Note: You are currently viewing documentation for Moodle 2.2. Up-to-date documentation for the latest stable version is available here: Course formats.

Course formats: Difference between revisions

From MoodleDocs
No edit summary
(content rearranging, course format text moved from Course settings)
Line 1: Line 1:
Course formats refers to sections in a course.  They can be changed by the course [[Course administration block]] under [[Course settings|settings]].
A course format refers to the layout of a course.  They can be changed by the course [[Course administration block]] under [[Course settings|settings]].


Moodle 1.5 supported three different section formats: weeks, topics and social.  Moodle 1.6 added LAMS, SCORM and Weekcss section format choices to that list. The last three are a little more connected to the rest of the code (and hence, less "pluggable") but it is still quite easy to add new ones.


Another contributed course formats are [[Project Course Format]], [[Weekly Tabs]] and [[Monthly Format]] for version 1.9.
==Standard course formats==


An administrator wishing to remove installed formats may do so by removing the format plugin from the installation. That is: remove the directory containing the format for the ''moodle/course/format'' directory. You probably should not remove any of the three core formats, or formats that are in use on the site.
===Weekly format===
[[Image:Course top weekly mu1.jpg|thumb|Weekly format example]] The course is organized week by week, with a clear start date and a finish date.  Moodle will create a section for each week of your course.  You can add content, forums, quizzes, and so on in the section for each week. 
 
:''TIP:'' If you want all your students to work on the same materials at the same time, this would be a good format to choose.
 
===Topics format===
The course is organised into topic sections. Each topic section consists of activities.
 
===Social format===
[[Image:Course top social mu1.jpg|thumb|Social format example]] This format is oriented around one main forum, the Social forum, which appears listed on the main page.  It is useful for situations that are more free form.  They may not even be courses.  For example, it could be used as a departmental notice board.
 
===LAMS course format===
[[LAMS|The Learning Activity Management System]] is an open source LMS which allows teachers to use a flash based authoring environment for developing learning sequences.  LAMS has been integrated with Moodle to allow teachers to develop LAMS activities within a Moodle course.  This course format makes LAMS central to the course, only displaying the LAMS interface. 
 
:''TIP:'' If you are interested in using LAMS, check with your system administrator to see if they have installed and configured LAMS.  Very few institutions use LAMS as it duplicates much of the Moodle functionality.
 
===SCORM format===
The [[SCORM/AICC module|Sharable Content Reference Model]] (SCORM) is a content packaging standard.  SCORM packages are self-contained bundles of content and JavaScript activities, which can send data to Moodle about the students score and current location.  Moodle can use SCORM packages as a content type (see [[SCORM/AICC module]]), or as a course format. 
 
:''TIP:'' If you have a large SCORM object you want to use as an entire course, then you can select this course format and students will only be able to interact with the SCORM object, not the rest of the Moodle tools.
 
===Weekly format, CSS/no tables===
The CSS / No Tables variant of the Weekly format displays the Weekly course format without using tables for layout.  This improves the accessibility of the format, but older browsers have trouble displaying it correctly. This format is available in Moodle 1.6 onwards.
 
==Contributed course formats==
 
===Page format===
This format is very similar to the Book resource format in a Moodle course. It consists of a theme, course format, and menu module which enables blocks and modules to be intermixed on a 3 column layout, provide tab based navigation through course content, inline display of resources and forums, etc.
 
===Other contributed course formats===
 
Other contributed course formats include [[Project Course Format]], [[Weekly Tabs]] and Monthly Format (for Moodle 1.9).
 
An administrator wishing to remove installed formats may do so by removing the format plugin from the installation. That is: remove the directory containing the format for the ''moodle/course/format'' directory. You probably should not remove any of the default course formats, or formats that are in use on the site.


==See also==
==See also==


*[[Course settings]]
*[[Course settings]]
*[[Project Course Format]], a contributed format for Moodle 1.9
*Using Moodle [http://moodle.org/mod/forum/view.php?id=47 Course formats forum]
*Using Moodle [http://moodle.org/mod/forum/view.php?id=47 Course formats forum]


[[Category:Administrator]]
[[Category:Course]]


[[fr:Formats de cours]]
[[fr:Formats de cours]]

Revision as of 12:09, 15 February 2009

A course format refers to the layout of a course. They can be changed by the course Course administration block under settings.


Standard course formats

Weekly format

Weekly format example

The course is organized week by week, with a clear start date and a finish date. Moodle will create a section for each week of your course. You can add content, forums, quizzes, and so on in the section for each week.

TIP: If you want all your students to work on the same materials at the same time, this would be a good format to choose.

Topics format

The course is organised into topic sections. Each topic section consists of activities.

Social format

Social format example

This format is oriented around one main forum, the Social forum, which appears listed on the main page. It is useful for situations that are more free form. They may not even be courses. For example, it could be used as a departmental notice board.

LAMS course format

The Learning Activity Management System is an open source LMS which allows teachers to use a flash based authoring environment for developing learning sequences. LAMS has been integrated with Moodle to allow teachers to develop LAMS activities within a Moodle course. This course format makes LAMS central to the course, only displaying the LAMS interface.

TIP: If you are interested in using LAMS, check with your system administrator to see if they have installed and configured LAMS. Very few institutions use LAMS as it duplicates much of the Moodle functionality.

SCORM format

The Sharable Content Reference Model (SCORM) is a content packaging standard. SCORM packages are self-contained bundles of content and JavaScript activities, which can send data to Moodle about the students score and current location. Moodle can use SCORM packages as a content type (see SCORM/AICC module), or as a course format.

TIP: If you have a large SCORM object you want to use as an entire course, then you can select this course format and students will only be able to interact with the SCORM object, not the rest of the Moodle tools.

Weekly format, CSS/no tables

The CSS / No Tables variant of the Weekly format displays the Weekly course format without using tables for layout. This improves the accessibility of the format, but older browsers have trouble displaying it correctly. This format is available in Moodle 1.6 onwards.

Contributed course formats

Page format

This format is very similar to the Book resource format in a Moodle course. It consists of a theme, course format, and menu module which enables blocks and modules to be intermixed on a 3 column layout, provide tab based navigation through course content, inline display of resources and forums, etc.

Other contributed course formats

Other contributed course formats include Project Course Format, Weekly Tabs and Monthly Format (for Moodle 1.9).

An administrator wishing to remove installed formats may do so by removing the format plugin from the installation. That is: remove the directory containing the format for the moodle/course/format directory. You probably should not remove any of the default course formats, or formats that are in use on the site.

See also