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Database activity

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Revision as of 15:05, 23 September 2011 by Helen Foster (talk | contribs) (How to use the database activity module moved to Building Database)

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The database activity module allows the teacher and/or students to build, display and search a bank of record entries about any conceivable topic. The format and structure of these entries can be almost unlimited, including images, files, URLs, numbers and text amongst other things.

This module will create one table per instance, but you may create as many instances you need. The records can be linked to other tables and all resources in the course, if you allow autolink in a name field, but you cannot build a SQL query.

The table is not created in the SQL database, it is just stored there in lines of other SQL tables (mdl_data*).

Automatically linking database entries

If the Database auto-linking filter is enabled, any entries in a database will be automatically linked to where the concept words and/or phrases appear within the same course. This includes forum postings, internal resources, week summaries etc.

Note: If you do not want particular text to be linked (in a forum posting, say) then you should add <nolink> and </nolink> tags around the text. Alternatively the filter can be disabled for a particular activity.

Example databases

Moodle.org has three good examples of the database module in action:

  • Moodle Buzz, a database of the titles, authors and web links to news articles mentioning Moodle
  • Themes, a database with screenshots, download links and user comments about Moodle themes
  • Modules and plugins, a database containing a variety of web links (download, documentation, discussion) and info (maintainer, module type, requirements) about the modular components of Moodle, including those created by third parties.

Creative uses

You could use the database module to:

  • allow collaboration on building a collection of web links/books/journal references related to a particular subject
  • display student created photos/posters/websites/poems for peer comment and review
  • gather comments and votes on a shortlist of potential logos/mascot names/project ideas
  • provide a student file storage area
  • maintain a log of what was done in a face-to-face class each day, so that absent students can get caught up themselves. Example

See also

Using Moodle forum discussions: