Moodle: Motivational Element for Pre-Pandemic Teaching-Learning Processes

Introduction

Current trends in education reveal the inclusion of new Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) within the teaching-learning process, thus redefining the role of teachers and students. As specified by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD, 2005), virtual learning refers to the use of ICT with the aim of improving and supporting learning. On the other hand, according to Barbera (2015), in the educational field the term e-learning (electronic learning) has been adopted to identify teaching mediated by communication technology, which presents alternatives for continuous training at different educational levels.

The e-learning concept, as stated by Silva (2011), contemplates technological and pedagogical aspects within the training process, where it is designed to produce learning through computer applications developed in web environments. He also points out that his main contribution from him is the change in basic assumptions, with the student being the center of the entire educational process, with an emphasis on learning rather than teaching.

In the same vein, b-learning or blended learning, is a modality that seeks to create learning environments, combining the benefits of face-to-face and virtual teaching processes, with which it is intended to integrate ICT into traditional ways of teaching. class, getting more out of the classroom (Silva, 2011). It is known as mixed or combined learning, locating those learning processes conducted through digital systems and networks, where face-to-face sessions that promote face-to-face contact are also established (Dionicio, 2014).

ICT provides correct support for the student's interaction with the tutor, in addition to promoting collaboration between peers and the joint construction of knowledge within a learning community (Silva, 2011). In this regard, Virtual Learning Environments (EVA), according to Almaráz (2014), refer to “a web platform that brings together a set of communication tools and computer resources designed to facilitate the teaching-learning process” (p. 191), as a support for face-to-face and distance teaching.

The operation of an EVA requires the integration of a platform for online learning or Learning Manager Systems (LMS), defined as a comprehensive system for the management, distribution, monitoring and control of content, as well as educational resources, within a shared collaborative environment (Silva, 2011). The best-known virtual learning platforms are Web Course Tools, FirstClass, LearningSpace, Blackboard, as well as open-source platforms (Open Source), such as Moodle, Claroline and Chamilo, among others.

In another sense, advances in training models supported by virtual instances are supported by the incorporation of ICTs, as well as pedagogical elements derived from different learning theories, such as Vigostky's socio-constructivist theories. Within this approach, the Moodle platform (Modular Object-Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment) stands out, developed by Martin Dougiamas, which appears as a learning platform designed to provide educators, administrators and students, a system to create personalized learning environments (Moodle, 2017).

The educational ideology of the Moodle platform, according to Dávila (2011), promotes an interactive learning style, thus representing the operational and dynamic part of the teaching-learning process, manifested in what the student must “know how to know” (cognitive domain) and what they should “know how to do” (procedural mastery), thus evidencing the application of the knowledge built. Moodle's learning philosophy is framed within the so-called social constructionist pedagogy, with four main underlying concepts: constructivism, constructionism, social constructivism, as well as the concept called connected and separate.