More Questions from the Webinar: The Case for Personalized Learning

On Tuesday, June 7, Moodlerooms sponsored a webinar entitled "Changing Demographics in Higher Education: The Case for Personalized Learning." Featuring Moodlerooms' VP of Product Strategy, Phill Miller, and Executive Director of LCTCSOnline, Robert Johnson, the webinar focused on how joule 2, Moodlerooms' enterprise e-Learning platform based on Moodle 2, enables professors to scale personalize learning online to better serve the growing and increasingly diverse student population.

In case you didn't catch the webinar, you can view a recording of it on-demand, here. Also, if you didn't read our recent post about joule 2's Personalized Learning Designer, you can view that, here.

Unfortunately, we weren't able to address all of the questions submitted from the audience during the webcast, so Phill and Bob have provided answers to the remainder of the questions below.

Questions for Phill:

Q: How are you working around the fact that mobile devices, such as the iPhone, iTouch, and iPad do not support Flash?

• "Flash is a hard one. In joule, we use very little or no flash in the primary navigation, but instructors may use Flash content, and we can't really control that. So, it's really up to the instructor and instructional designer to make sure that they are using content that is compatible with their students' devices."

Does the PLD integrate/work well with publishers material for online courses?

• It depends. The PLD works well with any content types that can be included as resources or activities in Moodle. So, if the publisher is using resources and activities in Moodle, then PLD will work just fine.

Questions for Bob:

Q: Did you say LCTCS contracts directly with instructors for online delivery? Are these faculty members with regular loads on physical campuses? How does it work, and do the courses online pay the same as on the ground courses?

• "LCTCSOnline faculty may be full-time faculty. They are volunteers to the LCTCSOnline initiative. Local policies may influence whether or not faculty may participate as an LCTCSOnline instructor. This is not something we track. Faculty must be properly credentialed and all credentials and hiring decisions involve recommendations by college CAO’s. We pay faculty the highest adjunct rate offered in our system (each college has its own adjunct rate schedule)."

Q: The PLD appears to be a tool similar to what Blackboard offers. What are the specific advantages of Moodle? Is it better? What is your opinion?

• "Among our criteria for choosing Moodlerooms and joule was the ability to innovate quickly at no or low cost. Two years ago, we compared LMS functionality across several solutions and decided that the functionality we needed moving forward was not currently available in any. So our decision was not based on current functionality, but rather a fast track innovation."

Q: What modification do you make for dual enrollments?

• "We value core content and will work with high school instructors, the LA Department of Education and local district to assure we are in compliance with both secondary and post-secondary standards. There are times where secondary content and post-secondary content may not agree. For example, in a history course, there may be difference in the window of history studied in an American History course. In some cases, the dual credit course may have more total content. Instructors will be required to carry both a Master’s degree in the discipline and a current teaching certificate."

Q: What challenges do you have getting teachers on-board/comfortable with the format (at LCTCSOnline)?

• "All LCTCSOnline faculty have previous online teaching experience. Nevertheless, we provide training and ongoing professional development through joule School and Professional Online Educators programs. Faculty that complete the program are recognized (certified) as professional online educators. In moving to an open-entry, individualized format, we will work with faculty in the design of the courses and formats. We take every opportunity to help faculty in the discipline feel ownership as entrepreneurs of their classrooms. More importantly, we value and accommodate the needs of the faculty. I have found that individualized learning provides them with more flexibility and creates an environment where they are better and more effective in their craft."

Do you have any other questions for Phill and/or Bob after viewing the webinar? If so, email them to feedback@moodlerooms.com and we'll answer them as soon as possible.

Thanks for reading