Teaching Students to Evaluate E-Reference Sources with Moodle Forums

This presentation will describe the use of online forums in Moodle, a course management system, to teach students to evaluate both print and electronic reference sources. For two semesters I have created an online forum called the Fishing Hole Scouting Report for an in-class exercise. Students are given 2-3 background questions and told to find the answers using both a library-approved reference source and Wikipedia. Students then evaluate the reference source for effectiveness and ease of use, compared to Wikipedia, and post their comments in the forum to share with the class. I will highlight the educational benefits of using Moodle forums for this purpose and discuss best practices for selecting the most effective sources and questions.

Report of the MPA Atlas and the interactive online database portal of the Bay of Bengal Large Marine Ecosystem

This report describes the process and details of developing an interactive online database portal for the BOBLME region.The MPA (Marine Protected Area) Atlas website, created by WorldFish was designed to provide public access to the latest information relevant to marine scientists, managers and conservationists. The main features include; BOBLME MPA database;interactive geospatial maps;and information about important habitats such as coral reefs,BOBLME boundaries and bathymetry.