Exploring the Digital Wild: Teaching Natural History Using a Learning Management System

The surge in popularity of Learning Management Systems (LMS) arises from their capacity to centralise educational materials, enhance course delivery efficiency, and enable interactive learning experiences. Using the Moodle LMS, the Field Studies Council has effectively engaged thousands of participants through initiatives like the BioLinks project and ongoing Biodiversity Team training courses. Join this presentation to delve into the outcomes and challenges encountered when utilizing an LMS for teaching natural history subjects, and share valuable lessons learned.

Q&A with Dan Asaw

Dan Asaw began building and delivering invertebrate themes online courses as part of the BioLinks project in 2022. Now he oversees the Field Studies Council’s Biodiversity online course program which is responsible for hosting over 4000 course participants in 2023 over a wide range of natural history topics.

How much funding was needed to set up the Moodle Learning Management System that is used by the Field Studies Council?
The Moodle LMS used by the Field Studies Council was developed through the FSC BioLinks project using funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund. We were really lucky in that we had a Digital Developer working 4 days per week on FSC BioLinks project so we were able to have a digital specialist working on this for 6 months straight and then supporting the team afterwards. Considering all costs, including staff time, I would estimate that funding of around £50k was needed to get the platform up and running with the first 3 training courses. If going out to a contractor, you are probably looking at around £35k to set up the system plus in-house staff and course development costs. The alternative is to sign up to a platform such as LearnWorlds or Thinkific that enables you to create your courses on their platforms. These will operate on a subscription model, often with tiered plans, and have transaction fees. There may be limits on the number of learners you can have. The best option really depends on your organisational needs and budget.
What would you do differently if starting from scratch?
Communication! The online training was developed and delivered initially through a standalone project and it has been difficult to get the wider organisation to engage with it. Communicating with all staff about the platform and how it can be used from the very beginning would have helped educate teams how to use it and engage with the platforms for both external and internal audiences.
What other considerations may impact which LMS you use and how you implement it?
It is also important to check how the LMS will link with existing digital infrastructure. For example, can your LMS communicate with your website and customer relationship management systems?
What phrasing choices should you avoid for neurodivergent audiences?By contracting the National Autistic Society to review one of our courses we were able to get lots of feedback. the types of phrases that were pointed out were statements that were emotional and rhetorical questions. It is very easy to write content in the way that you would present it in a classroom, but we need to be aware that inflection does not translate within text and is often open to interpretation (often in ways you may not intend). Written content should be direct and factual, think of it like writing your content in the style of a textbook. Instructions should be clear and structured as numbered or bullet-pointed text where possible. It’s important to also look at other forms of accessibility considerations, and there are lots of free browser plugins which can be used alongside learning material.
Where can I find Text to Speech Browser extensions for various browser?
Read Aloud (Chrome)
Read Aloud (FireFox)
Natural reader (Chrome) This does require setting up an account.
Helperbird (Edge) both free and pro features
Where can I find Dyslexic Font extensions for various browsers?
Dyslexia Friendly (Chrome)
Helperbird (Edge) This comes with both free and pro features
Open Dyslexic (FireFox)