SELECT A PROGRAM

(4/2004) - The close relationship between student and teacher is the heart of a good independent school. Recently, a few teachers at Cranbrook started using a technology that seemed like an anathema to the culture. They enhanced their classrooms by adding Moodle, an e-learning software, also known as distance learning software, to their mix of classroom activities. Counter-intuitively, opportunities for communication and collaboration increased between students, students and teachers, and between teachers themselves. Cranbrook teachers feel that they have found a potent tool that, when used appropriately, improves upon the pen-and-pencil collaborative potential of classrooms.

Moodle is the creation of Martin Dougiamas, an educator with graduate degrees in teaching and computer science, who developed the software to explore the question “How can internet software successfully support social constructionist epistemologies of teaching and learning?”

The constructivist pedagogy that informs activities in Moodle software has created space for students to think more deeply by freeing them from the pressures of the classroom moment. In a classroom environment, a student might ponder, “Am I going to say something silly in front of my peers?” or, “I wish I could better hear what my classmate is saying …” or, at a more spirited moment, “I’d like to quote her argument back to her with my opposing evidence… “ With Moodle, a student can return to ideas that are introduced in a class and add upon them at a more reflective moment.

So, in using Moodle for the past year, Cranbrook students have enjoyed opportunities to collaborate with one another that were not possible within the constraints of the daily schedule and within the realities of a two-campus school. In fact, some class discussions continued for weeks as students asserted ownership of them and worked towards clarity.

Five years ago, Cranbrook complimented its collaborative learning culture with the wide-spread use of SMART boards in its classrooms (see The Case for Interactive White Boards in the Classroom). By design, SMART boards allow an entire class to observe, analyze, and collectively discuss a particular lesson. The essential bonds between student/teacher and student/student within the classroom are maintained while enhancing the curricular possibilities within the classroom.

Dovetailing with SMART board technology, teachers using Moodle can display the previous evening’s discussion and use that as a jumping off point for more face-to-face discussions. For students who are reticent about participating in class discussions, the on-line forum provides an opportunity for them to carefully construct their responses without the immediate scrutiny of the class. This dynamic is particularly beneficial for ESL students.

In Cranbrook’s ninth-grade interdisciplinary history course, Foundations of Human Society, students use on-line forums to discuss and debate their perspectives across multiple sections. First hour students present their perspectives to fifth hour students. Fourth hour students critique and respond to the entries of these two sections. Students can be heard in the halls discussing the merits of arguments presented by classmates who are not physically in their classes. Rather than seeing each section of a course as a discrete learning environment, ninth grade students at Cranbrook are keenly aware that they are part of a larger learning community.

History teachers at Cranbrook have discovered too that using Moodle has created a more egalitarian environment in terms of student access to teachers. On assignments such as research papers, students frequently need assistance in developing their thesis statements, their outlines, and/or their rough drafts. Some students have schedules that make meetings nearly impossible. With Moodle, all students are given equal opportunity to have their teachers evaluate a thesis statement, comment on an outline, or suggest revisions on a rough draft. This on-line commentary serves as a catalyst for further face-to-face conversations. Further, the electronic record of assignments and student/teacher discussions serves as a kind of electronic portfolio—a reference that is helpful for students who want to reflect on a year’s growth, and for a teacher who desires to shape the next best lesson for an individual student. Web-based technology is proving to be a very useful and powerful way of enhancing Cranbrook’s organic learning culture.