Stress Free Course Layout

The way that you set up your activities for the lesson determines how much running around you are going to have to do during the session. You MUST do a lot of running around during a computer session, but not to sort out problems or re-explain instructions - you want to be helping, encouraging, praising, monitoring, teaching ...

Three key factors for success are clear instructions, logical flow and accountability.

• All the instructions for the session are given in the section being used for the session.
  The students will not remember what you announce at the beginning of the lesson and you will more than likely not be able to write enough detail on the board - so make sure that you have those instructions on your course page above each item.
  

• There is a logical flow from activity to activity.
  Make use of opening new windows for resources (and at times activities/quizzes) so that the original topic page remains accessible at all times.
• Instructions (available at all times)
• Resource for info gathering opens in new window
• Activity based on resource opens in a further new window
• Both resource and activity windows are closed by the student once they are finished with that item and they are automatically back at the topic page.
• There is some form of accountability - activities that are monitored by Moodle - that act as check points for the teacher. Don't let the student lose on a number of external link and expect them to achieve what intended. Rather create specific activities that are related to those links.
  
• The type of activities you can use are
  
• the self marking ones like Hot Potatoes, Quizzes, SCORM, Lessons or
  
• those where student have to make a contribution like Forums, Glossaries, Databases but
• any of the items under activities will work as 99% of them are automatically added to the gradebook (you can create a "grade item" for those that don't)
• The student can then monitor their own progress by checking the scores in the Gradebook
• The teacher can do the same as well as give the student feedback on all those activities. Once something is in the gradebook you can feedback to that item (by turning the editing on within the gradebook)
• Good practise is to have the resources and/or external links needed to gather the information followed by a gradeable activity. Here are two examples
  
  Example 1: A Book is used to give the students the instructions, links to resources and links to gradeable activities. Each chapter would have a different task.
  
  
  
  Example 2: The instructions for this topic are given in one of the sideblocks. The Book is used for the for all the resource and practise activities (external - so not gradeable). Below the Book are the accountability check points - in this case they are quizzes related to the information gathered in the Book.