Was ist Moodle FAQ

Hier finde Sie eine Liste häufig gestellter Fragen, die Moodle im allgemeinen betreffen. Es gibt auch eine Seite mit häufig gestellten Fragen für verschiedene spezifische Themen.

Starten mit Moodle

Was ist Moodle?

• Moodle ist ein Lernmanagementsystem (LMS). Eine nähere Beschreibung finden Sie hier.

Wie beginne ich mit Moodle?

• Sie können Moodle herunterladen und auf Ihrem Server installieren. Wenn Sie Moodle nur mal ausprobieren wollen, können Sie die Moodle Demonstration Site nutzen. Wenn Sie eine Moodle-Installation mit Beispielkursen sehen möchten, besuchen Sie die School Demonstration site.

Wo bekomme ich Moodle her?

• Sie können Moodle in verschiedenen Paketen herunterladen und auf einem eigenen Server installieren. Oder Sie wenden sich an einen Moodle Partner, der die Installation und das Hosting für Sie übernimmt. Einige Hosting-Anbieter haben Moodle in ihre Hosting-Paket enthalten, andere stellen es unter bestimmten Bedingungen (z.B. Werbung) frei zur Verfügung.

Muss ich mich mit Technologie auskennen, um Moodle nutzen zu können?

• Um Moodle zu nutzen, müssen Sie nur einen Web-Browser bedienen können. Für die Installation von Moodle benötigen Sie etwas mehr Wissen rund um Web-Server, Datenbank-Server und PHP. Sie finden hier im Wiki jedoch entsprechende Anleitungen.

Für welches Alter von Lernenden ist Moodle am besten geeignet?

• Moodle kann für alle Altersklassen genutzt werden und wird in den verschiedensten Bildungsbereichen (Schule, Hochschule, Berufsausbildung, Erwachsenenbildung, Unternehmen) erfolgreich eingesetzt. Moodle kann so angepasst werden, dass es den Bedürfnissen von verschiedenen Lerngruppen jeden Alters gerecht wird.

Ist Moodle nur für das Online-Lernen gedacht?

• Moodle kann für reines Online-Lernen genutzt werden. In den meisten Fällen wird Moodle jedoch eingesetzt, um eine Kombination von Präsenz- und Online-Lernen zu unterstützen.

Gibt es in Moodle Unterstützung für Menschen mit Beeinträchtigungen?

• Ja. Moodle unterstützt verschiedene Technologien, wie z.B. Screen-Reader, Screen-Magnifier, alternative Maus- und Tastaturnutzung, Abschalten von AJAX und Javascript usw. Lesen und nutzen Sie das Accessibility forum zu Fragen rund im Barriere-Freiheit.

Navigation und Einstellungen

Wie melde ich mich in Moodle an?

• Rufen Sie im Browser die URL Ihrer Moodle-Installation auf, melden Sie sich mit Ihrem Anmeldenamen und Kennwort an oder als Gast an.

Wie finde ich mich in Moodle zurecht?

• Nutzen Sie den Block Navigation, den Sie auf jder Moodle-Seite finden. Von hier aus haben Sie direkten Zugriff auf die verschiedenen Bereiche in Moodle, z.B. die Kurse oder Ihr Profil.

Wie kann ich in Moodle editieren?

• Sie können nur die Sachen editieren, für die Sie das Bearbeitungsrecht haben. Ein normaler Nutzer (z.B. ein Kursteilnehmer) kann nur sein Profil oder seine persönliche Startseite bearbeiten. Ein Nutzer mit weitergehenden Bearbeitungsrechten (z.B. ein Trainer in einem Kurs) kann die verschiedenen Berabeiten-Links im Block Einstellungen nutzen, um Dinge zu editieren.

Gäste haben keinerlei Bearbeitungsrechte und Administrator/innen dürfen alles editieren.

Wer kann Kursinhalte auf einer Kursseite einfügen?

• Jeder, der die entsprechenden Rechte hat. In der Regel ist das der Trainer - er kann im Kurs Arbeitsmaterialien, Aktivitäten und Blöcke anlegen. Die Rechte der Trainer-Rolle können jedoch geändert werden oder die Rolle kann umbenannt werden.

Beispiele

Gibt es gute Beispiele für Moodle, die ich mir ansehen kann?

• Sicher! Schauen Sie sich diese Sammlung von Videos an oder stöbern Sie auf der Webseite Moodle Buzz. Es gibt auch eine Demo Schule mit vielen Kursbeispielen zum Anschauen und Ausprobieren.

Wie kann ich Ideen und Erfahrungen zu Moodle mit anderen teilen?

• Beteiligen Sie sich auf verschiedene Weisen: auf Konferenzen, in den Diskussionsforen auf moodle.org oder in anderen Netzwerken.

Gibt es gute Quellen für frei verfügbare Moodle-Kurse?

• Ja. In Community Hubs können Sie Kurse suchen, herunterladen, veröffentlichen und mit anderen teilen.

Lernen mit Moodle - Pädagogik

Was ist die beste Art, Moodle zu nutzen?

• There is no one best way to use Moodle. Use of Moodle depends a lot on one's own educational philosophy, the context where Moodle is used and willingness to experiment and create a little (or a lot!). Moodle can be used by a strict controller using trusted material of 30 years or a free-loving e-hippie exploring new ways of teaching and learning alike.

Are there any teaching DO’s and DON’Ts?

• Sure. A number of them have been suggested by the community of Moodle users.

Can Moodle be used in different subject (say maths, languages, art, media, science...)?

• Yes. Moodle is used in a variety of fields. Users in some subject areas may benefit further from standard or compatible third-party modules and plugins (eg. in maths, Tex notation filter (standard) or DragMath equation editor (third-party plugin)).

How can I use Moodle to stimulate students think harder and ask good questions?

• By asking and encouraging good questions students can wrestle with and explore through and with the help of activities, resources in a course. For example, open a forum discussion with a provocative question, start a wiki where groups collaboratively build a solution ... and more!

How can I communicate with students by using Moodle?

• Many ways are available. Some examples include: Forums are great for extended conversations over time, Messages for private channels, Chat for synchronous conversations, and Comments for quick notices and remarks. You can also exchange online feedback with Assignment, comments to Blog posts ... and more!

How can we share resources with Moodle?

• Moodle offers a number of ways to share content: making files and folders available to course participants, collecting resources of any kind with a Database, attaching files to Forum posts, importing and linking resources to and from external repositories/portfolios ... and more!

How can Moodle help people collaborate?

• Use different activities like Wikis to create content together, Forums and Comments to exchange ideas, Database to collectively gather resources, Glossary to create shared understanding of concepts ... and more! You can group students in any of these activities to promote collaboration.

How do I grade in Moodle?

• Grades can be created in each activity in a course which are then added to the Gradebook. For example, grades in Assignment (all types), Quiz and Workshop activities are automatically added to Gradebook. In some activities you will have to turn grading on, such as ratings 'on' in Forum, Glossary and Database to send them to the Gradebook. You can also use the gradebook to adjust, assign or automatically scale an activity grade in your course. There are many opportunities to exchange feedback on many activities, not just grades.

Can students do self and peer assessment type tasks with Moodle?

• Yes. Probably the best activity to do that is Workshop module. Informally, students can evaluate (and even rate) each others' Forum posts, Glossary entries, and Database entries.

Is 'social constructionist' approach necessary when using Moodle?

• Moodle has continuously been built with a particular, social constructionist philosophy in mind. This of course does not prevent people from using Moodle in line with their own preferred view of learning and the purpose they use it for.

Students

How long does it take students to learn to use Moodle?

• It really does not take a great deal of skill or computer knowledge to use Moodle. With basic web browsing and editing skills, students (and teachers) can use Moodle - instantly!

What do my students need to know before using Moodle?

• They need to know how login into the site and course, and have some basic web browsing and computer skills. For example, they need to how a mouse and keyboard works, what a link is, maybe how to attach, upload or download a file.

Do students have to be online all the time to use Moodle?

• Moodle is an online learning management system and at some point you and your students will have to spend some time in front of a computer. How much time depends on what you use Moodle for. Most Moodle sites are used to mix offline and online learning activities.

Getting help

Is there an official support desk for Moodle?

• Yes and no. Moodle.org forums can serve as a support desk. Moodle Partners may charge for support desk as part of their service. Often, like the higher priced LMSs, a school or consortium will maintain a help desk.

What do I do if I am stuck? Are there any good tutorials around?

• Get some help at Moodle.org in a forum or search the Moodle documentation There are also many books and manuals available for purchase.

What if I have a specific question about a tool, where can I find out more?

• Research it in Moodle documentation by using the search box on the left of every page in Moodle Docs. Click on a help icon on your Moodle site. Go to a forum dedicated to that tool. Research it by using the Search moodle.org box at the top of this page.

How can I suggest improvements and put forward what I would like to see in Moodle?

• Moodle Tracker is by far THE best place to suggest improvement. File an issue or suggest improvement there, and let people know in a forum about your ideas. Maybe they will vote for it (which tends to get people's attention).

Where can I get training on how to use Moodle?

• A number of places offer training in how best to use Moodle. However, Moodle Partners know Moodle best and can provide official training. You can also think of doing the Moodle Course Creator Certificate to improve your skills.

Basic Moodle jargon

Moodle uses jargon words that you may be familiar with from other, non-Moodle contexts. Within Moodle, These words have specific (and potentially different) meanings, explained below.

What is a Course?

• A course is the basic learning area on Moodle where a teacher displays materials for their students. See Courses

What is a Category?

• A category is a group of things and has several meanings in Moodle. It can be a grouping of courses by a certain criteria (Such as: Science; Junior School; Staff Area). It can be a group of questions, or a group of entries in a glossary.

What is an Activity?

• Usually an activity is something that a student will do that interacts with other students and or the teacher. Moodle has over a dozen activity types of tools for a teacher to use in a course.

What is a Resource?

• Resources are items that a teacher can use to support learning, such as a file or a link. A standard Moodle comes with 6 resource types that can be added to a course.

What is a Block?

• Typically,blocks are items which may be added to the left or right in a course's home page. There are dozens of different blocks that can be added to a course, or pages within a course.

What is a Plugin?

• Plugin is an optional extra component which can add functionality to your Moodle. Some standard Moodle plugins need to be turned on by Moodle Administrator. Many more can be downloaded from the Modules and Plugins database.

What is a Filter?

• Filters can be used to add links, insert multimedia players, convert Mathematical expressions or emoticons into displayed images.

What is a Section?

• A section is an area within a course's homepage that hold activities and resources. Standard course section formats are topics, weeks, social and SCORM.

What is a Role?

• A role in Moodle refers to what a user is allowed (or not) to do on a Moodle site. Typical roles might include those of a student and teacher. A role is a collection of permissions that can be assigned to specific users in specific contexts. For example, when a user is enrolled in a course as a student.

Security

How secure is Moodle?

• Moodle is designed to be very secure. However, a lot depends upon the webserver, the way Moodle is setup and regular updates of the package by the Moodle Administrator.

Can Moodle get hacked into and student data stolen?

• Highly unlikely if your Moodle site has up-to-date security and the site administrator has not given away the keys. Anything is possible on any website, but Moodle makes it difficult for nasty people to cause havoc.

What if I did something wrong and accidentally broke it - could it be easily fixed?

• Moodle can be backed-up at any point. If a backup was made 5 minutes before you broke it, chances are it can be fixed easily.

Is my student data safe on a cheap or free webhost?

• While you do have some control of the security of a Moodle site on a free or cheap web host, the question is: How much do you trust your web host?

Can I track and search what people do and post in Moodle?

• Assuming you are a teacher and it is your course, yes. Moodle Admin can do that for the entire site.

Can I backup Moodle so I don't lose things?

• Yes, you can backup a Moodle site or as a teacher you can back up your course and download it (if your role permits it). With appropriate permissions, you can restore your course and/or import parts of courses elsewhere on your site or beyond. This can be particularly useful with Community Hubs (Moodle 2.0 feature).

Technical

Do I need my own server to run Moodle?

• Moodle needs a web server. There are lots of options. See Moodle Partners, Complete install packages and Installation FAQ.

Do I have to install Moodle myself?

• You can, guidance provided. Most organisations will have a policy on this and/or someone to perform the installation.

Can I customise a theme and make it about our school?

• Yes, see Themes. You can customise themes down to a single course. There are many ways to make Moodle looks great too.

Does it matter what computer type or browser I use for Moodle?

• Moodle works well in all standard, modern browsers and different operating systems. As with any web based application, you should be aware of your audience, their typical bandwidth and web browsers.

Can you use Moodle from anywhere?

• Yes, if it is on a web server attached to the internet and you have a computer, mobile device or tablet. Or if it is on a web server attached to the same intranet (internal network) as a computers or tablets which need to work it. And you can even put Moodle on a USB drive.

Can access to Moodle be restricted to just our school?

• Yes, several ways to do this. For example, it can be installed on your schools internal network, or limit the IPs to those assigned by your school, or only manually enroll your students are just a few ways.

Can I access Moodle from a mobile device?

• Yes. In Moodle 2.1 you use the Mobile app for iPhone. You can set one theme as the default but also set another theme for a mobile device and a different one for a tablet.

I've come from a school that used a different VLE/LMS. Can I move my stuff over to Moodle?

• Sure. Some VLE/LMS-specific activities may (not) be compatible, but you can zip your content files and unzip them in Moodle.

I spotted a bug in the system. What do I do?

• Go to Tracker, search if the bug has already been reported and create a new issue if not.

I have an idea for a feature and/or improvement in Moodle. What do I do?

• Go to Tracker, search if something like your idea has already been noted and worked on and suggest it if not.

Cost

How much does it cost to download and use Moodle?

• By way of its GNU General Public License, Moodle is and will remain free to download and use in any way you like. Consider it free like a 'free puppy' that needs care and attention to grow, not free like a 'free beer'.

How much does it cost to run Moodle?

• Nothing to install, use and change. Of course, there are some associated costs if you have your Moodle hosted with someone, and costs associated with maintenance and training in an organisation (like any other software...). But no royalties, fees or user charges.

How much does it cost to have Moodle hosted?

• There are many options for hosting. Cost is usually related to services provided and capacity (eg. a university site with 10 000 users will naturally cost more to host and maintain than a small community school). Ask your local Moodle Partner and keep Moodle going that way too!