1. 20 Wicked Ways to Use Moodle Forums Joyce Seitzinger (@catspyjamasnz) Based on presentation at Moodle Masterclass in Hong Kong, March 2011 for moodle.com.hk / moodle.com.au / Pukunui Technology

2. Most people are familiar with Moodle forum Easy to set up (default settings are usable) Arguably the most flexible learning activity tool in Moodle Needs guidance / modeling / instructions / motivation for students or else… “ I set up a forum, but no one used it… ”

3. Forum activities seem to fall into these categories: Online discussion or communication in forum Online activity in forum Report on an offline activity back to forum Share resources/work Receive and give feedback Creating/keeping a common archive Others?

4. 1. Topical Class Discussion eg Recurring weekly discussion Pro ’ s: – Doesn ’ t take a lot of preparation, – Provides rhythm to your course – Gives you flexibility, – Can stay current. Cons: – Can get repetitive, – Tricky in larger groups/classes – Needs modeling & facilitation.

5. 2. Help Forum Put this in the top block as it will be used throughout the Moodle course Accessible 24/7 for students Provides common searchable archive of Q&A Saves you work (not repeating information in individual emails, phone calls, office hours) Be clear about how soon you will answer.

6. 2. Help Forum

7. 3. Reporting weekly project findings Can be formative assessment Will keep you in touch with student progress & learning Gives you chance to feedback (and peers too!) Can set this up individually (teacher-student) or group (teacher-group) or class-wide

8. 4. Team Discussions Forum to support team work set for students Provides asynchronous team communication tool and… Archive of decisions Teacher can monitor how they collaborate (if that’s part of learning objectives) Set up forum per group or use visible/separate Moodle groups

9. 5. Book reviews Students write & submit book review Students comment on book reviews Example: Used with our ESL students in ELTO program Use the rating option for students to give feedback to each other, or vote for most popular title

10. 6. Roleplay and Feedback Use multiple forums Example: Bachelors of Applied Social Science – 2 students enacted a client/counselor conversation in forum A. Other students observed that exchange and commented in forum B. Can be slow (Tip: combine with synchronous tool, like chat or web conference)

11. 7. Class debate Divide class into two groups (Pro/Con?) Give each group own discussion thread, or own forum Can use Moodle groups & groupings Tip: find some debating rules & include in forum description. Tip: Great for exploring current events

12. 8. Gathering resources Helps kickstart a new topic or activity in classroom “ What do we already know? ” “ What is out there? ” Students work in groups or individually Review and use the list produced in class or online Could also be done in glossary or database…

13. 9. Support forum for assessment Q&A about assessment Tip: Keep in one topic area together with assignment documents and dropboxes Common archive

14. 10. Case studies Use staggered approach (releasing more information over time) Choose: in multiple forums or multiple threads? Individual or group based Time will determine how elaborate

15. 11. Showcase: Student Presentations As an attachment or link Can be related to an assignment Feedback for improvement in assignment Individual or group based

16. 12. Taking the lead Students rotate to facilitate a class discussion Choose topic Choose questions Roster at beginning of term Provide facilitation guidelines

17. 13. Weekly magazine Act as class newspaper Students submit a story each week Can be open to parents

18. 14. Ice breaker Needed in online environment Example: Nursing and Viticulture & Wine Science Name three things… Where are you now?... Two truths and a lie… etc

19. 14. Ice breaker

20. 15. Community of Practice Teachers supporting teachers One or more forums (discussion, activity sharing,…) Find 1 or 2 champions in your school (community needs its champions) Exchange practice, experiences, tips Searchable archive

21. 15. Community of Practice

22. 16. Webquest Set the webquest in web pages or document http://webquest.org/index.php Provide forum per group (perhaps three topics set up eg: Team talk, Resource gathering, Bringing it together. Provide another forum for group reporting

23. 17. Mindmapping Room Students use various mindmapping tools to create mindmaps Mindomo, Mindmeister, Freemind Submit link to online map or exported image Provide feedback

24. 18. Lab reports Prepare lab work Use attachments (often too complicated for simple interface) Submit finished lab work Provide feedback

25. 19. Mentoring Use Moodle groups to set up pairs Teacher/student or student/student Provides private space

26. 20. Social forum Space for students to communicate with each other Let them choose the name: The Cellar, The Parking Lot, Basecamp… Open

27. 21-….? Time for your creative forums Design a forum activity you can use in your class or your context Please do share...

28. Joyce Seitzinger www.cats-pyjamas.net twitter: @catspyjamasnz All images Open Source at: http://www.openclipart.org/user- detail/warszawianka