So, have been swamped the last few weeks, will now try to get back on track with the course. Today: Learning platforms. I've tried three and will try to make a short comparsion. First out: Moodle.
Encountered Moodle as I took a course in English writing at Kalmar university college. Was actually a bit disappointed with the whole set-up, at least technologically speaking. Basically the usage of moodle was limited to displaying a number of pages with text. Some with example material, others with questions and assignments. In part the lack of functionality was related to the teacher beeing uneasy with the platform concept, so we delivered all assignments via regular e-mail. The dates set in the platform thus were more or less arbitrary since no upload slots were closed or anything like that.
What was really good about the course, was the group conferences in Skype. The class was divided in groups of four and we were required to hold skype seminars once in a while, discuss topics and present a joint document in Word. Actually this worked excellent, created a group atmosphere conducive to learning. Two times during the term the teacher scheduled skype meetings to see how the groups were doing. I participated in one from the train, but that worked so-so.
To sum up: 1. the usability of a platform is dependent on the teacher to a large extent. 2. Conferences where you hear each others voices add to the feeling of beeing present together.
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