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{{Teacher documentation}}
#redirect [[Course homepage]]
'''Welcome!'''  The purpose of this page is to give an overview of [[Moodle]] to a new user of Moodle. You can find many links to other pages in the text. For new users, we would like to point out the Documentation box on the left side of every page in MoodleDocs.  The [[Teacher documentation|Teacher]] link brings up a welcome and a short list of key pages of interest to a teacher.  A list of all teacher documentation articles can also be found under [[:Category:Teacher]] link found at the bottom of most teacher pages.
__TOC__
 
==Before you start==
*We are assuming that your [[Administrator|site administrator]] has set up a Moodle site, and assigned you to a new, blank course where you have [[Teacher role|teacher privileges]].
*You must be [[Log in |logged in]] in order to edit a course and use most of the features described below. We have some tips if you are having [[Can not log in | trouble logging in]].
*You may also experiment on our Moodle site for an hour at a time for free at [http://demo.moodle.org/ demo.moodle.org].
*As you will discover, your course may look a little different from our presentations.  In general, our content tries to outline different features which you or others may use in their course.
 
==Basics==
The [[Course settings|course settings]] page offers you many controls. These include who can come into the course, how the course laid out and other potential functions.  Your [[Administrator|site administrator]] or [[Course creator role|course creator]] may offer you suggestions about these settings. 
 
Most [[Course homepage|course homepage formats]] are broken into [[Course sections|course sections]] (often by week or topic). [[Adding resources and activities|Resources and activities]] are added to each section. When writing text in Moodle you have a range of [[Formatting options]], including using [[HTML editor|HTML in Moodle]]. The [[Course settings]] are robust and offer different ways to enroll [[Students]] or format the course. 
 
The illustration below shows a new course set up with topic sections in the middle column. In the right and left columns are a few of Moodle's many [[:Category:Block|blocks]] such as "Latest News" or "[[Course administration block|Administration]]". [[#Editing course section|Editing has been turned on]]. The teacher is ready to add resources and activities.
[[Image:Course edit on new 2.jpg|thumb|center|500px|Example: Teacher's view of a home page of new course, editing turned on]]
 
==Editing course section==
[[Image:Turn_edit_on_Student_on_buttons.JPG]]<br>
To add or alter activities or resources a teacher must use the "Turn editing on" button on the course homepage. The same button will also turn editing off. Similarly, the "Turn student view on" button allows the teacher to see the course page as a student would see it.
 
To add items to a section, you will use the pull down boxes for [[Adding resources and activities|activities and resources]].
 
When editing has been turned on, a variety of editing icons appear next to all editable objects in the course. Your icons may look different because of your [[Theme]].  [[Turn editing on|Go here for details about each icon]].  Below is a brief list of common icons.
 
{|  border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0"
!width="30"|Icon
!width="120"|Effect
!width="30"|Icon
!width="120"|Effect
!width="30"|Icon
!width="120"|Effect
!width="30"|Icon
!width="140"|Effect
|-
|[[Image:Edit.gif]]|| Edit item ||[[Image:Open.gif]]* || Close/Hide item||[[Image:Delete.gif]] || Delete/Remove  ||[[Image:Move.gif]] ||Move (up/down)
|-
||[[Image:All.gif]] * ||See all weeks/topics||[[Image:Closed.gif]]* || Open/Show Item ||[[Image:Right.gif]] || Indent/shift right  ||[[Image:Movehere.gif]] || Move here
|-
||[[Image:One.gif]] * || See one week/topic||[[Image:Help.gif]] ||Help ||  ||  ||[[Image:Marker.gif]] ||Make Current (highlight) week/topic
|}
 
:''TIP:''Some icons toggle (*). For example, the open eye indicates that the resource is visible to students, while clicking it changes it to a closed eye, making it invisible to students.
 
==Activity modules==
[[Image:Activity dropdown 1 8.JPG|frame|right|Add an activity drop-down menu - Moodle 1.8.2 ]]  There are a number of robust interactive learning [[:Category:Modules|activity modules]] that you may [[Adding_resources_and_activities | add to your course]] with the "Add an activity" drop down menu. If you wish, some or all of these activities can push information to a course [[Grades|gradebook]].
 
Communication and collaboration may take place using live [[Chat module|Chats]] or asynchronous discussion [[Forum module|Forums]] for conversational activities. You can also use [[Choice module|Choices]] to gain group feedback. Adding [[Wiki module|Wikis]] to your courses is an excellent way to allow students to work together on a collaboratively-authored project.
 
Work can be uploaded and submitted by students and scored by teachers using [[Assignment module|Assignments]] or [[Workshop module|Workshops]]. These modules have several assessment options, including instructor-assessment, self-assessment, and even peer-assessment. Online [[Quiz module|Quizzes]] offer several options for automatic and manual scoring.  You can even integrate your Hot Potato quizzes by adding a [[Hotpot module|Hotpot]] activity.
 
[[Lesson module|Lessons]] and [[SCORM module|SCORM]] activities deliver content and offer ways of individualizing your presentation based upon a student's choices. [[Glossary module|Glossaries]] of keywords can be set up by the instructor, and can be configured to allow students to edit, add, or rate entries.
 
[[Survey module|Surveys]] and [[Database module|Databases]] are also very powerful additions to any course.
 
If all of that isn't enough for you then you can also add any number of [[Contributed code|ccntributed modules]] that are not part of the official Moodle release!
 
==Resources==
 
[[Image:Resource pulldown menu 19.JPG|frame|left|Add a resource drop-down menu]] 
 
Moodle supports a range of different [[Resources|resource types]] that allow you to include almost any kind of digital content into your courses. These can be added by using the [[Adding_resources_and_activities | add a resource]] dropdown box when editing is turned on.
 
A [[Text page]] is a simple page written using plain text from a link in the course. Text pages aren't pretty, but they're a good place to put some information or instructions. If you are after more options for your new page then you should be thinking about adding a [[Web page]] and making use of Moodle's WYSIWYG editor.
 
Of course the resource may already exist in electronic form so you may want to [[File or website link|link to an uploaded file or external website]] or simply display the complete contents of a [[Directory|directory]] in your course [[Files|files]] and let your students pick the file themselves. If you have an [[IMS content package]] then this can be easily added to your course.
 
[[Label]]s allow you to add more information between activity or resource links in your course.
 
==Blocks==
[[Image:Block add dropdown list teacher 1 8.JPG |thumb|150px|right|Add Block drop-down menu]]
[[Image:Administration Block Course 1 9.JPG|thumb|left|Course Administration block]]
===Blocks seen by students===
Each course homepage generally contains [[Blocks_%28teacher%29|blocks]] on the left and right with the centre column containing the course content. Blocks may be added, hidden, deleted, and moved up, down and left/right when editing is turned on. Examples of blocks can be seen in the Getting Started image above. [[Latest News block|"Latest News"]], "[[Blogs]]", [[Upcoming Events block|"Upcoming Events"]], and [[Recent Activity block|"Recent Activity"]] are a few examples.
 
A wide range of [[Blocks_%28teacher%29#Block_types|over 16 different block types]] can provide additional information or functionality to the learner by the teacher. The standard blocks that come with Moodle are shown on the right.  There are also many contributed developed by Moodlers that an administrator can add to this list.
 
===Course administration block===
A teacher with editing rights will also have a [[Course_administration_block|course administration block]]. This is an important tool for a teacher. It has sub menus for course: [[Course backup|backup]], [[Restore|restore]], [[Assign roles]], [[Grades|grades]], [[Reports|activity logs/reports]], [[Files]] and the useful [[Course settings]].
 
A student's course administration block typically lists only Grades and Profile options.
 
==General advice==
 
* Subscribe yourself to all of the [[forum]]s in your course so that you can keep in touch with your class activity.
* Encourage all of the students to fill out their [[Edit profile|user profile]] (including photos) and read them all - this will help provide some context to their later writings and help you to respond in ways that are tailored to their own needs. 
* Use the [[Logs]] link (under Administration) to get access to complete, raw logs. In there you'll see a link to a popup window that updates every sixty seconds and shows the last hour of activity. This is useful to keep open on your desktop all day so you can feel in touch with what's going on in the course.
* Use many reports. [[Reports]] in the Administration block,  [[Recent_activity|Activity Reports]] (next to each name in the list of all people, or from any user profile page). These provide a great way to see what any particular person has been up to in the course.
* Respond quickly to students. Don't leave it for later - do it right away. Not only is it easy to become overwhelmed with the volume that can be generated, but it's a crucial part of building and maintaining a community feel in your course.
*Don't be afraid to experiment: feel free to poke around and change things. It's hard to break anything in a Moodle course, and even if you do it's usually easy to fix it.
* Use the [[Navigation bar|navigation bar]] at the top of each page - this should help remind you where you are and prevent getting lost
 
==Example installations & courses==
It might be useful to have a look at some sites where Moodle is being used to deliver courses - obviously this is only useful where access is open to anyone.
 
[http://demo.moodle.org/ Moodle.org demonstration site] that has at least 2 courses.
 
[http://dev.moodle.org/course/view.php?id=2 Moodle.org course for developers].
 
[http://www.igcse-computing.com/lms_new/ IGCSE Computing] - Moodle site with Secondary (Middle School) ICT and staff training resources under creative commons license.
 
[http://aiken.moodlerooms.com/wb/pages/academics/moodle/moodle-at-aiken-high-school--introduction.php Moodle at Aiken High School] (USA secondary school).
 
[http://www.theingots.org/moodle/ INGOTs] Moodle site to support INGOTs which are open source inspired courses which are fully accredited (by QCA in UK).
 
[http://vle.vspreston.lancsngfl.ac.uk/ Preston] Moodle site geared for teachers. Guests can enter some courses.  Generally uses many different graphic approaches.
 
== See also ==
*[[Teacher documentation]]
*[http://moodle.org/ Moodle.org's home page] has a great search tool. It searches all of the site, including the Forums and Moodle documentation (where you are now).  This search tool is different than others you will see.
[[Category:Teacher]]
[[Category:Tutorial]]
 
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Latest revision as of 09:00, 31 July 2012

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