There is something I have been meaning to share with the world for the past few weeks. Today, I finally can.
This afternoon, I accepted Martin Dougiamas‘ kind offer to formally join Moodle as an ‘Education Researcher’. I will be concerned primarily with the pedagogical and andragogical aspects of using Moodle, and look at how (well) does and could Moodle ‘hit the ground’ in a range of educational settings, primary to tertiary, vocational, training etc.
In short, my concern is the ‘L’ in Moodle (Modular Object-Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment).
From creating resources, curating best practices, conducting formal research, active participation in the world-wide Moodle community through moodle.org and many other sites and channels, help with design of future versions of Moodle, and more, my job description is as varied as it is challenging. Eh, my cuppa tea – variety and challenge! 
As for the title, I have always felt that terms like ‘Specialist’, ‘Consultant’, ‘Leader’ etc breed spoonfeeding and useless reverence, so ‘Educational Researcher’ fits the bill perfectly.
Yes, I am leaving a ‘safe teaching job’ and the classroom for a little while. I do so not because I am sick of teaching, or, heaven forbid, the kids (a few posts here will tell you so…), but because this is an awesome opportunity and a different context to do a lot for a vision of education I have pursued for many years ‘on the ground’. And to be asked by someone like Martin, whom I have a huge amount of respect for, is frankly … an honour (sucking up to his boss already, hey? ).
I intend to maintain a close contact with colleagues in schools and universities and pay regular visits (you can hold me to it!) not just to ‘see how Moodle is going’ but to never lose touch with the people and the beautiful messiness of this thing we call ‘education’.
Moodle … here we come!
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Alec Couros
January 19, 2010 at 2:28 pm (UTC 8) Link to this comment
Congratulations Tomaz. I am sure you will do amazing things with Moodle. I was lucky enough to meet Martin once, and he’s obviously a great guy – and Moodle is getting better all the time.
All the best in the future, glad you are finding passionate work.
Kathryn Greenhill
January 19, 2010 at 2:35 pm (UTC 8) Link to this comment
Oh – good for you. Good for Moodle. Good for the rest of us. Yay and hooray. As and ex-”Specialist” I thoroughly agree with your assessment of the title. I can see you doing well thought out, creative things. I want you to keep doing them, so please make sure that *before* you start the position you have really clear ground rules about how many hours you will do for money, how many extra for love or curiousity and your own learning and make sure you keep it from spilling over…..
Congratulations…
monika hardy
January 19, 2010 at 2:41 pm (UTC 8) Link to this comment
great gain for moodle… congrats…
Mary
January 19, 2010 at 2:45 pm (UTC 8) Link to this comment
That’s great news Tomaz and I’m really pleased for you AND for Moodle
Looking forward to seeing how things develop!
Chad Ratliff
January 19, 2010 at 2:50 pm (UTC 8) Link to this comment
Congrats, Tomaz! You’ll do a great job!
Colin Warren
January 19, 2010 at 3:06 pm (UTC 8) Link to this comment
congratulations Tomaz, sounds like you’ve scored a very interesting job. I don’t think we do enough educational research around the tools we use (LMS’, Web2.0, etc.) for learning & teaching. Looking forward to seeing how you tackle it, and what you can teach us.
Kim Yeomans
January 19, 2010 at 3:17 pm (UTC 8) Link to this comment
Woo hoo…Congratulations Tomaz!
Great things happen to great people! Enjoy the variety and challenge of your new role…
Jean
January 19, 2010 at 3:52 pm (UTC 8) Link to this comment
Congratulations Tomaz. We all know how passionate you are about learning and teaching… and Moodle. Find a job you like and you’ll add five days to every week.
Helen Foster
January 19, 2010 at 6:27 pm (UTC 8) Link to this comment
Congratulations Tomaz, great to have you in the Moodle HQ team!
Eloy Lafuente (stronk7)
January 19, 2010 at 7:29 pm (UTC 8) Link to this comment
Welcome on board Tomaz!
Maria João
January 19, 2010 at 8:58 pm (UTC 8) Link to this comment
Tomaz,
That is a great new. I would like to see you as an “Educational Ambassador” at the Moodle HQ.
All the best for you!
Maria
MariaMoodle
January 19, 2010 at 11:56 pm (UTC 8) Link to this comment
Hi Tomaz, Congratulations / for You and for all us
Send you a Celebrating Hug from me and Maryel :p from Mexico
Moodle HQ team is getting better all the time
and this is good for all Moodlers
My best wishes for your new job !!
Joseph Thibault
January 20, 2010 at 1:49 am (UTC 8) Link to this comment
Tomaz, this is awesome! Congratulations. I’m eager to hear about your impact on Moodle…
Colin Matheson
January 20, 2010 at 2:26 am (UTC 8) Link to this comment
Way to go! I look forward to your insights in this new realm. Your progressive approach to education has a chance to make a large impact. One of the nice things about Moodle research is that the excellent logging system really help investigate learner behaviors. If you need data from a middle and high school in the US let me know. Woot!
Mark Drechsler
January 20, 2010 at 3:50 am (UTC 8) Link to this comment
Fantastic news Tomaz, you’ll be a great asset to HQ and look forward to working with you through the Moodle Partner network.
Cheers,
Mark.
Tish Boom
January 20, 2010 at 8:16 am (UTC 8) Link to this comment
Huzzah!
You are most welcome to come and kick the tires of Wesley Institute’s Moodle and for mutual picking of brains!
Ian Wild
January 20, 2010 at 8:36 am (UTC 8) Link to this comment
Well done Tomaz: it’s a great sounding new role you’ve got there and all the very best wishes to you. Am looking forward to the good new learning-related noises coming from Moodle HQ soon
Ian.
Dan McGuire
January 20, 2010 at 10:08 am (UTC 8) Link to this comment
I think both you and Martin have made very wise moves.
As for being a researcher: Is that when you look for something and then when you find it, you lose it and have to go searching again? I do that all the time with my keys and glasses case.
Veronica Emery
January 20, 2010 at 5:36 pm (UTC 8) Link to this comment
Congratulations to ‘Moodle’ they have picked up a great thinker in you Tomaz. Finally, a real person with real ideas about real classroom aplications for ITC doing research for the rest of us. Have fun and stay in touch with all your findings.
Cheers.
Ronnie***
John Pearce
January 21, 2010 at 2:13 pm (UTC 8) Link to this comment
Hey Tomaz,
Boy you are a real mover, (and shaker too no doubt as Martin and Moodle are going to no doubt find out). Great choices all round I think. It’s great to see organizations recognizing their applicability to education and the need to find out more.
Congrats
John P
PS Now you realise we’ll all be looking out for practical results from all this research, no pressure though
Tomaz Lasic
January 21, 2010 at 3:38 pm (UTC 8) Link to this comment
After the string of comments and tweets I feel lazy not to have replied. Doing it now…
Thank you. Thank you all for congrats, best wishes, advice (you are so spot on Kathryn!) and the necessary pressure of expectations (“no pressure, no diamonds” is often a very poignant line, I like it).
I find two things particularly kind and humbling in your comments:
)
- the idea that ‘Martin has made a good move’ (sure he’d want to hear that too
- the recognition I like to give things a shake with a grounded perspective (Moodle HQ team, don’t worry)
OK, enough self-flattery. Thank you guys. By the way, I start on March 1, Education Department wants its piece of flesh until then.
I look forward to a great year(s ?) ahead.
Tomaz
Simon C
January 28, 2010 at 8:07 am (UTC 8) Link to this comment
Congratulations, Tomaz! This is a fantastic opportunity and having you on-board at Moodle is definitely a great move! All the best, you’re gonna do very well!
Ralf Hilgenstock
February 1, 2010 at 1:44 am (UTC 8) Link to this comment
Congrats. Its great to have a team member with a more pedagogical view in the HQ team.
John Larkin
February 14, 2010 at 7:48 pm (UTC 8) Link to this comment
Excellent opportunity Tomaz! This will be a refreshing, invigorating and rewarding time for you. I bet it will take you a while to shake off the bells and adjust your routine. Never hesitate to ask questions of your new colleagues! Enjoy! Enjoy! Enjoy!
Congratulations,
Cheers
John
Tweets that mention For ‘L’ in Moodle « Human -- Topsy.com
January 19, 2010 at 2:46 pm (UTC 8) Link to this comment
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Tomaz Lasic, Suzette Irvine. Suzette Irvine said: Congratulations Tomaz!RT @lasic: Big news chez Lasic – Leaving teaching, joining Moodle. Details on Human http://trunc.it/4uyep [...]
Tomaz @Lasic Joins Moodle HQ | Moodle Monthly
January 20, 2010 at 2:17 am (UTC 8) Link to this comment
[...] Moodle News Twitter account. Thanks for visiting!Tomaz Lasic, blogger and Moodler extraordinaire announced 1/19/10 that he joined the staff at Moodle HQ in Perth as a Education Researcher. Tomaz has long [...]