Metacourse: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 12:17, 4 June 2012

What is a metacourse?

A meta course is a course that is "with" or linked to one or more courses for its student enrolment (enrollment to some). Adding or subtracting participants in a metacourse can only be done from the courses it is linked to. The linked courses push enrolment information to the metacourse(s) every time cron is run. There are many uses for a metacourse.

The course meta link option must be turned on by the site adminstrator. Settings > Site administration > Plugins > Enrolments > Manage enrol plugins > Course meta link. The standard package default is to hide this feature.

Concept note: When using a meta course, Moodle calls the courses it is linked to child courses. Some people like to think of them as parent courses. In any case a meta course has a kinship with one or more non-meta courses when it comes to enrolment.

In the simplest form, a linked course only needs to contain just the Students who are to be enrolled in a meta course. There do not need to be resources, assignments, or wikis, etc., just the Students in the linked course. In the simplest form, a meta course cannot enroll Students, but will have resources and activities for students in the linked courses.

Created - a child course and a meta course.	Associating one child course and one meta course.

Examples: one "child" course (a course linked to a meta course) can be associated with many meta courses. Or one meta course can have many child courses associated with it. Both the child courses (non-meta courses) and the meta courses are independent and can be recycled many times, that is, each can be associated with many of the other.

2 child courses and a meta course.	1 child course and 2 meta courses.	3 child courses and 2 meta courses.

Creating a meta course

For information on how to create a metacourse, see Course meta link plugin and see this screencast How to make a metacourse in Moodle 2.0

Tips and Tricks

For Administrators

You must change permissions and capabilities for Teachers to allow them to link Meta courses. To do this go to:

Site Administration > Users > Permissions > Define Roles

Select the Teacher Role and click on the Edit button. Scroll down to Course Meta Link as shown in the images below:

Permission block for allowing Teachers to link Meta courses.

The default setting is "Not Set"

When the Edit button is clicked, the panel changes to "Allow" and a checkbox

Setting permission to allow Teachers to link Meta courses.

Change to "Allow" by a click on the checkbox.

Scroll to the bottom of the page to Save your changes.

Example Procedure for Experimenting with Metacourses

In this example, there are 2 sections of students in the "Parent" course: "Section 001" and "Section 002". Students are enrolled in the section courses.

Turn Metacourses on by going to Site administration -> Plugins -> Enrolments -> Manage enrol plugins and enabled Course meta link.
Created the following courses:
1. Parent
2. Section 001
3. Section 002
Enroll users into Section 001 and Section 002. Leave Parent enrollment empty.
Go to Parent course. Go to Settings -> Course admin -> Users -> Enrolment methods. On that screen, add method "Course Meta link" and choose Section 001. Repeat steps for Section 002. If you look at participants for the parent course, you will see the users from Section 001 and 002.
If you log-in as a student from section 001, you will see section 001 and parent in your course listings. If you want only students to see the parent course, then go to:
1. Site Administration -> Courses -> Add/edit courses. Choose the category for the section 001 course. Find the course section 001. Click the eye icon to hide the course.
2. OR search for the course from the home page logged in as site admin. Click the eye icon to hide the appropriate courses.
Repeat above for section 002. If you log in as a student, you can't see/search for section 001. However, an admin can still see/search for these now hidden child courses. The will be grayed out to indicate that they are hidden.

Draw a map of your courses

Get an oversized piece of paper (A3 or 11"x17'), draw boxes for courses and give them names. Add lines to connect the boxes to show relationships. Label the meta courses (alternatively, color the meta course boxes). Add arrows to the lines so you will know where enrolments come from. This is a great tip from the Business Uses forum.

Groups do not transfer

Meta course enrolments do not transfer groups from the and enrolment does not happen immediately, but occurs next time the cronjob runs.

Transfer of roles

By default all role assignments from child courses are synchronised to meta courses. However, the "Roles that are not synchronised to metacourses" setting in Site administration > Plugins > Enrolments > Manage enrol plugins > Course meta link > Settings enables administrators to exclude particular roles.

Restoring a meta course

When restoring a meta course with the option "deleting the course first", you will notice that the enrolments that were used by the course previously are now gone. In order to re-link the course, navigate to the new course and select the link "Child Courses" from the "Administration" block on the main course page and re-link the course to its parent.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-A '''meta course''' is a course that is "with" or linked to one or more courses for its student enrolment (enrollment to some). Adding or subtracting participants in a metacourse can only be done from the courses it is linked to. The linked courses push enrolment information to the metacourse(s) every time cron is run.
+==What is a metacourse?==
+A '''meta course''' is a course that is "with" or linked to one or more courses for its student [[Enrolment|enrolment]] (enrollment to some). Adding or subtracting participants in a metacourse can only be done from the courses it is linked to. The linked courses push enrolment information to the metacourse(s) every time [[Cron|cron]] is run. There are [[Metacourse examples of use|many uses for a metacourse]].
-==Enrolments==
+The course meta link option must be turned on by the site adminstrator.
-Metacourse enrolments occur ''' only''' through another course that the meta course links to (in many versions of Moodle these are refered to as '''child''' courses). This means that students cannot enroll in the meta course directly. Likewise, teachers and administrators cannot enroll students directly into meta courses either.
+''Settings > Site administration > Plugins > Enrolments > Manage enrol plugins > Course meta link''.  The standard package default is to hide this feature.
-In the simplest form, a linked course only needs to contain just the Students who are to be enrolled in a metacourse. There do not need to be resources,  assignments,  or wikis, etc., just the Students in the linked course.  In the simplest form, the metacourse '''cannot''' contain Students, but will have resources, assignments, wikis, etc.
+''Concept note:'' When using a meta course, Moodle calls the courses it is linked to '''child''' courses. Some people like to think of them as parent courses.  In any case a meta course has a kinship with one or more non-meta courses when it comes to enrolment.
-{| class="nicetable"
+In the simplest form, a linked course only needs to contain just the Students who are to be enrolled in a meta course. There do not need to be resources,  assignments,  or wikis, etc., just the Students in the linked course.  In the simplest form, a meta course '''cannot''' enroll Students, but will have resources and activities for students in the linked courses.
+{| class="nicetable" align="center"
 |-
 ![[Image:simplemetacourse0.png|thumb|left|200px|Created - a child course and a meta course.]]
@@ Line 12: / Line 16: @@
 |}
-:Examples: one "child" course (a course linked to a metacourse) can be associated with many meta courses. Or one meta course can have many child courses associated with it. Both the child courses (non-meta courses) and the meta courses are independent and can be recycled many times, that is, each can be associated with many of the other. However, child courses cannot be associated with other child courses and meta courses cannot be associated with other meta courses.
+Examples: one "child" course (a course linked to a meta course) can be associated with many meta courses. Or one meta course can have many child courses associated with it. Both the child courses (non-meta courses) and the meta courses are independent and can be recycled many times, that is, each can be associated with many of the other.
-{| class="nicetable"
+{| class="nicetable" align="center"
 |-
 ![[Image:simplemetacourse2.png|thumb|left|200px|2 child courses and a meta course.]]
@@ Line 21: / Line 26: @@
 ==Creating a meta course==
-Create a meta course in the same manner as you do any other course. To change this to a meta course, set "Is this a meta course?" question to yes in the [[Course settings|course settings]].
+For information on how to create a metacourse, see [https://docs.moodle.org/20/en/admin/setting/enrolsettingsmeta Course meta link plugin] and see this screencast [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hA5QcTb13no&feature=player_embedded| How to make a metacourse in Moodle 2.0]
-[[Image:simplemetacourse5.png|thumb|center|200px|Changing the setting.]]
-==Manage "child" courses==
+==Tips and Tricks==
-Once you have created a meta course you can link to or unlink from (add or delete) "child" courses by the course Administration menu. This icon and link only appears in meta courses. <br>
-[[Image:Metacourse children.png|center]]
-Click this link and it will take you to the Child Courses dialogue that offers a list of "child courses" to choose from. You will note that only courses eligible to be child courses appear in this window.
-[[Image:Meta Course - select children.jpg|thumb|center|600px|Select screen, one course has been selected so far.]]
+===For Administrators===
+You must change permissions and capabilities for Teachers to allow them to link Meta courses. To do this go to:
-It is here that you can associate more courses for this one meta course to get it's enrolments. Alternatively, if you wish to associate one child course with many meta courses, you need to go into each meta course and, using this same technique, associate that child course to a each meta course.
+ Site Administration > Users > Permissions > Define Roles
+Select the Teacher Role and click on the Edit button. Scroll down to Course Meta Link as shown in the images below:
-'''Note: Do not be misled by the term "Child Courses".  You are associating courses that the meta course will be dependent upon for its students.'''
+{| class="nicetable" align="center"
+|-
-In Moodle 1.5 and 1.6, if a meta course is chosen, the [[Students|students]] page changes from listing/searching for students to listing/searching for courses.  In Moodle 1.7 onwards, "parent courses" appears in the teacher's administration block.
+|[[Image:metacoursepermissionset00.png|Permission block for allowing Teachers to link Meta courses.]]
+|-
-==Graphic Meta course examples==
+| style="text-align: center;"| The default setting is "Not Set"
+|-
-===1 course that gets its enrolment from 4 other courses===
+|[[Image:metacoursepermissionset01.png|Permission changes for editing.]]
+|-
-X is a meta course and Courses 1, 2, 3, 4 can be normal courses with standard student enrolments. These courses can contain resources, and activities that are specific to those courses, but they may also only contain enrolments. Students enrolling in Courses 1 or 2, or 3 or 4,  are automatically enrolled onto Meta course X when the course is associated as a child course to Meta course X. The meta course is dependent upon its enrolments from each of the non-meta courses, the child courses.
+| style="text-align: center;"| When the Edit button is clicked, the panel changes to "Allow" and a checkbox
+|-
-[[Image:Metacourses1_en.jpg|Standard Meta course usage|center]]
+|[[Image:metacoursepermissionset02.png|Setting permission to allow Teachers to link Meta courses.]]
+|-
-For example, a math teacher has 2 algebra and 2 geometry courses and wants a "home room" to place things of interest for all of their students. The teacher creates a meta course called "Teacher's home room" and links the algebra and geometry courses as the "child" courses.
+| style="text-align: center;"| Change to "Allow" by a click on the checkbox.
+|}
-===1 course that sends its enrolments to 4 other courses ===
+Scroll to the bottom of the page to '''Save''' your changes.
-Meta courses 1-4 each have created a "child" link to Y which is a normal course. Students enrolling on Course Y are automatically enrolled in Meta courses  1-4.
-[[Image:Metacourses2_en.jpg|Upsidedown Meta course Usage|center]]
+=== Example Procedure for Experimenting with Metacourses ===
+In this example, there are 2 sections of students in the "Parent" course: "Section 001" and "Section 002".  Students are enrolled in the section courses.
-For example: this would be used, when all five courses are intended to have exactly the same students.
+# Turn Metacourses on by going to Site administration -> Plugins -> Enrolments -> Manage enrol plugins and enabled Course meta link.
+# Created the following courses:
+## Parent
+## Section 001
+## Section 002
+# Enroll users into Section 001 and Section 002. Leave Parent enrollment empty.
+# Go to Parent course. Go to Settings -> Course admin -> Users -> Enrolment methods. On that screen, add method "Course Meta link" and choose Section 001. Repeat steps for Section 002. If you look at participants for the parent course, you will see the users from Section 001 and 002.
+# If you log-in as a student from section 001, you will see section 001 and parent in your course listings. If you want only students to see the parent course, then go to:
+## Site Administration -> Courses -> Add/edit courses. Choose the category for the section 001 course. Find the course section 001. Click the eye icon to hide the course.
+## '''OR''' search for the course from the home page logged in as site admin. Click the eye icon to hide the appropriate courses.
+# Repeat above for section 002. If you log in as a student, you can't see/search for section 001. However, an admin can still see/search for these now hidden child courses. The will be grayed out to indicate that they are hidden.
-==More example uses==
-Here are some more scenarios of meta courses. They should also help you to understand how they work with student enrolments.
-===Meta course(s) used as libraries===
-One or more meta courses are used as a library of resources and activities.
-For example, the English department has collected material useful in writing papers, these are set up as meta courses, with links to their regular courses. Teachers can direct or embed a link to a specific reference about citations, or how to select a topic for a paper or suggested reading compiled by students. Thus an English 101 course should be one of the links in the "Writing Papers" meta course.  This Meta course holds a resource called "Citations made easy", a Lesson "Select a topic" and a Wiki or database called "Suggested readings from classmates".
-===A Diploma course sends its enrolment to meta courses===
-A Diploma program  involves courses D1, D2, D3, and D4.  In this case, you would create a "Diploma" course as a normal course (non-meta course).  You would then designate programs D1 through D4 as meta courses and each would show the Diploma course as the "child" course.  When a student enrolls in "Diploma", he or she will be automatically enrolled in courses D1 through D4.
-===Core subjects with fees based upon course groupings===
-You have 3 course subjects and want to offer them for sale in different packages.  The meta courses will contain your subjects.  A normal (non-Meta course) course will be the gateways to the meta course(s).  Course 1 is your gold package.  Meta course A, Meta course B and Meta course C all link to Course 1.  The silver package is Course 2.  Meta courses A and B link to Course 2.  You have also set up individual courses that have a link from a specific Meta Course to them.  Thus you can offer and charge for each meta course separately or in some combination.
-===One course, different student fees===
-You have one "Wizbang" course but want to charge a different rate based upon the type of user.  The "Wizbang" meta course is the one that holds the content.  You create a courses for "Wizbang for Large Corporation users" and "Wizbang for Small Business users". The Wizbang meta course is linked to "Introduction to Wizbang for Large Corporation users" and "Introduction to Wizbang for Small Business users" courses.  You can charge a different fee for the non-meta courses, maybe brand or put some unique material in each "Introduction" course but the students will be able to take the same "Wizbang" course.
-==Tips and Tricks==
 ===Draw a map of your courses===
 Get an oversized piece of paper (A3 or 11"x17'), draw boxes for courses and give them names. Add lines to connect the boxes to show relationships. Label the meta courses (alternatively, color the meta course boxes). Add arrows to the lines so you will know where enrolments come from.  This is a great tip from the Business Uses forum.
@@ Line 82: / Line 72: @@
 ===Transfer of roles===
-By default all role assignments from child courses are synchronised to meta courses. However, the "Roles that are not synchronised to metacourses" setting in ''Administration > Users > Permissions > [[User policies]]'' enables administrators to exclude particular roles.
+By default all role assignments from child courses are synchronised to meta courses. However, the "Roles that are not synchronised to metacourses" setting in ''Site administration > Plugins > Enrolments > Manage enrol plugins > Course meta link > Settings'' enables administrators to exclude particular roles.
 ===Restoring a meta course===
@@ Line 88: / Line 78: @@
 ==See also==
+*[https://docs.moodle.org/22/en/admin/setting/enrolsettingsmeta Enroll Settings for meta courses in 2.x]
+*[[Metacourse examples of use]] -  Why use a metacourse? here are many examples
 *[[Related courses block]] - contributed code that shows meta or child course relationships
 Using Moodle forum discussions:
 *[http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=48901 Metacourses?]  Forum discussion
-*[http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=54389 Metacourses and Roles in 1.7] Forum discussion
 *[http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=39438 Best reference for describing a metacourse] Forum discussion
 *[http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=89741 Assign student in course] Forum discussion
+*[http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=156900#p686857 Confusion over meta-courses] Forum discussion
-[[Category:Teacher]]
-[[Category:Enrolment]]
 [[cs:Metakurzy]]

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