Abstract:

Teaching within the contemporary higher education landscape is intricate and demands diverse skills and competencies. This paper explores the landscape of Moodle guidance within higher education, enhancing understanding and refining practices in this area. By examining existing materials and practices across various universities, it seeks to identify areas for improvement in guiding instructors in utilising the Moodle platform effectively.

Studies have identified issues such as inconsistent course structures, difficulty in accessing essential information, and disparities in educators' proficiency with the LMS. These challenges can impact the overall learning experience for students and create barriers to achieving educational objectives. Consequently, there is a growing recognition of the need for targeted support and professional development opportunities to enhance educators' proficiency in utilizing LMS platforms like Moodle. This article aims to give an overview of the process of developing Moodle guidance, analyse the feedback from testers, and provide suggestions on improvements where necessary. Insights were sought to inform the development of more effective guidance resources and support mechanisms for both novel and experienced educators.

Firstly, a scoping literature review was done that resulted in a compilation of a table of what other higher education institutions have done in this field – what platforms they use, what materials they have and for whom, how they are structured and presented, and if they have included examples. The next step was to analyse what others have done and compare it with the needs of our university. Based on that, the structure of the future course was created and after having created a small share of the content, it was given to be tested among a small group of teaching staff committed to supporting e-learning. After having made the necessary amendments, the larger extent of the course was created.

The research on available material and creation of the supporting course aims to create unified guides for teaching staff in Estonian, which in turn is expected to result in more e-courses, that are also more uniform so the student can concentrate more on the topic rather than on how and where to find information for various subjects. Recommendations were expected to contribute to the standardisation and diversification of Moodle courses, benefiting both novice and advanced users.

In conclusion, this study underscores the importance of integrating pedagogical support into Moodle guidance practices to enhance the quality and effectiveness of online teaching and learning. It was recommended to develop and disseminate pedagogically sound templates and examples to empower instructors in designing engaging and impactful online courses. By embracing pedagogical best practices, institutions can elevate the overall standard of e-learning support and foster innovation in online education.

Keywords:

Educational guidance practices, e-learning development, Moodle course organisation template.