Available Moodle Tools

It is therefore important to note that not all modules in Moodle will be applicable in this current system. The Moodle modules used for the purposes of this study are: Glossary Module, Quiz Module, Lesson Module and Game Module. A brief discussion of each of these modules follows.

Glossary Module

This module provides learners with a list of all the words used in the lessons and quizzes. An entry in a Glossary module usually consists of the term to be explained and its definition. This module is especially useful for beginner learners to explain the meanings of new German words. With this module it is also possible to add sound clips or pictures. This means that a sound clip with the correct pronunciation or a picture can also be added to an entry (Moodle Pty Ltd, 2013).

This module further enables learners to create their own entries or comment on other entries. However, this type of learning does not fit into the framework of Grey College’s German teaching practice.

A feature of the Glossary module that will be used extensively in the teaching materials for this study is the auto-linking function. This function enables students to access the definition of a German word from within other modules, such as Games, Lessons and Quizzes.

Quiz Module

The quiz module allows teachers to create assignments consisting of questions. This module also allows the teacher several choices. The teacher can choose the type of questions to include in the quiz. The types of questions that will be used for the teaching materials of this study are: multiple choice questions, true or false questions, matching questions, short answer, embedded answer and essay type questions. All the questions created for the quizzes are stored in the Question Bank and teachers are able to reuse the questions in other quizzes or import them into lessons (Moodle Pty Ltd, 2014).

The teacher can further decide on different options for feedback on the questions, and the behaviour of the questions. The current choices in Moodle 2.6 are: Adaptive mode, Deferred feedback, Immediate feedback or interactive with multiple tries. When adaptive mode is

used, the learners are given immediate feedback when answering a question, and they are then able to change their answer, before the quiz is graded. Adaptive mode also provides the option of penalising students for wrong attempts. The deferred feedback mode requires that the learners first complete and submit the entire quiz before the attempt is graded and any feedback is given.

With immediate feedback learners are given feedback on an answer immediately, but they cannot change their answer as is the case with adaptive mode. The interactive mode gives the learner the opportunity to try answering a question again, by clicking the ‘Try again’ button. As soon as a learner answers a question correctly, the answer cannot be changed. Learners can also be penalised when answering the question incorrectly too many times (Moodle Pty Ltd, 2014).

Additionally, teachers can limit the number of times each learner may attempt the quiz. If the learner is allowed enough retakes, and the quiz is set to only use the highest grade, the learner might continue attempting the quiz until a grade of 100% is obtained.

When auto-linking in the Glossary is used, the learner will be able to read the definition of a word, while in the quiz module. Should the teacher decide that this is not allowed, the linking can be turned off for that specific question.

Lesson Module

The Lesson module consists of “a series of HTML pages” (Moodle Pty Ltd, 2014) containing content and questions. The lessons can be viewed as a flowchart and the progress of each learner is dependent on their understanding of the concept explained in the lesson. The teacher uses content pages to explain the concept, and then tests the learners’ understanding by using question pages.

The content pages can consist of different media such as sound clips and pictures to enhance the explanation of the concept she is trying to clarify. Content pages can be followed by other content pages, questions or question clusters. Learners move to different pages by using the navigational buttons on each content page.

Question pages can consist of multiple choice questions, matching questions, essay type questions, numerical questions, true or false questions and short answer questions.

Depending on a learner’s response or answer to a question, the learner is then directed to another content page.

Question clusters are groups of questions between content pages. Depending on the settings chosen by the teacher, learners can, e.g. only be allowed to move on once they have answered all the questions in the cluster correctly.

When the lesson contains questions, the learner receives a grade for that lesson. Similar to the quiz module, the teacher can decide whether questions may be attempted again, or whether the entire lesson may be re-attempted and also how the grading is handled in the case of multiple attempts (Moodle Pty Ltd, 2014).

Game Module

This module enables learners to practice what they have learned by playing games. The game module uses questions from already established quizzes and glossaries, which means that the teacher does not have to create her own questions again.

The Game module is not a built-in feature like the Glossary, Lesson, and Quiz modules, but rather a plug-in that has to be installed by the administrator. Once the plug-in is installed, the module functions like the other modules mentioned above.

The game module consists of eight games, including known games such as Hangman, Snakes and Ladders, Crossword, Cryptex and Sudoku. Two of the lesser known games in this module are Millionaire and The Hidden Picture.

Millionaire is a game that is similar to the Television show Who Wants to be a Millionaire?. In this game, the learner is asked 15 questions, and has three lifelines to use in case of uncertainty. The Hidden Picture uses a picture attached to a glossary entry, and asks questions to reveal parts of the picture. The aim of the game is to identify the glossary entry the picture was taken from, as soon as possible (Moodle Pty Ltd, 2011).

The Forum Module in Moodle makes it possible to start discussions between all the participants of the specific Moodle group. This module will be used to make sure that learners read announcements, and make comments or ask questions when difficulties arise. This will not form part of the teaching materials developed.

Bearing in mind the constraints of the current teaching system as outlined above, an overview is now given of how the suggested approach is implemented.