Using Moodle in secondary education : A case study of the course “ Research Project ” in Greece

“Research Project” is a new addition to the Greek educational system established in the 1 and 2 year of high school, as a distinct course of the Curriculum. In this paper we study the use of the platform Moodle, in order to organize and implement this course. This use took place in the 2 four-month period of the academic year 2012-2013. The students, apart from the weekly 2 hour long classes, had the chance to implement different parts of their project on Moodle. The main use of Moodle comprised the submission of written projects, the receipt of relevant feedback, the planning of the collaboration among students, the participation in open discussions for a better implementation of the course, and the registration of various data from the students total input to the group project. Using quantity and quality evaluation methods it was found that the students are able to familiarize with the platform and benefit from its incorporation to the educational process. The platform is still in use with improvements from the educational and technological point of view.