Webinar module
Overview and Installation
Download latest version of the plugin from http://moodle.org/plugins/view.php?plugin=mod_webinar.
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/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.
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/acrobatconnectpro/trial/
- 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
- Unpack the module into your Moodle install in order to create a mod/webinar directory.
- Visit the /admin/index.php page to trigger the database installation.
- (Optional) Change the default options in the activity modules configuration.
- (Optional) Assign roles of teacher or non-editing teacher to one or more users to be able to assign them as webinar hosts.
User Guide
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:
2. Select the 'Webinar' radio button and then click 'Add':
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.
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:
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:
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:
Adding a new session
To add a new session click the 'Add a new session' link on the 'view webinar' page.
On the 'Adding a new session' page you then need to fill in the appropriate details:
- 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. **
- Capacity - The maximum amount of users you want to be able to attend the webinar
- Start date/time
- Finish date/time
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.
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.
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':
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:
Clicking on the 'Add/remove attendees' link then takes you to a standard Moodle add and remove users page:
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:
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.
Once the user clicks on 'Register' they are taken to a confirmation page.
The user can also cancel their booking here if they wish to buy clicking on the '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:
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:
Session 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 user screen with the hosts desktop being shared and webcam enabled:
