The pedagogy of student engagement should enrich the student’s overall experience with the learning concepts. As we introduce more hybrid learning opportunities across campus, thinking of new ways to engage students can be a daunting task. Moodle activities can assist you with engaging students in meaningful discussions in or out of the classroom and can be incorporated into your current teaching style. These activities give students greater control of their learning experience and exploration of the content. This post seeks to provide a quick example of how you can use the “Advanced Forum” activity to engage your students and guide instruction using technology you likely already use.
Sample Activity:
Instead of taking questions at the end of a lecture, create a standard forum for general use in Moodle and allow students to post and answer each others’ questions related to the lecture and readings. This enriching discussion will be enlightening for the instructor and will assist in guiding instruction for the next session.
To Set-up a Standard Forum for General Use complete the following steps:
- Select the course homepage of the class where you would like to initiate the forum.
- Turn editing on.
- Select the option to add an activity or resource.
- Select the advanced forum option.
- Give the forum a name, description, and set the desired options.
- If you allow attachments in the course, students can upload additional resources to support their understanding of the material.
You can further guide the conversation by posing additional questions or providing supporting resource links to additional material/articles. This active learning technique engages the entire class with the material. When integrated successfully, it aids in student engagement, understanding, retention, and achievement.
If you are seeking assistance with more strategies for student engagement or assessment, contact the MIT Service Desk at x5400 or email help@spelman.edu to schedule a consultation.