We at CMOSS believe we are at a critical juncture in education. Educators are being asked to assist students in the acquisition of 21st century skills to help prepare them for a world in which knowledge is dynamic and learning is an on-going lifelong process. Collaboration, communication, critical thinking, and creativity have been identified as pedagogical cornerstones upon which to build this modern learner. Unfortunately, the tools we have traditionally had at our disposal do not seem to suit the acquisition of these skills nor do they seem to suit the technologically adept learners to which they are applied. Fortunately, there are now 21st century teaching and learning tools available to help our 21st century students acquire these key 21st century skills which do match their skills and dispositions. Moreover, proper implementation of these tools has the added benefit of saving considerable time and money.

We are currently using Moodle as a blended instructional tool to facilitate communication and collaboration via built-in forums, blogs, chats, and wikis. These digital modes of communication afford opportunities to engage students in higher-order thinking in ways that are powerful and familiar to the modern student who is as comfortable in a virtual world as in the physical “real” world. Moreover, teachers can quickly and easily adjust the curriculum as dictated by student need and interest. A course augmented by Moodle is also remarkably accessible since the curriculum is provided on-line; thus, students and teachers can access courses anytime, anywhere.

On a more concrete and practical level, tools like Moodle save considerable time and money. The staggering costs of paper, copying, and textbooks can be virtually or entirely eliminated. Electronic creation, distribution, and grading of quizzes and activities greatly increases the time teachers can spend on individualizing instruction and on finding ways to make diversity an asset in their classrooms. In short, they end up with more time to teach.