Making a range of interesting spaces in Moodle

That’s not what it’s built for…

There’s often a huge gap between the intended and actual uses of many products in our lives. Coca-Cola’s origin as a treatment for morphine addiction is rather well known (my mother reminds me every time I open a bottle).  But did you know that frisbees originated when college kids took the tin trays a local pie maker (by the name of Frisbie) used and started throwing them around the campus for fun? Or what about bubble wrap? Apparently it started life in 1957 as an attempt at textured wall paper. It wasn’t until two years later when IBM began shipping out the very first computers that a new use was found.

There are many items we use almost every day that once had a different purpose. Like bubble wrap, the initial purpose of some is long forgotten. But others, like the frisbee, come about because someone looks at something that works fine, but asks: ‘what if I did this instead?

In many ways, Moodle is a bit like the pie tray. It was built and designed to be an online place where students learn. It serves this process well, allowing teachers to create engaging classroom spaces and engrossing lessons. Yet there are other ways that the Moodle course space can be used.

With a bit of creative thinking, a Moodle course can suddenly become something else entirely.

Moodle courses that aren’t courses

There are so many ways to make new spaces for engaging your students and teachers. Have you got a student lounge? Why stop at a student lounge; why not have one for staff as well? Does your college have social activities?  If there’s one action you need a group to take, maybe students who are enrolled in different courses and units, then you could try the ‘single activity’ setup.

Explore just three of the many possibilities in the slides below:

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Moodle is a space all our students access, so using it for purposes beyond simple submitting of an assignment or finding this week’s reading makes sense. A bit of thinking outside the box allows it to become a real hub for students, creating community and identity. Have a think about what you need to achieve, then have look at how you can make the options you have available achieve that purpose.

If you have a creative practice to share with other teachers, please email us! Stay inspired and subscribe so you don’t miss teachers sharing their ideas in upcoming webinars. Navitas staff can also join the discussion in the Moodle Users’ Group in Yammer.