ESF has just added a moodle to its site at http://www.enabling.org/moodle
What is a moodle you may ask? It is an application that packages an online course neatly and efficiently so that the teacher can concentrate on the needs of the students rather than what lesson she will teach today.
The moodle allows the teacher to create and assemble all the tools in all the modalities to meet the choices of each student. The student can choose to listen to the lesson, watch the lesson, read the lesson, and/or to interact with the lesson. In the old style, not only is the course syllabus in the moodle, but so are all of the lectures. The projects may be student creations of old-fashioned reports, collaborative reports in a wiki, or any of a variety of individual or collaborate projects that are generally created online. Even quizzes are automatically graded, and the grades automatically recorded in the grade book. Students who worry about their cumulative grade can get instant feedback.
Some course are done in real time, with the class assembling as a group online at an appointed time, or it can be a standing class that students can take when it suits them to learn the materials.
It's a whole new way to teach a class, with much of the heavy lifting done in advance so that as students complete the course, the teacher can focus on the student needs rather than what she must bring to class today.
Will this be the face of education as the 21st century moves into its teen years? I sincerely think it is!
Anne