MoodleDocs - User contributions [en]

Git for Administrators

2012-03-19T13:42:54Z

Ebugnet: link to french page

{{Installing Moodle}}
The recommended way (now all Moodle development has moved to this versioning system) is Git. This page describes how to maintain a copy of Moodle on your production server which can easily be upgraded using Git. If you have customisations of Moodle core code, you are advised to follow the instructions in the [[Development:Quick Git start guide for Moodle development|Quick Git start guide for Moodle development]].

To get the most of of Git it is worth making the effort to understand its basic concepts - see the See also section below. It can be a bit of a learning curve, especially if you are used to CVS or Subversion.

== Getting hold of Git ==

Support for Git was, up until recently, mostly confined to Linux but builds are now available for most popular operating systems:
* List of downloads from Git site - http://git-scm.com/download

== Obtaining the code from Git ==

The command line version of Git is discussed here. Graphical clients are little more than wrappers around the command line version, so you should be able to deduce the correct parameters quite easily.

You can find the official Moodle git repository at git://git.moodle.org/moodle.git (with an official clone at git://github.com/moodle/moodle.git). To initialize your local checkout, use
<pre>
$ git clone git://git.moodle.org/moodle.git (1)
$ cd moodle
$ git branch -a (2)
$ git branch --track MOODLE_22_STABLE origin/MOODLE_22_STABLE (3)
$ git checkout MOODLE_22_STABLE (4)
</pre>
* The command (1) initializes the new local repository as a clone of the 'upstream' (i.e. the remote server based) moodle.git repository. The upstream repository is called 'origin' by default. It creates a new directory named ''moodle'', where it downloads all the files. This operation can take a while as it is actually getting the entire history of all Moodle versions
* The command (2) lists all available branches.
* Use the command (3) to create a new local branch called MOODLE_22_STABLE and set it to track the remote branch MOODLE_22_STABLE from the upstream repository.
* The command (4) actually switches to the newly created local branch.

Note that Git has a huge number of options for each command and it's actually possible to do the above process with a single command (left as an exercise!!).

==Git from behind a firewall==

Git uses a proprietary protocol and it may be blocked by your firewall (port 9418). If this is a problem, you can use Github's http version <nowiki>https://github.com/moodle/moodle.git</nowiki>. It's a bit slower, so use the Git protocol if you can.

== Updating your installation ==

The Moodle development team performs integration and testing of fixed bugs every Monday and Tuesday. On Wednesday you can install all patches by updating your code. Check the [http://git.moodle.org/gw?p=moodle.git;a=summary shortlog] to see if the official repository has been already updated or not.

To update your code to the latest version (on the MOODLE_22_STABLE branch) '''all''' you have to do is:
<pre>
$ cd /path/to/your/moodle/
$ git pull
</pre>
If this is a production site you should still consider the [[Upgrade]] instructions (e.g. take backups).

== Installing a contributed extension from its Git repository ==

This is one way to handle adding plugins from other Git repositories into your Moodle repository. Another way is to use Git Submodules. However, at the time of writing, this is one of Git's rougher features and should be regarded as an advanced option.

For example, let us say we want to install the [[Book module]] form its Git repository into our Moodle 2.2.
<pre>
$ cd /path/to/your/moodle/
$ cd mod (1)
$ git clone git://github.com/skodak/moodle-mod_book.git book (2)
$ cd book
$ git checkout -b MOODLE_22_STABLE origin/MOODLE_22_STABLE (3)
$ git branch -d master (4)
</pre>
The command (1) changes the current directory into the ''mod'' folder of your local Moodle clone. The command (2) creates a new subdirectory ''book'' and makes a local clone of Petr Škoda's vanilla Book repository. The command (3) creates a new local branch that will track the remote branch with a Book version for Moodle 2.1. The command (4) deletes the ''master'' that was created automatically by git-clone in (2) as we do not want it in this production checkout.

Now it is wise to put the new directory mod/book/ to the list of ignored files of the main Moodle clone, otherwise a status of the main clone will keep reminding you that the new code has not been checked in.
<pre>
$ cd /path/to/your/moodle/
$ echo /mod/book/ >> .git/info/exclude
</pre>
To update your Moodle installation now, you must visit both Git repositories and pull changes from upstream.
<pre>
$ cd /path/to/your/moodle/
$ git pull
$ cd mod/book
$ git pull
</pre>
Writing a shell script with these lines in the root of Moodle installation is a very good idea. Otherwise it is easy to forget what Git repositories are there within the main Moodle repository.

== See also ==

; Moodle Docs
* [[Git FAQ]]
* [[CVS for Administrators]]
* [[Moodle versions]]
* For some screenshots see [[User:Frank_Ralf/Git]] (still work in progress)

; Moodle forum discussions
* [http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=168094 GIT help needed]
* [http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=165236 Best way to manage CONTRIB code with GIT]
* [http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=167063 Handy Git tip for tracking 3rd-party modules and plugins]
* [http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=167730 Moodle Git repositories]
* [http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=183693 Git and CVS]

; External resources
* [http://www.kernel.org/pub/software/scm/git/docs/everyday.html Everyday GIT With 20 Commands Or So]
* [http://gitref.org/ Git Reference]
* [http://progit.org/book/ Pro Git book]
* [http://eigenjoy.com/2008/05/15/git-from-the-bottom-up/ Git from the bottom up]

[[Category:Git]]

[[ja:管理者用Git]]
[[fr:Git_pour_administrateurs]]

Capabilities/moodle/calendar:managegroupentries

2008-04-25T06:40:49Z

Ebugnet: link to fr

{{Moodle 1.9}}*This allows a user to add, update or delete calendar group entries in the context this capability applies to (system, course category or course).

[[Category:Capabilities|Calendar]]
[[Category:Calendar]]
[[Category:Groups]]

[[fr:Capabilities/moodle/calendar:managegroupentries]]

Capabilities/moodle/calendar:manageownentries

2008-04-25T06:38:48Z

Ebugnet: link to fr

*This allows a user to add, edit or delete their own events in the calendar

[[Category:Capabilities|Calendar]]
[[Category:Calendar]]

[[fr:Capabilities/moodle/calendar:manageownentries]]

Calendar export

2008-04-24T16:19:25Z

Ebugnet:

{{Calendar}}
{{Moodle 1.8}}Moodle allows administrators, teachers and students to easily export calendars for backing up or inserting in calendar software.

There are two methods for exporting a calendar in Moodle.

== To back up a calendar == [[Image:MoodleCalendarExport.jpg|thumb|150px|right|Moodle Calendar "Export calendar" and "iCal" buttons]]

* Click the "Export calendar" button located on the bottom of the calendar page
* Select the items you wish to back up (select "All events" to back up the entire calendar)
* Click "Export" when you are ready to export

Note: you can only export calendar events up to the next 60 days.

== To copy a calendar ==

For use on a device such as a PDA, or to import a Moodle calendar into software such as Apple iCal, Microsoft Outlook, or Mozilla Thunderbird:

* Click on the orange "iCal" button located on the bottom of the calendar page
* Alternatively, when using "Export calendar" clicking on "Get calendar URL" will provide you with a URL which can be used with other calendar software to sync with a Moodle calendar

Note: you cannot select individual items to include in the exported file with iCal, all events will be included.

You can then import the exported calendar into your desired software.

== Importing a Moodle calendar into Mozilla Thunderbird/Lightning ==

* Enter into calendar mode by clicking the Calendar icon at the bottom-right of the client
* Click Calendar -> Import... then locate the exported iCal file

Note: changing an event in Thunderbird/Lightning will not change the event in a Moodle calendar as well, you must do that yourself.

==Subscribing to a calendar in Outlook 2007==
If you use an Outlook 2007 calendar, you can have your Moodle calendar events overlaid on top (or placed side by side) by following these steps:

#Go to the calendar view in your Moodle install and find the orange ical icon at the bottom and right click it, choosing "copy link location".
#Open Outlook 2007 and go to Tools->account settings->internet calendars->new.
#Paste in the address you copied from Moodle.
#Click OK and close.
#You should now see another calendar available on the left hand calendar bar, underneath 'My Calendars'. Enable this and Outlook will update the calendar every time it opens.
#Right-click on the tabs to choose between 'side by side mode' and 'overlay mode'.

[[ca:Exportaci%C3%B3_d%27un_calendari]]
[[fr:Exportation_du_calendrier]]

Calendar permissions

2008-04-24T16:19:15Z

Ebugnet:

{{Calendar}}
{{Moodle 1.7}}Roles and capabilities in Moodle 1.7 onwards enable possibilities such as non-admin users being given permission to add site events to the calendar. The following capabilities are related to the calendar:

*[[Capabilities/moodle/calendar:manageentries|moodle/calendar:manageentries]]
*[[Capabilities/moodle/calendar:manageownentries|moodle/calendar:manageownentries]]
*[[Capabilities/moodle/calendar:managegroupentries|moodle/calendar:managegroupentries]] (Moodle 1.9 onwards)

==See also==

*[[Calendar editor role]]
*Using Moodle [http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=72015 Can a student post a course event?] forum discussion

[[Category:Calendar]]
[[Category:Roles]]
[[ca:Permisos_del_calendari]]
[[fr:Permissions_du_calendrier]]

Calendar preferences

2008-04-24T16:18:38Z

Ebugnet:

{{Calendar}}

To enter a Moodle calendar's preferences, click on the "Preferences" button located at the top-right of the calendar. [[Image:MoodleCalendarPreferenceButton.jpg|thumb|150px|right|Moodle Calendar "Preferences" Button]]

Once you have made changes (i.e. changed the default values) remember to click the "Save changes" button at the bottom of the Preferences page, otherwise the changed settings will not be saved. Default values for each of the preferences are listed below.

== Time display format ==

Either 12-hour (am/pm) or 24-hour time display formatting can be set. The default setting formats the time display according to the language settings you use on the site (US-English will format the time display to 12-hour).

== First day of week ==

The day that a calendar weeks will start with when being displayed. Default is set to "Sunday".
[[Image:MoodleCalendarPreferencePage.jpg|thumb|150px|right|Moodle Calendar Preferences Page]]
== Maximum upcoming events ==

The maximum number of upcoming events displayed on the calendar at one time. A larger number will mean that upcoming events displays will take up a large amount of space on a screen. Default is set to 10.

== Upcoming events look-ahead ==

The maximum number of days in the future that an event has to occur in order to be displayed as an upcoming event. Events that start on a date beyond the value set will not be displayed as an upcoming event. Default is set to 21.

'''Note:''' If the number of upcoming events exceeds the maximum number of upcoming events allowed (see above) then the ones that exceed this limit will '''not''' be displayed. To allow for more upcoming events to be displayed at one time, set Maximum upcoming events to a higher value.

== Remember filter settings ==

If the value is set to "Yes" then your last event filter settings will be automatically restores each time you login. Default is set to "No".

== Other Settings ==

Various other settings for the Moodle calendar can be located at Appearance -> Themes -> Calendar in the Site Administration panel.

'''Note:''' Settings will be dependent on the site theme used.

[[ca:Prefer%C3%A8ncies_del_calendari]]
[[fr:Pr%C3%A9f%C3%A9rences_du_calendrier]]

Adding/editing a calendar event

2008-04-24T16:17:56Z

Ebugnet:

{{Calendar}}

To add a calendar event
* Click month on Calendar to get an expanded month view
* In Calendar view click the New Event button
* On a New Event page select the type of event
** A '''User Event''' will only be visible by the user currently logged in (i.e. the one creating the event);
** A '''Group Event''' will be visible to a particular Group on the course (chosen from a drop-down list);
** A '''Course Event''' will be visible to participants on the course in question. Only users with editing rights on a course can add course events;
** A '''Site Event''' is a "global" event - visible in every course and on the calendar on the home page. Only Administrators can add site events.
* Set the event properties
* Click Save changes

==See also==

*[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rwst4lSNniw Video on using the Moodle calendar]
*Using Moodle [http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=51583 Importing a global calendar from outlook] forum discussion

[[ca:Afegir/editar_esdeveniments]]
[[fr:Ajouter/modifier_un_%C3%A9v%C3%A9nement]]

Using Wiki

2006-11-30T08:55:35Z

Ebugnet:

{{Wiki}}

==Adding pages==

A useful way of adding pages and maintaining a structured contents page (as opposed to the alphabetical '''Page Index''') is to add initial wiki pages from the front page:
* Click the edit tab on the front page of the wiki
* Type the desired page title in square brackets on any part of the page e.g. [Surds]
* Save the page
The page will now display Surds? with the question mark being a hyperlink to the new empty page.
* Click on the question mark and add content to the new page. The question mark will then disappear.

== CamelCase notation ==

*What is a CamelCase notation? Your very first CamelCase notation you will create will look like: <nowiki>[Create wiki page]</nowiki>. Anything inside the square brackets is the page name. When this is placed on the first wiki page, a "?" that is a link appears. Clicking on the link in this example will take us to a new blank page called "Create wiki page".
*CamelCase notation allows pages to be linked, indexes created for catagories, and all sorts of other organizational tools to make connections.
*CamelCase describes what WikiWords look like. Multiple words, joined together without spaces, separated by changes in case. The uppercase and lowercase letters show up like the humps of camels. This linking scheme is often also called BumpyText because it could look like CaMeL_CaSe.
In return you will get in trouble, if you need to have words displayed in CamelCase in your text. Moodle will automatically turn those words into anchors with a link pointing to a new side. You may turn of this CamelCase functionality in the menu “Edit this Wiki”. I’m not sure this is the exact name of the menu, as I have only access to the Danish version of Moodle. It might be “Update this wiki” or something like that?

==Deleting pages==
<ul>
<li>
Open the wiki </li>
<li>
Use the Administration drop down menu in the upper right corner of your screen to delete pages </li>
</ul>

==Wiki search==
Wiki search ignores hyperlinks so it is wise to add a "Keywords:" line which contains the words of the the page title separated by commas, and any other entries that you wish to be found by the search.

[[Category:Teacher]]
[[Category:Wiki]]

[[fr:Afficher un wiki]]

Wiki settings

2006-11-30T08:54:42Z

Ebugnet:

{{Wiki}}
==Adding a wiki page==
There are several ways to add a new wiki page. In later versions of Moodle, the course participant's privilages can effect adding or editing wiki pages.

===Add a wiki activity===
When the teacher selects '''Wiki''' from the [[Adding resources and activities|Add an Activity
]] pull down menus in a course, they will be asked to create the first page.

===Add by using search===
Any participant (with correct privilages) of an existing wiki can enter the name of the page they would like to create in the Search box on a wiki page. For example they might enter the name "Roses".

: If the page already exists
::they will be taken to the page "Roses"
: If the page does not exist, they will see:
:: '''There is no page titled "Roses"'''
::They can create this page by clicking on the "create this page" link
::and begin editing the new page called "Roses"

===From a wiki page===

Participants in a wiki can also create a new wiki page by editing an existing page and adding a wiki link to the page they want to create - e.g. <nowiki>[[Roses]]</nowiki>- using brackets.

After either selecting '''Save page'' or '''Show preview''', the participant will then see a clickable link to "Roses"; they or someone else can click on it and begin to edit that page.

==Editing a wiki==
Editing a wiki is simple.
* Click on the '''edit''' tag at the top of the wiki page
* Edit the text
* Use wiki tags for formatting and creating links that are needed
* Then save the page, or preview the page before saving

==See also==
* Go to [[Help:Editing]] to learn more about the wiki formatting tags

[[Category:Teacher]]
[[Category:Wiki]]

[[fr:Ajouter/modifier un wiki]]

Using Choice

2006-11-24T12:31:31Z

Ebugnet:

{{Choices}}

You will see the choice name and description as well as the options you can vote for. Clicking Save my choice saves the answer you have chosen. You can also 'View x responses' (where 'x' is the number of responses given to the choice).

[[image:Choice_7b.gif|frame|left|time to vote]]
 

[[Category:Teacher]]
[[Category:Choice]]

[[fr:Afficher un sondage]]

Choice settings

2006-11-24T12:30:28Z

Ebugnet:

{{Choices}}

==Select choice==

Log in as the course teacher and turn on editing. Then select ''Choice'' from the drop down ''Add an activity'' menu.

[[image:Choice_1.gif|frame|left|choose ''choice'' from the menu]]
 

==Choice name==

A short name of the choice (e.g. "Favourite colour"). This will be displayed on the course's homepage.
[[image:Choice_2.gif|frame|left|this will become a link on the course page]]
 

==Choice text==

Type the description of the choice activity here. It should contain the question that you want your students to answer. An example of the choice text could be "What is your favourite colour?"

[[image:Choice_3.gif|frame|left|what do you want the students to tell you?]]
 

==Choice 1 ~ Choice 10==

Here is where you specify the options that participants have to choose from. In our example, the numbered options could be e.g. "blue", "green", "red", "yellow", etc.

You can fill in any number of these: if you leave some of the options blank, they will not be displayed.

[[image:Choice_4.gif|frame|left|up to ten responses]]
 

==Limit the number of responses allowed==

This option allows you to limit the number of participants who can select each particular option.

Once Limits have been enabled, each option can be assigned a limit. When the limit is reached then no-one else can select that option. A limit of zero (0) means that no-one can select that option.

If Limits are disabled then any number of participants can select any of the options.

==Restrict answering to this time period==

This setting allows you to define a time window within which participants are allowed to make a choice.

To set an open-ended close date just set the time very far in the future.

If you don't need this at all then uncheck the box.

[[image:Choice_5.gif|frame|left|this is optional, of course]]
 

==Display Mode==

This setting allows you to choose how the choices will be displayed to the participants: horizontally, or vertically.

'''Hint''': In most cases, if there are only a few choices with little text, they may be positioned horizontally. However, if there are more than 5-6 choices or if the text of the choices is longer than 2-3 words, it should be better to display them vertically. (red arrow, below)

[[image:Choice_6.gif|frame|left|just a few more parameters]]
 

==Publish results==

This setting determines whether (and when) the students will be able to view the results of the choice activity. They may:

* never see the results of the choice
* see the results only after they have given the answer themselves
* see the results only after the closing date of the choice
* always see the results

'''(teal arrow, above)'''

==Privacy of results==

If the choice results are shown to students, this setting determines whether the results will be anonymous.

'''(orange arrow, above)'''

==Allow choice to be updated==

If this is set to "Yes", students can change their mind after they have voted. If it's set to "No", students cannot change their choice.
'''
(lime green arrow, above)'''

==Show column for unanswered==

If set to "Yes", this will display a column showing how many participants have not answered the choice activity yet. If set to "No", the results will only include the participants who have already voted.

'''(purple arrow, above)'''

==Group mode==

The group mode can be one of three levels:

* No groups

There are no sub groups, everyone is part of one big community

* Separate groups

Each group can only see their own group, others are invisible

* Visible groups

Each group works in their own group, but can also see other groups

The group mode can be defined at two levels:

* Course level

The group mode defined at the course level is the default mode for all activities defined within that course

* Activity level

Each activity that supports groups can also define its own grouping mode. If the course is set to [[Force group mode|"force group mode"]] then the setting for each activity is ignored.

'''(pink arrow, above)'''

==Visible to students==

You can hide the activity from students by selecting "Hide" here. It is useful if you wouldn't like to make the activity available immediately.

'''(black arrow, above)'''

==See also==
* [[course/groups|Groups]]

[[Category:Teacher]]
[[Category: Choice]]

[[fr:Ajouter/modifier un sondage]]

Label

2006-09-10T08:15:47Z

Ebugnet:

{{Resources}}

When you are adding or editing a label, you have to fill in the following fields:

'''Label text'''

'''Visible to students''' - You can hide the resource from students by selecting "Hide" here. It is useful if you wouldn't like to make the activity available immediately.

[[Image:Label_0.gif|frame|left|choose ''Insert a label'' from the resource menu]]
 
[[Image:Label_1.gif|frame|left|add text, links and/or images]]
 
[[Image:Label_2.gif|frame|left|view label]]
 

== Use a label to display an external web page within a label ==

An exciting possibility for labels allows external or internal pages to be displayed in the middle of the moodle screen (instead of just putting a link to them)

'''How''':
* Create a label
* Display raw HTML code (use the editor button <>)
* Insert code like: <iframe width="100%" height="200" align="middle" src="http://www.google.com" border="0"></iframe>

Additionally, labels allow more flexible formatting of moodle resources e.g. place links to resources in a table so that many can be offered in the same line, thus reducing the need to scroll through a course page.

The actual resources still need to exist in the course, perhaps in an admin topic at the very bottom.

==See also==

*[[Tips and tricks|Teachers' Tips and Tricks]]
*[[Flash|Using Flash]]

[[Category:Teacher]]

[[ja:ラベル]]
[[fr:Étiquette]]

Label

2006-09-10T08:13:47Z

Ebugnet: /* Use a label to display an external web page within a label */

The Good Teacher

2006-09-07T14:22:10Z

Ebugnet: /* THE GOOD TEACHER */

== THE GOOD TEACHER ==

=== Act 1: The Pretty Good Teacher wants to be a better one ===

Once upon a time, there was a Pretty Good Teacher. Her students and her peers recognized that she was a Pretty Good Teacher. Humble as she was, though, she also felt that she was a Pretty Good Teacher, and she was proud to be one.

Still, like all good teachers, she wanted to be an even better teacher.

She spoke with colleagues and they gave her many helpful tips (although she suspected that some of them were holding back a little).

She talked to her students, and their insights were often quite interesting and thought-provoking.

She went to her principal and he gave her some good advice. (Really, he did.)

She read journals and books, joined a ListServ, visited web pages, signed up for courses, attended workshops and conferences, and generally sought knowledge wherever she could find it. She was very motivated.

Little by little, she began to try new strategies and techniques in her classroom. For example:
* She began to take multiple intelligences into account in her lesson plans.
* She started using cooperative learning in her classroom.
* She integrated more project-based learning into her instruction.
* She even started using an LCD projector.

Sometimes, it was a bit overwhelming. Exhausting, in fact. Not everything worked out the way she intended. But she perservered, because she wanted her students to learn as much as possible.

Still, she felt that something was missing. She wanted to do things with her students that she had never been able to do before. Things that were fun, things that were exciting, things that students actually enjoyed doing. Mostly, things that made her students WANT to learn.

But she couldn't say what those things were.

=== Act 2: The Pretty Good Teacher meets Mr. Dougis ===

One day, she read an article in her local newspaper about Mr. Dougis, a teacher who was doing great things on the Internet with his students. It sounded exciting and she wondered if this were not what she had been looking for.

She knew the school where he taught, and she left him a telephone message. Would he mind her dropping by one day to chat?

The next day, she received an answer. She could drop by any Thursday to see what was up. But it had to be a Thursday.

She went to her principal and explained to him that she needed a substitute teacher for next Thursday. She told him why and he gladly gave her a professional day in order investigate. Really, he did.

She went to see Mr. Dougis. He greeted her with a friendly smile.

"Welcome," he said, and smiled. "It's good that you came today. Thursdays, we Moodle."

The Pretty Good Teacher looked around. There were about twenty-five students sitting at computers. They looked about thirteen years old. Most did not notice her, because they were engrossed in what they were doing.

"What are they working on?" she asked.

"Well," said Mr. Dougis, "a couple of things. Some of them are working together to create a glossary of terms used in the current events articles we read each week."

"They know how to do that?" she asked. She thought that creating an online glossary must be a bit complicated for this age.

"Sure," said Mr. Dougis. "It's not hard to do that in Moodle."

"Oh yes, Moodle," she said, "I read about Moodle in the newspaper article. What is it?"

"It's the software we use in our virtual classroom", he said, as he guided her to a monitor.

"See how the students are simply filling in a form to create entries in the glossary?" he asked. "That's Moodle."

It did not look like the students were having any trouble.

"And some of the other students," he said, "are having an online debate about the way the current war on terrorism is being conducted. It's turning into a pretty heated discussion," he chuckled.

"How do you have an online debate?" she asked.

"They are using a discussion forum to talk with each other and are even rating each others' posts according to criteria we developed together," he said.

"Can they really handle that at such a young age?" she asked.

"Some are still learning about how to deal with constructive criticism and how not to take everything that is posted personally," he relpied. "But we are getting there. With a little guidance and encouragement..."

"No, I mean the technology," she interrupted.

"Of course!" replied Mr. Dougis. "In Moodle, forums are easy to use."

And throughout the day, that is how it went. Moodle this and Moodle that. The Pretty Good Teacher had to admit that even the younger students seemed to be proficient Moodlers. And almost all the students seemed engaged and interested in their work.

She was impressed, but wondered if all were really as it seemed.

During Mr. Dougis' break, they talked over a cup of coffee and a piece of cake.

"Tell me more about Moodle," she said.

"Well," he began, "I use Moodle to compliment and enhance my classroom instruction. I might, for example, just upload a Power Point presentation to the site for my students to review or post links to a good web site. Or we might do something more social, more collaborative, as you have seen today."

"So, Moodle helps you do some things differently?" she asked.

"Not just different," he emphatically corrected, "better."

"How so?" She really wanted to know.

"Let's say," said Mr. Dougis, "that we are discussing the effects of global warming. I can send my students to the library to do traditional research and we can discuss what they find out in class. And I can have the students make posters to display what they have learned. We can break into groups create lists of top ten easy ways to fight global warming. And we can have a debate in class about the effects of global warming, too."

"That sounds fine," said the Pretty Good Teacher. "What is wrong with that?"

"There is nothing wrong with that," replied Mr. Dougis, "but we can, for example, also go to Moodle and create a survey about global warming to administer to students here at our school and to students at our online partner schools in Canada and South Africa in order to see to what extent we all agree on the issue. We can design the survey together, invite our partners to take it, and have a discussion with them about where we see eye to eye and where we don't. And that is potentially a rich, valuable educational experience that we could not have without Moodle, don't you agree?"

The Pretty Good Teacher did agree. She wanted this Moodle thing for her students.

Mr. Dougis showed her how to go to any one of several sites and set up a Moodle classroom. That weekend, the Pretty Good Teacher started learning the basics of Moodle. She even got in touch with the moodle comunity at moodle.org where she found other teachers like herself and lots of people interested in the moodle thing.

=== Act 3: The Pretty Good Teacher starts Moodling ===

By the next Friday, she and her students were in the school computer lab. She showed them how to use a discussion forum and urged the students to discuss the novel they were currently reading.

Some students had a good bit to say about it. Others had very little to say. Some comments were insightful. Others were quite foolish.

The Pretty Good Teacher was disappointed. Was Moodle not really all Mr. Dougis had claimed?

A few days later, she tried again. She set up a chat room and told the students to chat about anything, but to pretend they were characters from the novel. A few students did a really good job, but many students did not seem to take the assignment seriously. And the chat room became very confusing when everyone spoke at the same time. Frankly, the lesson was a flop.

Some of her students must have been talking about Moodle in a less than complimentary way, because the Pretty Good Teacher had to endure some snide comments about it in the staff room. Some of her so-called colleagues actually seemed happy to see her struggle a little. It was incomprehensible to her, but it was undeniable. And she didn't like looking foolish.

Now the Pretty Good Teacher was quite sure that Moodle was not as wonderful as Mr. Dougis seemed to think it was. Annoyed, she sent him an email, telling him so.

=== Act 4: Mr Dougis you've got an email ===

She received a quick reply. "You sound upset," wrote Mr. Dougis.

The Pretty Good Teacher returned, "I am upset. I am not so sure that Moodle is right for my students."

An exchange of emails ensued.

"Maybe," he responded. "But let me ask you this: Did your students do what you asked them to do?"

"What do you mean?" asked the Pretty Good Teacher.

"Well, when you asked them to discuss the novel in the forum, did they do that?" he asked.

"Yes, I suppose most of them did," she replied.

"And when you asked them to chat about the novel," he continued, "did they do that?"

"The majority of them did," she answered."

"So, why are you unhappy?" asked Mr. Dougis.

It was a good question.

"Well," she wrote, "the students did not seem very excited about the lessons and I am not sure that they learned much, either."

"Does that ever happen in your traditional classroom?" asked Mr. Dougis.

Now she was offended. "Almost never," came her indignant response.

"Why not?" asked Mr. Dougis playing with fire.

First she planned a very icy and angry response. But after 5 minutes or so, she cooled down and started thinking about it seriously. Normally, her lessons had something like a beginning, a middle and an end. They were well thought out and the students understood just what she expected of them. So that is what she wrote in her response to Mr. Dougis' question.

"Can you honestly say the same of your two Moodle lessons?" he wrote back. Mr. Dougis was definitively a daredevil.

She knew he was right. She had expected Moodle to work some sort of magic on her students, but she had not really designed the kind of good, effective lessons she normally planned.

"What would you advise your students to do in a situation like this?" asked Mr. Dougis.

She decided to give Moodle another chance.

=== Act 5: The Pretty Good Teacher strikes back ===

This time, she asked herself, "What do I want my students to learn?" And she wrote down her objectives.

Then she asked herself, "What resources will we need to make the lesson work?" and she collected and organized her resources.

Finally, she asked herself, "What is it I want my students to actually do in order to be successful?" And she designed her activities.

The Pretty Good Teacher wanted her students to recognize and identify the importance of conflict in the novel.

She located a couple of good online resources to give students the information they needed to do this and she posted her own notes to help them better understand what they found on the web sites.

In addition, she wanted them to create a web page for each major conflict in the novel, describing the conflict and suggesting several possible ways the conflict could be resolved. Then she set up a wiki where her students could do this.

Before going to the lab, she discussed the lesson with her students and showed them how to work in a wiki. She used her cool, new LCD projector for that.

She posted clear instructions about the lesson to the web site, reinforcing what she had said in class (and unconsciously stating a contract with her students).

The next day, they went to the lab.

The Pretty Good Teacher was gratified to see how much better the lesson went. While a few of the students did have a little trouble the first few minutes getting used to the wiki, most of them actually caught on very quickly, and it was a pleasure to see how they helped each other get up and running.

After about forty-five minutes, almost all students had contributed to the wiki. Some of their web pages were surpisingly good.

As the Pretty Good Teacher circulated around the lab, she encouraged the students and complimented their work. Of course, she also had to remind a couple of students that playing card games on the computer was not part of the lesson.

While she could not say that the lesson was perfect, the Pretty Good Teacher was pleased. The students had not only learned a lot, they seemed to enjoy doing so.

That evening, she went back to the wiki to reread some of the pages. She was surprised to see that some students had continued to work on their pages from home. They had added graphics and links and some shocking, but enthusiastic, text formatting. She had not assigned this as homework, they just wanted to do it.

And the Pretty Good Teacher smiled a little.

=== Act 6: The next day ===

When class met the next day, several of the students were quite excited about Moodle. One said, "When my father asked me what we had done in school, I showed him the wiki. He thought it was great!" It was obvious that she was proud of the work she and her classmates had done.

The Pretty Good Teacher was feeling pretty good.

"Can we go back to the lab today?" one student asked.

"No," she replied, "not today, but we can go back next week. Do you all want to do that?"

When they said yes, she was not very surprised.

"In the meantime," she suggested, "maybe we should think of a name for our online classroom."

They thought of several good posibilities and decided to vote to pick the best one. The Pretty Good Teacher said, "We do not have to vote right now. I will post a choice to our new web site and you can take a few days to decide."

Almost everyone agreed that this was a sensible idea. But a couple of students looked unhappy about it.

"What's wrong?" the Pretty Good Teacher asked one of them as the class was leaving.

"We don't have the Internet at my house, so I can't vote," said the student.

The Pretty Good Teacher hadn't thought of that. But she had an Internet connection in her classroom. And there were quite a few online computers in the school's media center.

"Why don't you stop here right after school and use our computer when you want to Moodle?" she suggested. "Or I can write you a pass to the media center during class one day when we have a few extra minutes."

The student smiled. "Thanks! I'll stop by after school", she said and headed to her next class.

When she returned at the end of the day, she had a friend with her. "You're not in my class," teased the Pretty Good Teacher. "I know," said the friend, "but it sounds like fun."

And the Pretty Good Teacher was pretty happy.

=== Act 7: She kept on moodling ===

And so it went. Over time, Moodle came to be an important part of the class. Soon, the Pretty Good Teacher was posting lesson plans to Moodle. Not very exciting, but the parents seemed to appreciate it. After a while, she began setting up little practice quizzes to help students prepare for tests. Together with another class, the students collaborated on articles for the school newspaper. They submitted rough drafts of papers for peer review and discussed class matters online. Some students even used the chat room for occasional online study sessions. And once they discovered instant messaging and blogs, things really got crazy.

After a few months, Moodling became second nature to them. It felt natural. It was fun.

And other teachers at the school began to Moodle. Sometimes, they met with their wireless laptops at a local cafe for "Moodle and Coffee" sessions. The teachers began to look forward to spending this time together--even a couple of the teachers who had made negative remarks in the staff room.

=== Act 8: Unexpected role-reversal===

One day, the Pretty Good Teacher ran into Mr. Dougis at the grocery store. She told him how well things were going. And she thanked him for Moodle.

"Glad to share," he said, and smiled.

"Know what I like best?" she said. "It is cool that we can do a weekly podcast for our new partner class in Australia! My students love that podcasting module!"

"So there's a podcasting module? I didn't know that," said her Moodle mentor.

"Really, well, we should set up a forum where we can share on a regular basis," she replied, secretly thrilled at this unexpected role-reversal.

"Yes, that's a great idea. Let's do that," answered Mr. Dougis, who was clearly pleased. "You know, it sounds like you have become a Very Good Teacher."

And he was right. She had, indeed, become a Very Good Teacher.

=== Epilogue ===

She had to convince the school faculty council and the school director, but she finally succeeded in getting some free days for her trip to the next MoodleMoot. Her school administrators even covered the expenses of her trip, writing it off as "professional development" and wishing her well as she represented them to other schools attending the Moot. Once there she, the Good Teacher, gave a speech to other Moodlers about her Moodling experiences.

[[Category:Teacher]]

[[es:La buena maestra]]
[[fr:Le bon professeur]]
[[ja:良い先生]]