Abstract:

The Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) is an industry on the rise that is beginning to be considered a mature technology. The initial excitement about the possibility of accessing content anytime and anywhere was hindered by simplistic VLEs that were essentially repositories with vast amounts of content and very basic facilities that allows for communication, interaction and management. However, modern VLEs are more comprehensive and try to mitigate the problems of the separation between students and instructors, such as the lack of motivation or the high drop-out rates. Modern Virtual Learning Environments - also called Learning Management Systems (LMS) - provide facilities for the interaction between instructors and students, detailed tracking of the students’ progress, and a simple path for the delivery of content through the web. Also, their use is getting more and more generalized in diverse contexts: not only VLEs serve as an alternative to face-to-face learning, but also as a rich complement (e.g. most universities are using an LMS to complement and support their lectures). Moodle is an e-learning software platform that can potentially be integrated in delivering any subject matter. Although Moodle has been integrated in language acquisition courses in colleges and universities, it is not a panacea for language learning in schools. This research aims to customize this Learning Management System to cater to the needs of high school learners who prepare for English standardized tests in Israel. High school students from the Arab sector who learn English as a foreign language experience Moodle to prepare for Module E English standardized test. Students' attitude and academic achievement form the dependent variables while Moodle components form the independent. Both qualitative and quantitative measures are implemented. The articles describes the planning process and shows the practical utilization of the interactive quiz feature in Moodle.

Keywords:

Moodle, On-line Learning, Learning Management System, Virtual Learning Environment, Second Language Acquisition.