Cambridge Assessment International Education
"My favourite type of presentation in all moots are the “show and tell” ones, where people actually using the product give us a window into their world"
High Stakes; High Value - an approach to summative assessment.
Esther Chesterman and Jane Atkinson
Esther and Jane, from Cambridge Assessment International Education, shared details of their ePortfolio project to support Professional Development Qualifications.
They provided the background, plans and practical examples showing the use of ‘Smart Evidence’ for collaboration and feedback.
Here we saw how ePortfolios are being developed for use at scale in the global context of an international examinations board. It was great to see a working, practical model for formal assessment purposes.
Smart evidence in #mahara looks good but "could be more intuitive" & "needs more support for users to understand" #mahoodle17 @CambridgeInt
New Moodle features and developments
Mary Cooch
Mary, Community Educator from Moodle HQ, delivered a presentation entitled ‘Empowering Educators’ including details about Moodle developments in Europe, significant investments in the Moodle Association, together with the key features of Moodle 3.4.
#mahoodle17 Moodle 3.4 easier course management and user enrolment sounds great - bulk features draws positive gasps from @samwisefox
Photo by @UniGlosLTS
Mary shared how this version will focus on improving the usability of existing features such as the calendar, course management, activity management, and 100% support for all key functionality within the mobile app. The excellent presentation concluded with an overview of Moodle Cloud, Learn Moodle and how MoodleNet will link everything together.
Photo by @moodlefairy at #mahoodle17 with Joey from #Moodle partner Catalyst
Explore further:
Mary's blog
LearnMoodle.net
Moodle.org
Advanced Analytics in Mahara
Lisa Donaldson and Antony Coombs
Lisa, Learning Technologist Dublin City University, and Antony, Learning Technologies Manager, University of Sussex, delivered an engaging presentation that the entire audience could follow on their devices in real time using Zeetings.
They provided an overview of the enhancements to reporting capabilities with Mahara sharing the significant benefits of using detailed analytics.
In addition to the excellent technical details, this project also provided an insight into best practice open source developments – all of the project developments have become part of Mahara core code.
"Liked focus on useful data from Mahara analytics speaker #mahoodle17 often distracted by welter of info that fails to convert to knowledge"
Mahoodling for Accreditation
Sam Taylor and Aurélie Soulier
Mahoodle workflow @UniGlosLTS
Sam, Learning Technologist and Aurélie, Senior Learning Technologist from Cranfield Defence and Security, Cranfield University, provided a detailed overview of how their university is using Mahoodle to support accreditation.
@samwisefox @EdTechYogi talk to us about Mahoodling for Accreditation including a brief: "must be easy to use" #mahoodle17
The end to end system that they demonstrated showed how they delivered on every requirement from their brief using a Mahoodle workflow.
Effective use of Moodle and Mahara
This combination of Moodle and Mahara has created defined spaces of delegates and facilitators, making delegate portfolio clear and simple for examiners to follow, including tracking of delegate progress.
Explore further:
Cranfield Defense and Security, Cranfield University
LearningTools Interoperability (LTI)
Joey Murison
Joey, Business Development Manager for Catalyst IT, provided a live demonstration of how LTI functionality is the future for Moodle and Mahara communication.
"LTIs enable integration of Moodle courses 2 #mahara. Hmm interesting PT ePortfolio Moodle course in Mahara #mahoodle17"
Live demonstration of LTIs in practice
This high paced, practical presentation showed how content and activities can be shared across varied Learning Management Systems.
Joey provided clear examples of how he felt MNet connectivity should now be replaced by the LTI model offering far greater flexibility and functionality as Moodle and Mahara develop further.
"We totally agree with Joey from @CatalystITEU - it's so easy to use. Great opportunity for institutions to co-deliver courses #mahoodle17"
Proof that it works
Explore further:
Catalyst IT Europe
LTI integration for Mahara
The Online Learning Area
Andrew Field
Andrew, eLearning Manager for Cambridge Assessment International Education, delivered a presentation showing how the online learning Area provides a true Mahoodle instance to support learners and teachers.
"One platform for learning - students don't need to know they are in #moodle or #mahara just that they are in the VLE"
He shared details how Cambridge International have developed a flexible and dynamic Moodle and Mahara based platform that adapts to the curriculum requirements. This includes Global Perspectives, support for pilot developments and Resource Plus, providing high-quality learning materials for a growing range of subjects.
Examples of flexible use of the Mahoodle platform
"De-Moodling Moodle @andyfield ... stripping back the complexity so the real learning can take place #Mahoodle17"
"Amazing presentation by @andyfield #mahoodle17 A true Mahoodle"
Creating Engaging Experiences through UX design
Bea Martinez-Gatell
Bea, Head of UX at Cambridge Assessment, shared her thoughts about the fundamental importance of User Experience.
"@bmartinezgatell about engaging learners throughout their learner journey #UX #moodle"
She explored engaging experiences leading to the UX design process including need to know your users, pre-empt problems, proving users clear paths, dreaming big and avoiding feature bloat.
"Think about usability but got to be meaningful" advice from @bmartinezgatell #mahoodle17
Bea’s presentation encouraged us all to move away from the specific tools and focus on how learners want to interact with digital content. It provides a great deal for all attendees to think about with future developments.
"'I discovered there was a thing called UX' via @bmartinezgatell - wow I want a job in UX #mahoodle17"
Explore further:
Cambridge Assessment International Education
Cambridge UX Lab
Delivering a blended learning programme for the Cambridge context
Sara Green
Sara, Digital Learning Instructional Designer from the Judge Business School, Cambridge University, took us though their use of Moodle and how its functionality is used to support a blended programme of learning.
"Moodle not as a file delivery system - Its the place learrners go to DO their learning! Activity based! #mahoodle17 #uoglearningtechdev"
Sara explained the design concept behind the sequence of learning and activities. Of particular interest was how the use of video, and green screen technology enabled lecturers to explain key theories in advance of the face to face residential.
This had supported the use of a 'flipped learning' pedagogical strategy allowing the knowledge input to take place online with the face to face being used to support the application of theory.
Explore further:
University of Cambridge Judge Business School
A developer’s perspective - future ideas
Bas Brands
Bas, a freelance web developer from Sonsbeekmedia delivered his presentation live via Skype from the Netherlands. Bas shared his Moodle utopia suggesting the direction he’d like to see open source tools such as Moodle and Mahara actually developing in the future.
"@basbrands joins us live at #mahoodle17 from the Netherlands to share future ideas for developments & improvements"
He considered the technology revolution we’ve seen since 2007 and what that might possibly lead to by 2027. The desired end point is a reduction in complexity, with fewer features and options but significantly better usability, performance and user experience.
Bas proposed ‘My little Moodle’, multi-purpose themes and more effective use of JavaScript and templates – together with a reminder that there are huge opportunities for tools to work significantly closer together.
"Great ideas about what #Moodle and #Mahara might be like in 10 years time #mahoodle17 - linking up splendidly with @bmartinezgatell ideas"
Key point - we are not alone. Work together with other tools...
"Aww My Little Moodle ☺ very stripped back and basic to administer and develop #Mahoodle17"
"It's been great #mahoodle17. So much learning and networking. #goodtotalk #great2share."
mahoodle17 #cakebreak
Photo by Aurélie Soulier @EdTechYogi
"It's been really valuable to see real people with enthusiasm for these approaches to supplying learning and development opportunities"
"Thanks to all who came to #mahoodle17 @CambridgeInt Really pleased with the great range of presentations - big success"
"Great day on Friday at #mahoodle17 thanks @CambridgeInt and @CatalystITEU"
http://www.moodleblog.net/2017/10/22/moodling-in-cambridge-with-catalyst/
"Thank you for allowing me the last place ... it was a fab #mahoodle17 ❤️conference"
"#mahoodle17 awesome MahoodleMoot thank you!"
"Good opportunity to share best practice.
I liked the format with 20 min presentations! It would be good to have further opportunities to see live demos/explore others’ platforms & courses."
"It's been a great event. Rich content."