UC Moodle training notes by James Neill during 2-day training at University of Canberra by Mark Drechsler (Netspot), September 16-17, 2008. Feel free to edit.
To be sorted later.
Adding Content
Insert label
- Adds information to a topic (or week)
- Good for a brief summary; but will add to length of site homepage, so keep it simple
- Can use html, images, etc.
- Can't add a heading for a topic when in Weekly mode
Add web page
- Adds a link on the homepage to a webpage
- Summary
- Isn't often displayed - (it does display on resource page but whether "resource" shows in the navigation bar is configurable at admin level and is sometimes/often switched off)
- Page content can be 'anything' e.g., can embedded multimedia (e.g., add a youtube video) (using object or iframe html code)
- Resources/Activities breadcrumb can switched on/off globally, but not site-specifically.
Files
- It seems there is no restriction on file type :)
- Uploading mp3, swf, wma, wmv, etc. will automatically be recognised, with relevant icons added, etc. - where's the list of such recognised file types?
LaTeX
- LaTeX code works for mathematical expressions (and much more) - start with $$ - can also use equation editor
Help
- (i) yellow links to MoodleDocs
- (?) blue links to help info (opens pop-up)
Sideblocks
- Sideblocks are fixed width (not%)
Resources
Book
- Gathers together a group of web pages (essentially a book is a link structure; must be web pages - not other stuff unless embeddedded in web pages)
- WimbaCreate can also do something similar (can import a whole book); currently Book can only import only headings
- Can have sub-chapters
- Students can download a book
SCORM
- SCORM - standard format for importing/exporting between Learning Management Systems.
- Includes traceability e.g., assessments
File storage
- General Moodle files are stored at a global level e.g., logo
- Site files are stored locally within a site
- Eventually UC might eventually use something like Equella - Equella
- e.g.,
- Algebra
- Notes
- Images
- Algebra
- Moving - goes to clipboard, then go to Folder
- Bulk actions vs. single file actions
- Pop-ups (consider - because of pop-up blockers)
External content creators
Moodle is not a high-end content-creation tool (e.g., to convert ppt, etc. and export to swf or html or other more playable etc. formats)
- Articulate $$ (e.g., ArticulateEngage)
- Several products, e.g.,
- PPT to flash converter (advantages of flash)
- Smaller file size
- More accessible format
- 99% of browsers have flash presenter
- Wimba Create $
- Good for converting .doc to .html
- Adobe Captivate $$$
- Camtasia
- Screen recording
- Annotate powerpoint
- Zoom in on stuff
- MoodleTraining site vides (UC) done this way
- Powerconverter
- eXelearning.org (free)
- Courselab (free; Russian; obscure
- FreeMind (free)
- Conversion to html will be to something like index.html, default.html, <filename>.html plus folders such as /CSS, /XML, /FLV, /SWF, etc. - all of this would need to brought into Moodle
- ZIP and then upload, unzip OR use WebDAV
- Dilemma - new window uses pop-up but as a page includes top nav-frame (which varies browser to browser) -> another option it to use iframe
iFrame
A way of embedding local pages or external content within a webpage:
- IFrame (Wikipedia)
<iframe src="http://example.com" height="200">Alt text</iframe>
Groups
- Social constructivism background - some aspects about this are good; others not so good
- Roles
- Lecturer
- Tutor
- Guest
- Auditing Student
- Auditing Staff
- "Student" roles will be auto-populated from Callista
- One extreme - no groups - everyone sees/can do everything
- Other extreme - separate groups - separate groups cannot see the conduct of other groups or be aware that they existed
- Groups separate by activities
- Groups see the same content and assignments
- But they see different discussion fora
- Middle option - Visible groups - can see other groups, but can't post to them
- Each of these is true for tutors and students
- Various ways of allocating groups e.g., random allocation
- If making a forum posting (as a lecturer/teacher), make sure to select which groups can reply to the post.
- Could set up for student to self-subscribe to groups (with Enrolment key)
Groupings
- Must have Groups - then use Groupings tab
- e.g., "Honours Group" and "Remedial Group" - then the Grouping is set (e.g., only Group A belongs to Honours Grouping and Group C belongs to Remedial Grouping) (can add/remove Groups to Groupings - any combination possible)
- Can then see Activity allocations to a Grouping
- For an activity or resource, in common module settings, can allocate to a Grouping (not a Group)
Forums
- Most utilised collaboration tool in Moodle.
- Setting up an announcements-only forced subscription
- All students automatically subscribed to announcements forum (one-way) forum - initial discussion seems to be around support for this as a part of the initial site template for UC
- 30 minutes editing
- e.g., watch out - can change a post and make someone's reply look 'silly'
- Pedagogical implications of this feature warrant further discussion and investigation
- Edit Profile - settings - choose no email, digest, or email per message
Enrolling
- Go to the URL - ID and then join (depends on default config for enrollability and whether an enrollment key is used)
- How can one unenrol?
Glossary
- In general there are Resources or Activities - glossary seems to straddle these
Archiving
- TBD
UC
Help (staff)
- learnonline.support@canberra.edu.au (goes to LearnOnline Help Desk (Netspot) )
- learnonline.admin@canberra.edu.au (lola@canberra.edu.au - UC LearnOnline Admin)
- learnonline.training@canberra.edu.au (lolt@canberra.edu.au - UC LearnOnline Training)
IT
- Disk image needs to allow pop-ups from learnonline.canberra.edu.au
Databases
- e.g., see work by Julian Ridden (Moodle guru) - pre-packaged database structures
Collaboration
- Forums are most common
- Constructivist philosophy - but implementation of this to date is so-so
- Possible tools/functions to consider:
- Forums - good e.g., ratings, etc. -> Gradebook (Pretty good)
- Databases and Glossaries -> Gradebook (OK-ish/Pretty good)
- e.g., must submit one entry before seeing other databases
- Wikis - nWiki (not the default/original one (Erfurt) but will be the one used for v.2 - simple, OK, but not as powerful as MediaWiki)
- Blogging - student blogs are whole-of-moodle (only way to make specific to a site is to add tags which make specific)
- E-portfolios (-> social constructivist POV is to allow students to publish publically - Moodle core doesn't allow this) - integration now written with Mahara
Assignments
There are 4 types of assignments: (Note: Hardest part is creating an appropriate question so that students know what to do / what buttons to click)
- Online text: Text area submission (lecturer receives email)
- Upload a single file (simple; file upload; no comments, etc.)
- Advanced uploading of files (upload bunch of files, with comments, etc.)
- Offline Activity (student can't do anything with it e.g., a practical session -> but we still want it in the Gradebook - manually add grades or bulk upload grades from a spreadsheet)
Dates
- Available from
- Due by
- Prevent late submissions
Online text
- Allow resubmitting (e.g., drafts/feedback/resubmit)
- Email alerts to teachers
- Comment inline (teacher's commented text)
Common module settings
- Group mode
- Grouping
- Available for group members only
- Visible
- ID number
- Grade category
Report -> Grading
- Comments - could be extensions in here (students can see) - using quick grading
Quizzes
Quiz categories
- Can be site-specific, discipline-specific, or whole-installation (e.g., student evaluation questions)
Quiz import
- Can important many types
Quiz question types
- Calculated
- e.g., allows use of a formula for determing the answer (can have a range)
- Description
- Essay
- e.g., write a paragraph on X - the only type which is not auto-marked
- Matching
- Embedded answers (cloze)
- Requires markup
- Multiple choice
- Short answer
- Must match a pre-canned words/phrased (not a "long" short answer)
- Numerical (can accept range)
- Random short-answer matching
- Choose a combination of short-answer choices
- True/False
See also: Category:Question types
Quiz fields
Time
- Open time & close time
- Time limit
- Time delay b/w first and second attempt
- Time delay b/w later attempts
Display
- Questions per page
- Shuffle questions
- Shuffle within questions
Attempts
Relates to multiple attempts
- Attempts allowed
- Each attempt builds on the last
- Adaptive mode
Grades
- Grading method
- Apply penalties
- Toggle on/off
- Only applies if multiple attempts
- Decimal digits in grades
Review options
- Immediately after the attempt
- Later, while the quiz is till open
- After the quiz is closed
- Responses
- Answers
- Feedback
- General feedback
- Scores
- Overall feedback
Security
- Secure (pop-up window) - not that 'secure'?
- Require password
- Require network address - e.g., proctored exam
Common module settings
- Group mode
- Visible
- ID number
- unique identifier for that quiz - can be used later to call up that quiz
Overall feedback
Responses based on their overall marks
- Note that can only seen own results (in a quiz and a gradebook)
Question admin
- Question bank
- Questions in this quiz
- Could be random
- Adds default grade per questions (can override the default at this point)
- Shows total (e.g., 8) -> can be expanded to a Max. grade for the gradebook (e.g., 10)
- There are no conditional activities within quizzes
Question fields
- Question name
- Display of this are configurable
- Weighting
- Penalty
- e.g., can have another go, but if wrong, receive penalty e.g., if weight 1 is penalty is .1 they can have 10 gos
- Feedback
- General (always)
- For each option
- For simple questions, a correct answer gets 100% for that question
Quiz sideblock
- Can be added to show top/bottom results by name, ID, or anonymously
- Probably need to upload class feedback separately (unlike WebCT, can't see class graph)
Lesson
- Complex
- Add Activity - Lesson
- Conditional pathways (branches) for content.
- Can be exploratory, or can have quiz-type graded questions
- Can take any 'html' content
Gradebook
- Turn editing on
- Admin - Grades
- Add category e.g., Total?
- Grade calculations
- Looks like its best to set up assessment items to be weighted out of 100, e.g., essay 20, exam 50, participation 30, then use a a calculation to total to 100
Questions
Stuff to follow-up:
- How to find lecturer contact details? (A: via Participants)
- Email preferences
- Messaging & Contacts
- Why is http://learnonline.canberra.edu.au (sometimes) so slow? e.g., when logging in/out in UC computer lab? Mostly, it is smooth, but on logging in/logging out, it took me in the order of 5-10 minutes sometimes
- Dummy students - how to create these? (e.g., to input responses such as too quizzes and student-view output check output, messaging, feedback, etc.)
UC-specific: Psychology
- Get staff to login - creates a login - this will change shortly
- Then do a course request for a playpen - this will be replaced by the Callista integration script
- James to list all units (check with staff) to be requested for bulk migration
Reports
- Admin - Reports - various ways to explore activities by activity and/or by user
Communication
- Contacting with one another?
- Can select students by amount of activity
See also
General
Other topics
Student FAQ
Some most asked student FAQs include:
- Edit profile
- Jump to (make students aware of this navigation feature)
- Navigation bar (for usability -> hide Resources / Activities?? I'm not so sure)
