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Webinar module

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Overview and Installation

Download latest version of the plugin from http://moodle.org/plugins/view.php?plugin=mod_webinar.

Issue tracker: http://tracker.moodle.org/browse/CONTRIB/component/12436

Summary

This is an activity module for web conferencing which enables Adobe Connect webinar sessions to be added as an activity to any course.

Description

The Webinar activity module enables Adobe Connect hosted webinars to be added as an activity to any course. This is intended for hosted Adobe deployments, not on-premise deployments - see http://www.adobe.com/uk/products/adobeconnect.html.

The Webinar activity module includes the following functionality:

  • Add/edit/delete webinar session
  • Assign a host user to a session - based on 'teacher' system role
  • Register for session / assign students to a session
  • Unregistered for session / unassign students from a session
  • Automated email notifications to registered students
  • Join session
  • View / record webinar
  • Run attendance report

All webinar administration is done from within Moodle from setting up webinar sessions, registering users on webinar sessions and joining sessions. Only when the student clicks on Join Session do they leave Moodle and view the webinar in the Adobe Connect Player window. Upon exiting the webinar session they will be returned to the Moodle course page.

It has been tested using Adobe Connect Pro 8 (and 9) hosted accounts, using the Adobe Connect Web Services API - see http://help.adobe.com/en_US/connect/8.0/webservices/index.html for a technical overview of how the API works.

Requirements

  • Moodle 2.3 or Moodle 2.2
  • An Adobe Connect account - register for a 30-day free trial at http://www.adobe.com/uk/products/adobeconnect.html.
  • All users attending session will be required to have Flash Player 10.1 or higher, with the ability to install Adobe Connect Add-Ins in order to share their screen.

Installation

  1. Unpack the module into your Moodle install in order to create a mod/webinar directory.
  2. Visit the /admin/index.php page to trigger the database installation.
  3. (Optional) Change the default options in the activity modules configuration.
  4. (Optional) Assign roles of teacher or non-editing teacher to one or more users to be able to assign them as webinar hosts.

Bug tracker URL

Our tracker system used to report bugs and suggest improvements can be found at http://tracker.moodle.org/browse/CONTRIB/component/12436.

User Guide

Adding Adobe Connect account details to the module settings

Upon installing the webinar module, you will be directed to the module settings page at /admin/settings.php?section=modsettingwebinar in order to add the details of your Adobe Connect account that you should have received upon signup. The three fields below must be filled in correctly in order for the webinar module to communicate with your Adobe account.

Site XML API URL: This should be your Adobe Account URL received on signup, plus '/api/xml' - eg. https://meet12345678.adobeconnect.com/api/xml. Do not include a trailing slash.

Administrator email: The email address associated with your Adobe Connect account (this should be on your welcome email).

Administrator password: The password associated with your Adobe Connect account (this should be on your welcome email).

These module settings can be changed at any time by going to Site administration > Plugins > Activity modules > Webinar.

Adding Webinar activity

To add an webinar activity, go to a course you have created and turn editing on and then select add an activity:

This is a two step process.

1. Click the 'Add an activity or resource' link:

1. Add webinar activity

2. Select the 'Webinar' radio button and then click 'Add':

2. Add webinar activity

You will then be taken to the 'Add a new Webinar' screen. Where you need to enter the name of your webinar. There are also fields for 'description' and 'Agenda' but these are optional.

Adding a new webinar screen

Editing Webinar activity

To edit the activity you need either turn editing on or select 'Edit settings' from the 'course settings' panel. You are then taken to the 'Updating Webinar' page:

Updating webinar screen

Delete Webinar activity

To delete the activity you need to turn editing on and select the 'x' symbol and you will then be given the option to confirm the deletion of the activity:

Delete webinar

View Webinar activity

To view the webinar activity you just need to click on the activity link on your course page. You will then be taken to the view page which displays the title, description and webinar session information:

Manager View:

User view webinar page

User View:

Manager view webinar page

Adding a new session

To add a new session click the 'Add a new session' link on the 'view webinar' page.

Add a new session link

On the 'Adding a new session' page you then need to fill in the appropriate details:

  1. Host - This is a dropdown list of all the people than can be hosts. This will be anyone who has the role of admin, teacher or non editing teacher for the course in question. ** NOTE: for single host license Adobe Connect accounts, the selected host must be the Adobe Connect account holder, and the Moodle user account will need to be registered under the same email address as the Adobe Connect account is registered to. **
  2. Capacity - The maximum amount of users you want to be able to attend the webinar
  3. Start date/time
  4. Finish date/time
Add a new session page

Editing a session

To edit a session open the view webinar page and click the edit icon next to any of the sessions listed. You are then taken to the edit page, when you can change the details as needed.

Edit session link
Edit session screen

Delete a session

To delete a session simply select the 'x' icon for the session in question on the view webinar page. You will then be prompted to confirm the deletion.

Delete session link
Delete session confirmation

View/Add attendees

As a manager for the webinar (administrator, teacher or non editing teacher) you can view the users that have registered for the session and also have the option to add users yourself, these users will then be emailed by Moodle to say they have been registered on the session.

First from the view webinar page click on the 'Attendees link':

Add attendees link

You are then taken to the 'Attendees' page where you can view the attendees and also have the option to add or remove them from the session:

View attendees screen

Clicking on the 'Add/remove attendees' link then takes you to a standard Moodle add and remove users page:

Add and Remove attendees screen

The users added or deleted are then sent an email Moodle confirming this action. The mail can be configured in the usual way with the language strings:

An example registration email

User registration

The logged in user navigates the course with the webinar in it and then clicks on the link, they are then taken to the 'View Webinar' page where they can register for any of the available sessions there.

Register on session link

Once the user clicks on 'Register' they are taken to a confirmation page.

Register on session confirmation screen

The user can also cancel their booking here if they wish to buy clicking on the 'Cancel booking' link:

Cancel booking link

The user is then taken to a cancel booking screen where they can also enter a reason for the cancellation if they so wish:

Cancel booking page

Join a session

As a user you only get the option to join a session, but if logged in as the session host, you can join the session as the host.

From the 'View Webinar' page you can then select the 'Join session' link:

User:

Join session: user

Session Host:

Join session as host

Once you have joined a session Adobe connect will start and you will be logged in. For more information on using Adobe connect please see the documentation available from: http://www.adobe.com/support/connect/gettingstarted/index.html.

Example host screen:

Example host screen

Example user screen with the hosts desktop being shared and webcam enabled:

Example user screen with host shared desktop and webcam