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Ensuring that Moodle spaces are up-to-date and meet the E-learning Baseline

By Clive Young, on 10 March 2020

As we focus on Teaching continuity it becomes increasingly important that our Moodle spaces are  up-to-date. 

Moodle is UCL’s main platform to access materials, to upload assignments and is the point of access for Lecturecast recordings and Blackboard collaborate. As the student experience moves more online, Moodle also becomes a key hub for communications and interactivity. It is therefore a priority to check courses against the the E-learning Baseline.

The Baseline encourages consistency in the student online experience and will help students navigate online learning activities. Attention is particularly drawn to the first five sections of the Baseline;

  1. Structure.
  2. Orientation.
  3. Communication.
  4. Assessment.
  5. Resources.

Surveys show these are the elements of Moodle our students notice most and are often most critical of. They are also the easiest to improve.

The other sections of the Baseline are also essential, particularly Accessibility, but usually take a little more time to address.

The Baseline+ provisions also addresses specific issues of Student Active Participation, namely,

  • Students can share learning resources either individually or collaboratively using online tools (such as wikis, glossaries, databases and discussion forums).
  • Students are required to interact with online activities, such as online self-assessments, contributing to discussions and completing interactive scenarios, in order to maintain student motivation and engage them actively in the learning process.

More guidance on enhancing online elements in courses will follow shortly.

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