Undergraduate Chemical Technological Discipline delivered using moodle e-learning platform
This paper presents elearning instruction materials for technical undergraduates and secondary schools (with specialization: textile technician) developed on the Virtual Learning Environment http://www.moodle.tex.tuiasi.ro/. Processes of: design, development and implementation of interactive educational modules are presented, for the topic “materials and textile products chemical finishing operations” of chemical textile technology. Textile finishing can be subdivided into two distinctly different areas, chemical finishing and mechanical finishing. Chemical finishing or `wet finishing' involves the addition of chemicals to textiles to achieve a desired result. Physical properties such as dimensional stability and chemical properties such as flame retardancy can both be improved with chemical finishing. Typically, the appearance of the textile is unchanged after chemical finishing. Elearning modules provide student with information examples containing: rich multimedia elements, text, glossary, webography, bibliography, and knowledge and skills assimilation assessment. The modules are divided into a number of teaching and learning units which can be studied autonomously (or independent). Chemical Technological Discipline model is a new approach to learning chemistry-one that presents concepts in the customary logically developed order but illustrates them with exemplars that reflect the applications students are interested in. Chemical Technological Discipline resources are especially for secondary school teachers and students, with topics ranging from introductory to advanced Textiles Chemistry. Teachers will find reliable and quality resources including videos, articles, demonstrations, worksheets, assessments and activities all in one location. Resources are searchable by topic and standards. eLearning Modules are using visualization of chemistry concepts. These principles focus on a few chemistry-specific pedagogical pointers: 1. providing multiple representations and descriptions, 2. making linked referential connections visible, 3. presenting the dynamic and interactive nature of chemistry, 4. promoting the transformation between 2D and 3D, and 5. reducing cognitive load by making information explicit and integrating information for students.