English Learning Using Moodle and ChatGPT

Table of Contents

1. About Moodle and OpenAI Chat Block Plugin
1-1. What is Moodle?
1-2. What is the OpenAI Chat Block plugin?
2. Conversation
2-1. Greetings
2-2. Role Play (Cafe)
2-3. Role Play (Airport)
3. English Composition Assistance
3-1. English Proofreading
3-2. English Thesaurus Dictionary
3-3. Paraphrase
4. Summary

AI generation is gaining attention not only in the corporate world, but also in the education field. By utilizing AI in companies, it is possible to solve problems and organize information more efficiently, leading to the widespread use of various AI services such as ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot. By the time current students enter society, it will be natural to use AI. It is believed that it will become increasingly important for students to learn how to use AI correctly in the future.

In this article, we will introduce how to effectively learn English using the learning management system (LMS) Moodle and the AI chat service ChatGPT, by using the OpenAI Chat Block plugin to make it available on Moodle.

1. About Moodle and OpenAI Chat Block Plugin

1-1. What is Moodle?

Moodle is a Learning Management System (LMS) that provides features for supporting face-to-face classes or e-learning. Moodle was developed in Australia and is distributed under the GNU General Public License. It is developed by a community and supports 210 languages, with over 400 million users in 239 countries around the world.

1-2. What is the OpenAI Chat Block plugin?

This is the ChatGPT plugin for Moodle developed by Bryce Yoder. It is provided for free. Moodle administrators can subscribe to a paid API account from OpenAI and set the API key in the plugin, allowing each user to access the AI chat service. It is possible to pre-set prompts for each block, so if the instructor sets the prompts beforehand, students can use ChatGPT with minimal input.

2. Conversation

2-1. Greetings

ChatGPT is perfect for practicing English conversation because it can respond in natural English. First, set up the OpenAI Chat Block as shown in the image below. In the "Completion Prompt", enter "You are an English teacher. Please practice English conversation with your students. Please write in both English and Japanese. If there are any mistakes in English, please point them out and explain."

When you set up the OpenAI Chat Block, a chat box will appear on the right side of the Moodle page. When a student enters "Hi." in the text field, ChatGPT will respond. You can continue the conversation and practice English conversation.

2-2. Role Play (Cafe)

You can do a role play with ChatGPT at a cafe. Set the "Completion Prompt" in OpenAI Chat Block to "You are an English teacher. We will do a role play. You are a waiter in a cafe. The student will play the role of a customer. Please write in English and then the translation in Japanese. Check student's sentence for any grammatical mistakes or misuse of English and explain it in Japanese if found." This time, the prompt is in English because English has a higher accuracy rate for responses than Japanese.

Students can input "I would like to order a coffee, please." and see how ChatGPT responds as a store clerk. You can learn useful expressions for asking about the menu and placing an order at an actual cafe.

2-3. Role Play (Airport)

You can also role-play in airport-specific situations such as check-in and boarding procedures at the airport. With OpenAI Chat Block's "Completion Prompt", you can play the role of an English teacher and your student can play the role of a traveler. Write the exchange in English and its Japanese translation. Check your student's writing for any grammatical errors or misuse of English, and explain in Japanese if you find any.

Students can practice using English expressions that can be used at the airport by inputting phrases such as "I need to check in for my flight to New York." and having ChatGPT act as an airport counter staff.

3. English Writing Assistance

3-1. English Proofreading

You can have your English text proofread by ChatGPT. Set the "Completion Prompt" in OpenAI Chat Block to "You are an English teacher. Check your student's writing for any grammatical errors and misuse of English, and explain it in Japanese if you find any."

Students will input English sentences into the chat box. For example, if they input the English sentence used in the above role play, "I would like to order a coffee, please.", the following response will be given and they will know that the sentence is correct.

3-2. English Thesaurus Dictionary

If you want to know synonyms of a word, you can ask ChatGPT to provide a variety of synonyms. Along with the synonyms, example sentences are shown, which helps you understand how to use them in a sentence and improves your vocabulary.

Set "Show the thesaurus for the following words. Create example sentences using the synonyms. Example sentences should be accompanied by the Japanese translation." as the "Completion Prompt" for OpenAI Chat Block.

Students enter the word they want to look up in the thesaurus. For example, even if the word is not listed in a thesaurus like "learning management system", synonyms and example sentences will be displayed as follows.

The entire answer is as follows.
"Thesaurus for "learning management system": - e-learning platform - educational technology software - virtual learning environment
Example sentences: 1. The university uses an advanced e-learning platform to deliver online courses to students worldwide. - The university uses an advanced e-learning platform to deliver online courses to students worldwide.
The school district implemented a new educational technology software to enhance student engagement in remote learning.
The school district implemented a new educational technology software to enhance student engagement in remote learning.
The company's virtual learning environment allows employees to access training materials from anywhere at any time.
The company's virtual learning environment allows employees to access training materials from anywhere at any time."

3-3. Paraphrase

Paraphrasing is the act of expressing the same meaning in different words, but it is not simply replacing words, it also involves changing parts of speech and sentence structure. Paraphrasing is an essential skill in English essays. In English tests such as IELTS, TOEFL, and TOEIC, improving paraphrasing skills can lead to higher scores in speaking and writing. It can also improve reading and listening scores by enhancing comprehension.

Set the "Completion Prompt" for OpenAI Chat Block to "Paraphrase the input sentence. Show three examples in English." When a student inputs "I would like to order a coffee, please." in the chat box, three paraphrased examples will be displayed as follows.

4. Summary

In this article, we introduced a method to improve English learning efficiency by combining the learning management system Moodle and AI chat service ChatGPT. With ChatGPT, students can directly interact with native English speakers, leading to an improvement in their English skills. By combining Moodle and the OpenAI Chat Block plugin, students can utilize ChatGPT without the need to input prompts.

Human Science has been providing Moodle services since 2008 and became an official partner in 2017. We have accumulated expertise and a track record of over 700 projects and more than 80 cases for companies, schools, and organizations. We offer a total solution for Moodle implementation (including content creation) and operation support. We also provide support services for Moodle via phone and email, so you can trust us for maintenance and operation. Please consult with Human Science when using the open source LMS Moodle.

Human Science | Moodle Implementation Support and Operation Services

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