EMPOWER
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he annual MoodleMoot Australia conference took place at Monash University in Melbourne from 6-8 July 2015, with over 500 delegates from a range of roles across the education sectors in attendance. This year’s conference was managed by Moodle HQ and saw a renewed focus on the broader sector use of Moodle and the user community’s input into the direction of the world’s most popular LMS. 1+1=3 There was input from many Moodle users, including inspiration from RTOs using the LMS to transform the quality and delivery of training. Speakers included Professor at Sapporo Gakuin University, Don Hinkleman; author and comedian, Adam Spencer; and Manager, Content Services at eWorks, Joanne Norbury. Don Hinkleman had a great take on blended learning. He stated that the combined power of face-to-face and online instruction is more than the individual parts, using the example of 1+1=3. Adam Spencer delivered a very entertaining presentation that brought home the importance of integrating the STEM movement in schools. Meanwhile, Joanne Norbury covered gathering proof of engagement for audit with Moodle, including engagement metrics and tracking techniques. There is discussion in educational technology circles about
the power of big data analytics, which is currently transforming finance and marketing activities. Gathering this data helps with both compliance and growth strategies. VET sector representation RTOs had a strong representation at this year’s MoodleMoot event, with 21 per cent of those in attendance working directly with an RTO. However, many university and school sectors are also currently using Moodle to deliver VET courses. Moodle are in the final stages of designing a new “Framework for Competency Based Education in Moodle”, which may be seen in new RTO friendly features in Moodle 3.0,
they hold a unique site name and active mobile phone. The Moodle Cloud includes free hosting up to 50 users, the latest release versions of Moodle LMS, an unlimited database size and free use of webinar tool BigBlueButton. If you missed any of the sessions, you can watch 32 video recordings produced by Cognition E-learning via the Moodle HQ YouTube channel, which will be released over the next 12 months. View the full event recap via Twitter @moodlemootau or by searching for the event hashtag #mootau15.
Moodle are in the final stages of designing a new “Framework
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for Competency Based Education in Moodle”, which may be seen in new RTO friendly features in Moodle 3.0 an exciting development for the VET sector. Compared to previous years, there was a renewed focus on vocational training and workplace learning going forward. Introducing Moodle Cloud The biggest highlight this year was the moment when Moodle’s founder and CEO Martin Dougiamas took the opportunity to launch a new service called Moodle Cloud. Anyone across the globe can start a hosting site, as long as
Australia’s quarterly VET eZine
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AUGUST 2015
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VOLUME 5
Moodle is a learning platform designed to provide educators, administrators and learners with a single robust, secure and integrated system to create personalised learning environments. The Moodle project is run by Moodle HQ from Perth, Australia, but would not be what it is today without its community of more than 65 million users worldwide. moodle.com
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