Learning Management Systems are the most widely used e-learning tools that are used by educational organizations. In the past few years, scientific research has made great progress in developing valuable resources in most LMS, and that includes solutions that are aimed at providing the students with adaptive learning and personalized support through the learning process. Both these are essential requirements in continuing education. Learning through Moodle LMS is enjoyable, but it can be made more fun by using adaptive learning methods. Before we discuss everything in details, let’s understand adaptive learning:
Traditional learning is very different from individual learners needs and individuals always face different learning challenges. “Adaptive learning” uses the technology that addresses the different needs by personalizing the courses in a special way that best fits the individual’s specific learning needs.
What is Adaptive Learning?
In most cases, academic organizations use an LMS to develop web-based course notes and materials to communicate with the students and also monitor and grade their progress. Usually, LMS offers the users content and materials that all the learners can access regardless of their goals and interests with no further personalized support. Adaptive learning uses specific techniques to deliver learning that aims to offer effective and customized learning programs to keep the learners engaged. The solutions meet the needs by adjusting the path as well as the pace of learning and enables the delivery of personalized learning materials as required. Moodle LMS helps to implement adaptive learning methods and adaptive examinations evaluate the student’s knowledge rather more precisely with fewer questions and helps them resolve problems. It can enhance the power of collaborative learning.
How does Adaptive Learning in Moodle LMS Work?
Adaptive learning uses various algorithms to understand the learners needs. The algorithms process the best ways based on the actions that are taken by the learners. Let’s explain this with an example. When the learner takes a test, the algorithm runs in the background and analyses the current understanding of the learner and uses the modules according to the answers that are provided. This helps it to identify the gaps in the learner’s understanding and based on the performance, the relevant modules are provided to the candidate. So, the areas in which the learner has scored low are immediately addressed and this approach helps them to focus more on what they need to learn than worry about the whole thing.
To achieve these goals, Moodle LMS infrastructure is being reinforced and extended to have personalization and adaption features. Moodle comes with many extensions that are created to focus at this phase of acquiring the user profiles and on adapting the content that is delivered to the users based on the learning module.
How you can Incorporate Adaptive and Personalized Learning in Your Learning Platform?
The simplest means to introduce interactivity and adaptability into your e-learning course is through activity restrictions and completion conditions.
The Restrict Access: This is a feature that enables the trainers to restrict the availability of the content, activities or course sections that are based on pre-set conditions like completion of the activity, deadline dates or even grades. Restrict Access is enabled as a default in new installations of Moodle 3.1 onwards.
Activity Completion: The trainers can now set the completion criteria in the specified activity settings. There will be a checkmark displayed next to the activities as the student’s meet the set criterion. This criterion may be a viewing or receiving of a certain score by the student who is marking it as complete.
TaskChain: This is a plugin that enables the quizzes and many other important activities to contain the pre and post conditions that prevent the access to the content or even specify what action is taken when a certain task is completed.
Lesson Activity: The module offers a series of HTML pages to the learner who is asked to make some sort of choice based on which they are sent to specific pages in the course. The student can choose a CONTINUE button that is given at the bottom of the page and this will take them to the next page in the lesson. This is an important module in Moodle LMS that can customize the questions according to individual learners, depending on the answers to the previous questions.
Thus, to conclude personalized and adaptive learning promises to boost the effectiveness of the training programs by personally responding to each learners’ needs, preferences and learning path. Such customization will keep the learners more engaged.
