The Design and Development of English Writing Courses Based on the Moodle e-Learning Platform: their Effectiveness
Nguyễn Xuân Tiến
Lê Xuân Trường
advancenx@gmail.com
Ho Chi Minh City Open University, Vietnam
Abstract
This article surveys the design and development of effective English writing courses based on Moodle. It aims to assess the use of Moodle for teaching and learning writing and to investigate students’ and teachers’ attitude to Moodle modules designed for writing activities. In this study, Cross-sectional Survey Research was used to investigate participants’ attitudes to Moodle for writing courses and modules designed for writing. Participants were 121 students of Modern English Composition Classes at STU-IPTC and 183 teachers of Instructional Technology Classes at HCMCOU, trained in Moodle, offered accounts and privileges of designed courses to practice and experience for a long time, and qualified for the investigation. The data collection method was the questionnaire, including three issues: Individual Information, Moodle for Writing Courses, and Designed Writing Modules. The research results revealed that both students and teachers highly assessed the use of Moodle facilitated teaching and learning writing. Furthermore, they strongly agreed Moodle designed modules developed writing skills: recognition of text structure, the provision of a stimulus and reality for writing, the practice of developing writing style creative, collaborative, and interactive. The implications of the study showed that high-quality designed courses were the realization of cooperation between designers, teachers and technicians in exploiting features of tools and technical aspects of Moodle. Moreover, significant achievements of the study helped to determine the acceptance and use of the Moodle in combination with a face-to-face classroom to improve teaching and learning writing.
Keywords: communication tools, inquiry and discovery-based learning, Moodle, writing process, writing activities