USING MOODLE TO HELP STUDENTS COMPLETE THE

THESIS COMPONENT OF THE SOCIOLOGY OF

EDUCATION PROGRAM

Carmen de Lourdes Laraque Espinosa

Universidad Pedagógica Nacional, Camino al Ajusco # 20, Jardines de la Montaña, Mexico City, Mexico

Keywords: Learning Environments, Online Tutoring, Moodle.

Abstract: This paper aims to reflect the experience of the Department of Sociology of Education at Pedagogical

University of Mexico with a project based on the use of the Moodle learning management system. Moodle

is selected a flexible environment that minimizes time and space barriers and increases communicative

options by offering new alternatives for tutoring and assessment. We analyze the results obtained so far and

formulate some recommendations in order to improve future use of the platform.

1 INTRODUCTION

We live in a society in which information and

communication technologies (ICTs) have modified

our lives in many ways, including the way we teach

and the way we learn. Due to the use of educational

technology, instructional processes have changed.

“Educational technology can be referred to as the

study and ethical practice of facilitating learning

and improving performance by creating, using, and

managing appropriate technological processes and

resources.

”

Beyond traditional school facilities,

virtual environments have been created to provide

support to learning communities. These

environments provide resources as well as spaces for

students to work and interact.

ICTs can facilitate the delivery of instruction as

well as promote communication and collaboration

among learners. ICTs offer a variety of tools and

environments with great potential for education.

Nevertheless, the application of technology to

learning must take into consideration crucial

pedagogical issues that should not be overlooked.

Some key indicators of the potential of virtual

environments are:

• Provide the necessary elements for

interaction and interactivity in learning

environments;

• Contribute to a broader offer of educational

services through access to different sources

of information; and,

• Facilitate the development of abilities and

skills in teachers and students.

The implementation of e-learning and virtual

environments has generated high expectations since

they helped to overcome geographical isolation of

participants. Further, the use of e-learning has

encouraged the formation of work groups.

2 USING MOODLE. THE

CHALLENGE

Moodle is a software package for producing

Internet-based courses and web sites. It is a global

development project designed to support a social

constructionist framework of education. It was

originally developed by Martin Dougiamas to help

educators create online courses with a focus on

interaction and collaborative construction of content,

and is in continual evolution.

It is not difficult to appreciate the usefulness of

virtual environments during the students’ learning

process. However, our challenge was to consider its

role in helping students write a thesis on a topic in

the sociology of education. This requirement has

hampered the progress of a large amount of who

want to obtain their degree.

This paper aims to reflect the experience of the

Department of Sociology of Education at

Pedagogical University of Mexico with a project

based on the use of a Moodle platform. The goal of

187

de Lourdes Laraque Espinosa C..

USING MOODLE TO HELP STUDENTS COMPLETE THE THESIS COMPONENT OF THE SOCIOLOGY OF EDUCATION PROGRAM.

DOI: 10.5220/0003963301870190

In Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Computer Supported Education (CSEDU-2012), pages 187-190

ISBN: 978-989-8565-07-5

 2012 SCITEPRESS (Science and Technology Publications, Lda.)

the project was to encourage students to complete

their thesis – one of the degree requirements.

It is important to mention that some of the

students had left the university 18 or 20 years ago,

some others live in remote areas of the country.

Thus, these students were unable to participate in a

face-to-face tutoring. In addition, our syllabi have

changed through the years; therefore, some students

lacked basic academic elements, such as the

knowledge of recent sociological theory.

The challenge was tremendous. Up to 75% of the

students from each promotion were potential

candidates for this project. It was difficult to know

what to expect regarding the acceptance of our

summons among students as well as the commitment

teachers would have towards this activity. Similar

projects in the past involving face-to-face tutoring

had different levels of success in terms of completed

thesis: high in 1994 near 85% of success, very poor

in 2005 with only two theses completed out of 45

students registered.

The program was promoted through the

university web page in September, 2011. The initial

acceptance was higher than expected. Over 100

students applied for the program. Over thirty

teachers were willing to participate as tutors.

The theses to be written were expected to be

short and simple. The student could choose,

according to their interests, between referring to a

professional experience or writing an essay or a

monographic description. The deadline for the

papers to be completed was set for March 30

, 2012.

Specifications of each kind of paper were submitted

on line.

The Moodle platform was selected because it is a

flexible learning environment that minimizes time

and space barriers and increases communicative

options by offering new alternatives for tutoring and

assessment. It would provide a restricted accessed

website where resources such as texts, videos and

multimedia would be offered. Users would log in

with a personal password. Students could submit

their assignments on required dates and teachers

could keep track of the progress of the students. In

addition instructors could formulate comments and

recommendations as well as provide new reading

material or suggest special tasks. The support

offered by instructors could be provided by e mail,

instant messaging, chats and discussion forums.

Online calendars and announcements were also

included.

UseofPlatform

byTutors

Used

NotUsed

3 THE EXPERIENCE

During the first week of the program, students and

teachers met and were notified of the virtual groups

they belonged to. During the second week, two

sessions were allocated to learning how to use

Moodle.

Those who attended the sessions discovered that

it was quite simple to operate and were motivated to

do their work through it. However, 50% of the

teachers and a considerable number of students

(40%) declined to use Moodle and decided to

communicate only by e-mail some showed a

preference for face-to-face activity. The most

frequently given reasons for not wanting to use

Moodle were: “I don´t have enough computer

skills”,” it is too impersonal”,” I don´t feel

comfortable with such a procedure” and so on.



UseofPlatform

byStudents

YES

We are still waiting for the final results of the

project, but so far, they are not as encouraging as we

expected. From the very beginning, some students

refused idea to work only on line. Thus they

withdrew from the project and recovered their old

research project they had started many years ago.

Others begged to work in the old fashion way,

because, even if they work and find commuting to

the campus difficult, they prefer to interact closely

with tutors, in a face-to-face manner.

Most of the tutors belong to the category known

as digital immigrants; therefore, they only perform

CSEDU2012-4thInternationalConferenceonComputerSupportedEducation

188



DistributionofPlatformUsage

Usedbystudents, notbytutors,

9teams

Notusedbytutors norstudents,

8teams

Usedbytutors, andsome

students,8teams

Usedbyboth,6teams

Usedbytutors, notbystudents,

5teams

very simple tasks with the computer and find the use

of the platform too complicated.

Moodle platform is being used by all those

participants who felt it would benefit their work.

However, the following shortcomings have become

apparent:

• For tutors: Lack of digital knowledge, slow

and inefficient feedback, slow

communication and profile different from

sociology field.

• For students, insufficient handling of ICTs,

insufficient motivation, poor planning and

distribution of time, late incorporation to

the program.

• For the staff: Poor scheduling of deadlines,

groups too large and heterogeneous.



This is a first experience with Moodle in the

Department of Sociology of Education. Despite the

initial difficulties, some tutors and some students

find Moodle useful. However, if this activity is to be

repeated in the near future, important changes need

to be made. Our contribution in this paper will be

the formulation of the following suggestions:

• For tutors: To achieve effective counseling

and motivation, to give a clear explanation

of objectives and results expected.

• For students: To maintain constant

communication and ongoing work.

• For staff: To provide training before the

program starts, to build a more flexible

planning of the advances

• For both students and instructors: To

provide a longer training with Moodle,

selling the benefits of using it.

4 CONCLUSIONS

As a final remark, we would like to state that

Moodle is a very useful and powerful tool for

learning. Besides being a low cost solution, it

provides a variety of resources, It stands for a new

university culture with emphasis on the student.

Thus, it helps improve the learning of concepts and

procedures an also facilitates the acquisition of

attitudes and abilities. We are XX century teachers

working in XXI century, involved in the society of

information; ICTs are our everyday tools. Let’s not

be afraid of them.

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Association for Educational Communications and

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Bautista G. et al. Didáctica universitaria en entornos

virtuales de enseñanza-Aprendizaje. Narcea ediciones.

Madrid

Cabero, J. (1996). Nuevas tecnologías, comunicación y

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USINGMOODLETOHELPSTUDENTSCOMPLETETHETHESISCOMPONENTOFTHESOCIOLOGYOF

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docs.moodle.org/19/es. Recovered on November 5th, 2011

www.moodle.org. Recovered on November 8

, 2011

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