Moodle key terms

A Moodle site is made up of courses which are basically pages containing the learning materials teachers want to share with their students. A teacher in a Moodle course can select items from three different elements which together assist in the learning process. They are: Activities, Resources and Blocks.

Activities

• An Activity in Moodle is a feature where students learn by interacting with each other or with their teacher. They might for instance contribute in a forum, upload an assignment, answer questions in a quiz or collaborate together in a wiki. Activities can be graded.
• A teacher can add activities by turning on the editing and choosing an activity by clicking Add an activity or resource in a course section. They then select an activity from the activity chooser. (If the activity chooser has been turned off, a drop down menu appears instead.) Activities usually appear in the central area of the course.

Link to the activity chooser

Drop down menu when activity chooser is disabled

• Moodle has a number of activities which come as standard and there are also extra ones available for download by the administrator. See Activities to find out more.

Resources

• A Resource in Moodle is an item that a teacher can add to a Moodle course to support learning, such as a file, a video or link to a website. A resource differs from an activity in that it is static; ie, the student can merely look at or read it, rather than participate.
• A teacher can add resources by turning on the editing and by clicking Add an activity or resource in a course section. They then select a resource from the activity chooser.(If the activity chooser has been turned off, a drop down menu appears instead.) Resources usually appear in the central area of the course.

Link to the activity chooser

Drop down menu when activity chooser is disabled

• Moodle has a number of resources which come as standard and there are also extra ones available for download by the administrator. See Resources to find out more.

Blocks

• A Block in Moodle is an item that a teacher can add to the left or right of a Moodle course page. They provide extra information or links to aid learning. Blocks are a bit like "widgets" elsewhere online and can contain; for example, RSS news feeds, quiz results, a calendar, links to blogs, glossary terms or private files. There is also a simple HTML block which can be customised as the teacher wishes.
• A teacher can add blocks by turning on the editing and choosing from the "Add a block" drop down which is usually on the bottom right side of the course page. Blocks usually appear on the sides of the course.

• Moodle has a number of blocks which come as standard and there are also extra ones available for download by the administrator. See Blocks to find out more.