For ‘L’ in Moodle

moodle logo

There is something I have been meaning to share with the world for the past few weeks. Today, I finally can.

This afternoon, I accepted Martin Dougiamas‘ kind offer to formally join Moodle as an ‘Education Researcher’. I will be concerned primarily with the pedagogical and andragogical aspects of using Moodle, and look at how (well) does and could Moodle ‘hit the ground’ in a range of educational settings, primary to tertiary, vocational, training etc.

In short, my concern is the ‘L’ in Moodle (Modular Object-Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment).

From creating resources, curating best practices, conducting formal research, active participation in the world-wide Moodle community through moodle.org and many other sites and channels, help with design of future versions of Moodle, and more, my job description is as varied as it is challenging. Eh, my cuppa tea – variety and challenge! 🙂

As for the title,  I have always felt that terms like ‘Specialist’, ‘Consultant’, ‘Leader’ etc breed spoonfeeding and useless reverence, so ‘Educational Researcher’ fits the bill perfectly.

Yes, I am leaving a ‘safe teaching job’ and the classroom for a little while. I do so not because I am sick of teaching, or, heaven forbid, the kids (a few posts here will tell you so…), but because this is an awesome opportunity and a different context to do a lot for a vision of education I have pursued for many years ‘on the ground’. And to be asked by someone like Martin, whom I have a huge amount of respect for, is frankly … an honour (sucking up to his boss already, hey?  🙂 🙂  ).

I intend to maintain a close contact with colleagues in schools and universities and pay regular visits (you can hold me to it!) not just to ‘see how Moodle is going’ but to never lose touch with the people and the beautiful messiness of this thing we call ‘education’.

Moodle … here we come!

52 thoughts on “For ‘L’ in Moodle”

  1. Excellent opportunity Tomaz! This will be a refreshing, invigorating and rewarding time for you. I bet it will take you a while to shake off the bells and adjust your routine. Never hesitate to ask questions of your new colleagues! Enjoy! Enjoy! Enjoy!
    Congratulations,
    Cheers
    John

  2. Excellent opportunity Tomaz! This will be a refreshing, invigorating and rewarding time for you. I bet it will take you a while to shake off the bells and adjust your routine. Never hesitate to ask questions of your new colleagues! Enjoy! Enjoy! Enjoy!
    Congratulations,
    Cheers
    John

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