LAMS: A Moodle Plug-in for

Learning Design

Caroline Meeks
Solution Grove
LAMS Partner in the US
 LAMS Introductory Video
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vihvpfXw_C8
 LAMS
• LAMS was created at Macquarie
University in Sydney, Australia.
• LAMS is the world’s leading software for
Learning Design
– 1000s of educators across 80+ countries
– Translated into 25 languages
• The project is lead by Professor James
Dalziel who is also the Director of the
nonprofit LAMS Foundation
 LAMS

• Visual “drag and drop” approach to designing activities

– Helps educators to visualize teaching and learning processes

• LAMS Sequences can be shared, re-used and adapted

– LAMS Community (www.lamscommunity.org)
– Approximately 2900 members, 86 countries, 220 shared
sequences downloaded 6500 times, 3500 discussion postings

• Freely available as open source software

– (Fee-based hosting and tech support from Solution Grove)
 LAMS and Open Education
• Open Education is about sharing education content
and systems without restrictions (eg, Cape Town
Declaration – www.capetowndeclaration.org)
– Free of cost, but more importantly…
– Freedom to share, adapt and improve

• LAMS exhibits the principles of open education at

several levels:
– LAMS software freely available as open source software
– LAMS sequences freely shared under creative commons
licenses
– LAMS Community fosters community sharing and support
 How can we share pedagogical
know-how?
• What happens when one educator describes their
teaching to another?
– Specifically, could the other educator reproduce the
experience?
• An important separation
– Teaching as designing/lesson planning vs (pre-class)
– Teaching as facilitating/improvising (during class)
• To share pedagogical know-how, we need a common
descriptive language or framework
– Focus on designing/planning for today
 What is Learning Design?
• Learning Design is particularly useful for pedagogical
approaches that have a structured process, eg:
– Problem Based Learning, Role Plays, Inquiry Based Learning

• Learning Design focuses on how educators structure

activities to foster student learning
– Equal adoption in both K-12 schools and universities

• Learning Design systems integrates with Moodle

– For students, link(s) from course area to the relevant
sequence
– Lecturer single-sign-on and easy authoring and launching
 LAMS Example
“What are the qualities of an effective teacher?”
Step 1: Answer question, then reflect on others answers
Step 2: Vote on a list of qualities, consider collated votes
Step 3: Discuss responses to Steps 1 & 2
Step 4: Read an expert’s view on the topic
Step 5: Discuss expert’s view compare to class view
Step 6: Personal reflection (or essay if assessment) on initial
question, based on initial views, class discussion & expert view

Can be run face to face with no technology, or fully online, or a mix

LAMS Example: Authoring this sequence, then Preview Learner view

Example 2: Role play “Adopting Interactive Whiteboards in schools”

LAMS V2: Authoring view of “Qualities of an Effective Teacher”
 Middle School Science
CT Center for 21st Century Skills
Standard addressed: Massachusetts, Physical Sciences 13
• http://www.energyquest.ca.gov/index.html - Canada
• http://www.childrensuniversity.manchester.ac.uk/
-Manchester University UK
• http://www.physics4kids.com - Andrew Rader
• http://www.teachersdomain.org/ - PBS (WGBH), NSF (NSDL)
• http://www.miamisci.org/ - Miami Science Museum
• http://www.ucsusa.org – Union of Concerned Scientists
• http://www.learner.org/ - Annenberg Media
• https://www.adaptivecurriculum.com – Comercial, Arizona U
LAMS Community – View of various communities & forums
LAMS Community – Repository Summary
LAMS Community – Detailed view of individual sequence
 New to LAMS in V2.1
• Introducing LAMS V2.1:
– Branching
• Teacher allocated
• Group-based
• Tool-output based (MCQ & Forum so far, more to come)
– Sequences in optional
• Student choice of one or more sequences

• “Branching” is always teacher or system driven (ie,

automatic from the student’s perspective); optional
sequences allows for student choice in “branching”
Implementation of new Branching Features for LAMS V2.1
LAMS 2.1: Interactive Whiteboards – Role play: Inside branching for role tasks
 Pedagogical uses of new features
• Can assign different students to different topics
– Each group investigates a different aspect of a phenomenon, then
reports findings back to the whole class

• Can use Branching with Tool Output (and Skip) to provide

remediation tasks for only some students (eg, quiz score < X,
then do branch remediation activities; otherwise skip branch)

• Can allow students to choose from different optional sequences

(according to topic, skill, thoroughness, etc)

• Can seek student opinion (eg, Role Play Vote), then create
group tasks that respond to different opinions
LAMS V2: Adopting Interactive Whiteboards in schools – Role play
 Activity Planner
(aka Pedagogic Planner)
• A new layer over the top of LAMS that provides good
practice templates, advice on choosing and editing,
and simplified authoring (NB: under development)

Good practice templates +

Limited authoring
“Full” Authoring

Flexible Learning Design Platform:

Capable of many pedagogic approaches
LAMS Activity Planner: Selecting a template
LAMS Activity Planner: Filling out the key content for a selected template
 Further LAMS Information
• Introduction to LAMS – walkthroughs, videos, case studies
http://cd.lamsfoundation.org/
• Solution Grove Demonstration Server (LAMS integrated with Moodle)
http://www.solutiongrove.net
• General information about LAMS
http://www.lamsfoundation.org/
• LAMS Community
http://www.lamscommunity.org/
• Qualities of an Effective Teacher – download sequence from
http://www.lamscommunity.org/dotlrn/clubs/educationalcommunity/lams
• Adoption of Interactive Whiteboards in schools Role Play – download
sequence from
http://lamscommunity.org/lamscentral/sequence?seq_id=376440
• Animated “mock-ups” for Pedagogic Planner concept
http://saturn.melcoe.mq.edu.au/jly/Ped_planner.htm
http://saturn.melcoe.mq.edu.au/jly/Ped_plannerv2.htm
 Try it?
SolutionGrove.net
If we have good connectivity and enough laptops we can try it.

• Pair up with 2 or 3 people to a computer

• Goto www.solutiongrove.net
• Goto the LAMS Presentation Class (this is Moodle)
• Ask Caroline for your "number"
– Username: t1 Password: t1
– Username: t2 Password: t2 etc.
• Goto “Qualities of an Effective Leader”