Winter 2012 - Faculty and Staff PolyLearn (Moodle) Workshops
Cal Poly is in the process of transitioning to PolyLearn Moodle as our new learning management system. Blackboard will not be available for teaching courses during Spring quarter 2012. However, you will still be able to gather any course materials you need from your Blackboard courses until May 31, 2012, at which time the Cal Poly Blackboard system will be permanently decommissioned.
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Note: There are several options for the prerequisite workshop Introduction
to PolyLearn Moodle. You may take the course in a face-to-face workshop
or sign up for the Moodle Five different PolyLearn hands-on workshops are being offered to Cal Poly faculty and staff during Winter quarter 2012:
- Introduction to PolyLearn
Moodle
- Transferring Files From Your Personal Computer to PolyLearn Moodle
- Transferring Files from Blackboard to PolyLearn Moodle
- Introduction to the PolyLearn Moodle Gradebook
- Effective Course Design in PolyLearn Moodle
Registration is required to attend these workshops (located at the bottom of page).
This face-to-face workshop (or its online equivalent) is a prerequisite for any of the other PolyLearn Moodle workshops we offer. In this workshop, we'll be demonstrating the basics that faculty need to be familiar with in order to get started with PolyLearn Moodle. (Note: This workshop will not cover advanced topics such as quizzes, grading, wikis, blogs, etc.) Come and be guided in an introduction to the layout and fundamental tools of PolyLearn Moodle and learn about other available training resources to assist you in using Cal Poly's new learning management system.
DAY |
DATE |
TIME |
LOCATION |
|---|---|---|---|
Wednesday |
1-11-12 |
2:00-3:00 PM |
Windows Lab, 35-216B |
Friday |
1-13-12 |
1:00-2:00 PM |
Windows Lab, 35-216B |
Thursday |
1-26-12 |
12:00-1:00 PM |
Macintosh Lab, 35-216A |
Wednesday |
2-08-12 |
2:00-3:00 PM |
Windows Lab, 35-216B |
Friday |
2-17-12 |
1:00-2:00 PM |
Windows Lab, 35-216B |
Wednesday |
2-22-12 |
2:00-3:00 PM |
Windows Lab, 35-216B |
Thursday |
3-01-12 |
12:00-1:00 PM |
Macintosh Lab, 35-216A |
Wednesday |
3-07-12 |
2:00-3:00 PM |
Windows Lab, 35-216B |
Workshop 2: Transferring Files from Your Personal Computer to PolyLearn Moodle (1 hour)
Prerequisite: Introduction to PolyLearn Moodle
(Note: This workshop is for you if most of your teaching materials reside on your personal computer and you wish to upload them directly from your computer desktop into PolyLearn Moodle.)
In this hands-on workshop, we'll demonstrate various approaches faculty can take to move their teaching materials from their personal computer into PolyLearn Moodle. Course content cannot be automatically migrated from Blackboard into PolyLearn Moodle so this is the perfect time to re-think how you want to present your course materials online to your students. This workshop will instruct you in how to export your Blackboard course for safekeeping - this step is very important since after May 31, 2012, you will no longer be able to access course materials from Cal Poly's Blackboard system. This workshop will also offer tips in organizing the content you already have to upload it into PolyLearn Moodle.
DAY |
DATE |
TIME |
LOCATION |
|---|---|---|---|
Wednesday |
02-01-12 |
2:00 - 3:00 PM |
Windows Lab, 35-216B |
Friday |
02-24-12 |
1:00 - 2:00 PM |
Windows Lab, 35-216B |
Wednesday |
02-29-12 |
2:00 - 3:00 PM |
Windows Lab, 35-216B |
Thursday |
03-08-12 |
12:00 - 1:00 PM |
Macintosh Lab, 35-216A |
Workshop 3: Transferring Files from Blackboard to PolyLearn Moodle (1 hour)
Prerequisite: Introduction to PolyLearn Moodle
(Note: This workshop is for you if most of your teaching materials reside within Blackoard and you don't have them residing on your personal computer workstation.)
Online Support Options
You may find the online tutorials and video helpful for learning how to transfer your files from Blackboard to PolyLearn.
In this hands-on workshop, we'll demonstrate the approach faculty will need to take to move their teaching materials that reside solely in Blackboard into PolyLearn Moodle. Course content cannot be automatically migrated from Blackboard into PolyLearn Moodle. This workshop will instruct you in how to export your Blackboard course for safekeeping - this step is very important since after May 31, 2012, you will no longer be able to access your course materials from Cal Poly's Blackboard system. This workshops will also address how to use the free software tool, bfree, to translate Blackboard's proprietary code into a readable format so you may access all your Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and PDF files that previously resided in Blackboard. This workshop will offer tips in organizing your exported Blackboard content and uploading it into PoyLearn Moodle.
DAY |
DATE |
TIME |
LOCATION |
|---|---|---|---|
Thursday |
02-02-12 |
12:00 - 1:00 PM |
Macintosh Lab, 35-216A |
Wednesday |
02-15-12 |
2:00 - 3:00 PM |
Windows Lab, 35-216B |
Thursday |
02-23-12 |
12:00 - 1:00 PM |
Macintosh Lab, 35-216A |
Friday |
03-09-12 |
1:00 - 2:00 PM |
Windows Lab, 35-216B |
Workshop 4: Introduction to the PolyLearn Moodle Gradebook (1 hour)
Prerequisite: Introduction to PolyLearn Moodle
Online Support Options
You may find the online tutorials and video helpful for learning how to use Grades. Also, see the tutorial on weighting.
The PolyLearn Moodle Gradebook provides a central location where students' grades can be stored and displayed via a computer browser such as Firefox, Safari, or Chrome. Instructors can keep track of their students' progress within the Gradebook and choose which set of grades students are allowed to view. If you choose to use the Gradebook, students can only see their own personal grades in the Gradebook and keep track of their personal progress in the course. This workshops will cover the basics of the PolyLearn Moodle Gradebook, such as setting up preferences, adding and assigning grade categories, manually adding and editing grades, downloading assignment submissions from the Gradebook, exporting/importing grades, and weighting your Gradebook with the simple weighted mean option.
DAY |
DATE |
TIME |
LOCATION |
|---|---|---|---|
Thursday |
02-16-12 |
12:00 - 1:00 PM |
Macintosh Lab, 35-216A |
Friday |
03-02-12 |
1:00 - 2:00 PM |
Windows Lab, 35-216B |
Workshop 5: Effective Course Design in PolyLearn Moodle (1 hour)
Prerequisite: Introduction to PolyLearn Moodle
Excellent course design and layout is a primary consideration for instructors who wish to provide the highest quality online experience and, as a result, maximize student learning. Cal Poly faculty's transition to the new learning management system, PolyLearn Moodle, provides the perfect opportunity for instructors to re-think their course design. Unlike Blackboard, Moodle's more open design allows for a variety of approaches to consider for your course layout. Based upon standard instructional design and pedagogical principles generally employed by experienced instructors of learning management systems, this workshop will demonstrate various design considerations for your PolyLearn Moodle courses. Successful designs will be shown to help you flesh out your own personal course design and tips will be given to help you make your own course more aesthetically-pleasing for your students. Remember: Good design = ease of course navigation and a pleasant learning experience for your students, or as Steve Jobs once said: "Design is not just what it looks like. Design is how it works."
DAY |
DATE |
TIME |
LOCATION |
|---|---|---|---|
Thursday |
02-09-12 |
12:00 - 1:00 PM |
Macintosh Lab, 35-216A |
Wednesday |
03-14-12 |
2:00 - 3:00 PM |
Windows Lab, 35-216B |
Registration:
Please register for a workshop by filling out the following form. Note: Attendance at Workshop 1 (Introduction to PolyLearn) is the prerequisite for Workshops 2-5. If you wish to opt out of attending Workshop 1, you may participate in the online version of the workshop, which requires the viewing of a series of videos before attending other PolyLearn workshops.
A minimum of five enrollees will be required to hold the workshops. You will be contacted via email if the workshop has to be cancelled due to insufficient enrollment.
Cancellations: If you need to cancel your reservation, please notify PolyLearn Support (Email: polylearnsupport@calpoly.edu) so that we can permit someone else to fill your seat for the workshop. Thank you!