shared Google Docs. The advantage of the Google Classroom is its simplicity. It is well suited for beginners or when you are fine with a limited choice of features. The disadvantage is the technical support, which is difficult to contact if you have any problems.