2. The main advantage to a published grading/class website program, like Moodle, compared to the Google capabilities of making websites and posting documents (e.g. Google Docs) is SCHOOL WIDE MANAGEMENT
3. This is the Provo School District Page of Moodle.
4. Top Levels Notice that there are links to various classes from the main page, most to Timpview High (as Provo High uses different software). We are logged as a full access teacher but there is also an administrator level and a class-creator level. Administrator can change anything on any page (course) on the site, while a class-creator can create a new course and then edit that course. They have capabilities beyond managing one (or a couple) courses.
5. Teacher Levels There are even two different built in teacher levels, only one of which I experienced as a TA using Moodle. A full teacher can edit the course (but not create a new course, like a course-creator) He or she can post assignments, change the calendar, similar to the administrator of a Google-based class website. CONTROL OVER THE COURSE (but not the whole network of courses that make the site).
6. Creating an event on the course page for one of the physics classes taught my mentor teacher.
7. Teacher Levels A non-editing teacher, as I was for Dr. Turley, can view the full course page, view and change students’ grades, but not change the structure of the course (e.g. create assignments or change the calendar). A full teacher, class creator or administrator can view a course page as if they were a non-editing teacher or even a student, to make sure things looks correct.
9. Student A student has a log-in password, can see his or her own grade, can submit assignments, can send messages to the teacher, participate in a class forum (chat).
10. Guest A course website can usually be viewed not in guest mode, without any communication, editting or submitting capabilities. Guest view
11. Conclusion Moodle is an excellent resource for its networking capabilities and the different roles or levels of access inherent in the program. As a school-wide website, it works much better than a network of Google sites for the ease of security in its access.
