Proposals for GloCall 2008 Revised

(1) Title (E): How to maximize Moodle's quiz module
Key Words (E): Moodle, Quiz module, Question bank

Abstract: Moodle's quiz module allows teachers to create a large variety of interactive quizzes quite easily. The built-in quiz editor offers a wide range of quiz options: instructors can choose whether or not to set a time limit, to shuffle questions, or to use the adaptive mode just to name a few. With the editor, teachers can easily incorporate various web-based materials and resources into questions and feedback. Also, the quiz module creates a Question Bank (a database of questions)
which allows instructors to choose a different set of questions to make a new quiz, and to prepare similar questions with different difficulty levels.

In this presentation I will focus on just two of the available question types -- multiple-choice and matching -- (1) to give an overview of the quiz options, (2) to show how to incorporate images or animation, audio, pop-up hints, and tutorial slides into questions and feedback, and (3) to give some tips on how to organize questions so that you can easily re-use them within a single course and in different courses. Some specific quizzes for learning or testing vocabulary and grammar will be given to show what these quizzes and the results and feedback generally look like.


(2) Title (E): Teaching with web-based tools and materials
Key Words (E): autonomous learning, web technology, preparation time

Abstract: I teach a university course entitled Computer Communication in which students are supposed to learn research and presentation methods by using English in conjunction with computers and the Internet. Students taking this course tend to have only limited experience with computers and often find it quite difficult to communicate in English. Typically, only a few students are acquainted with low-context communication (even in their native language), and only a few who are critical about what they hear or read, or are interested in finding something new for themselves.

My goals in teaching this course are: (1) to help students feel more comfortable using computers and the Internet in addition to reading and writing in English; (2) to help them learn to organize and interpret information they have gathered; and (3) to encourage them to look for better ways to express their meaning.

In this presentation, I will explain what has been done to achieve these goals. In addition to using Moodle for organizing resources and activities, I have integrated other web-based tools and materials into activities, including online dictionaries, YouTube, Blogger and Google Docs. Such activities are expected to encourage the students to search for interesting and useful information for themselves, and facilitate them to keep logs of what they have found and publish their work effectively. Additionally beneficial is the fact that it does not take much time to prepare these activities. I will also mention step-by-step approaches I have taken　to show how these tools are used.