Note:

If you want to create a new page for developers, you should create it on the Moodle Developer Resource site.

Adding blocks to lesson: Difference between revisions

From MoodleDocs
No edit summary
 
(18 intermediate revisions by 4 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
The lesson module lends itself well to blocks.  It already has a three column format same as a course format.  Also, via the lesson settings, one can add a left menu, a timer or a link to a media file.  All of these are displayed in the left or the right column, are static and are block like.  In order to add greater flexibility to the lesson and to reduce the number of lesson settings, which are numerous, block functionality should be added to lesson.
{{obsolete}}The lesson module lends itself well to blocks.  It already has a three column format same as a course format.  Also, via the lesson settings, one can add a left menu, a timer or a link to a media file.  All of these are displayed in the left or the right column, are static and are block like.  In order to add greater flexibility to the lesson and to reduce the number of lesson settings, which are numerous, then block functionality should be added to lesson.


==Lesson blocks==
==Lesson blocks goals==


Lesson features that would be extracted from lesson and placed into blocks would be the following:
Lesson features that would be extracted from lesson and placed into blocks would be the following:
Line 15: Line 15:


==Other blocks==
==Other blocks==
{{Moodle 1.9}}
By adding block functionality to lesson, other blocks become available to lesson.  Some blocks would not make sense in a lesson like the admin block.  To handle this, lesson would have a global configuration that could disable blocks from being added to a lesson.  This will help to reduce confusion for lesson authors.


By adding block functionality to lesson, other blocks become available to lessonSome blocks would not make sense in a lesson like the admin block.  To handle this, lesson would have a global configuration that could disable blocks from being added to a lesson.  This will help to reduce confusion for lesson authors.
Added in Moodle 1.9Please note that the global configuration to disable blocks was not implemented.


==Sticky blocks==
==Sticky blocks==
Line 23: Line 25:


The possibility of using sticky blocks is still ''fuzzy''.  It could prove to be difficult to design an interface that works well with the current block API.  '''If''' a clean implementation of sticky blocks cannot be found, then all blocks would behave like sticky blocks.  Meaning, all pages would have the same blocks.
The possibility of using sticky blocks is still ''fuzzy''.  It could prove to be difficult to design an interface that works well with the current block API.  '''If''' a clean implementation of sticky blocks cannot be found, then all blocks would behave like sticky blocks.  Meaning, all pages would have the same blocks.
After exploring the code, I found that currently the page API does not support this idea. - [[User:Mark Nielsen|Mark Nielsen]] 18:14, 24 March 2007 (CDT)
==Lesson blocks ==
{{Moodle 1.9}}
To add blocks to lesson, just go to the "Preview" tab and turn block editing on by clicking on the "Blocks editing on" button in the upper right hand corner.
[[Image:Lesson Preview BlocksEditingOn button.JPG|center|thumb|Example of buttons]]
*The only quirk is if you answer a question and are on the feedback screen and then push the "Blocks editing on/off" button, you go back to the question that you just answered.
[[Image:Lesson Blocks pulldown Menu.JPG|center|thumb|Example of pulldown menu in lesson]]
Before you can add blocks in Lesson, be sure that the administrator has the site configuration turned on for this feature.  In Moodle 1.8 see site Admin block > Appearance > Themes > Theme settings> "Show blocks on module pages" must be checked.
[http://moodle.org/mod/forum/post.php?reply=304539 Forum thread by Mark Nielsen, developer]


==Conclusion==
==Conclusion==
Line 37: Line 55:
[[User:Mark Nielsen|Mark Nielsen]]
[[User:Mark Nielsen|Mark Nielsen]]


[[Category:Future]]
==See also==
 
*[[New lesson navigation]]
[[Category:Lesson]]
*[[Lesson Specification]]
*[[Adding question types to lesson]]

Latest revision as of 12:47, 10 November 2013

Warning: This page is no longer in use. The information contained on the page should NOT be seen as relevant or reliable.

The lesson module lends itself well to blocks. It already has a three column format same as a course format. Also, via the lesson settings, one can add a left menu, a timer or a link to a media file. All of these are displayed in the left or the right column, are static and are block like. In order to add greater flexibility to the lesson and to reduce the number of lesson settings, which are numerous, then block functionality should be added to lesson.

Lesson blocks goals

Lesson features that would be extracted from lesson and placed into blocks would be the following:

  • Left menu (block name lesson_menu)
  • Media file (block name lesson_media_file)
  • Timer (block name lesson_clock)

The settings for these features would be removed from lesson and would be handled by the block configuration interface. Also these features, as blocks, could be more easily expanded. For example:

  • lesson_menu could be configurable to include any lesson page or branch table (often requested).
  • lesson_media_file could be configurable to display the media file via a pop-up or embedded into the lesson page.
  • lesson_clock could be configurable to be a count down timer or as a clock that displays how long a user has been in a lesson (has been requested).

Other blocks

Moodle1.9

By adding block functionality to lesson, other blocks become available to lesson. Some blocks would not make sense in a lesson like the admin block. To handle this, lesson would have a global configuration that could disable blocks from being added to a lesson. This will help to reduce confusion for lesson authors.

Added in Moodle 1.9. Please note that the global configuration to disable blocks was not implemented.

Sticky blocks

Sticky blocks could be used to force a block to appear on every lesson page. Then non-sticky blocks would only appear on specific lesson pages. This would allow one to add a sticky block like lesson_menu to all pages and add another block like the HTML block that would only appear on a single page.

The possibility of using sticky blocks is still fuzzy. It could prove to be difficult to design an interface that works well with the current block API. If a clean implementation of sticky blocks cannot be found, then all blocks would behave like sticky blocks. Meaning, all pages would have the same blocks.


After exploring the code, I found that currently the page API does not support this idea. - Mark Nielsen 18:14, 24 March 2007 (CDT)

Lesson blocks

Moodle1.9

To add blocks to lesson, just go to the "Preview" tab and turn block editing on by clicking on the "Blocks editing on" button in the upper right hand corner.

Example of buttons
  • The only quirk is if you answer a question and are on the feedback screen and then push the "Blocks editing on/off" button, you go back to the question that you just answered.
Example of pulldown menu in lesson

Before you can add blocks in Lesson, be sure that the administrator has the site configuration turned on for this feature. In Moodle 1.8 see site Admin block > Appearance > Themes > Theme settings> "Show blocks on module pages" must be checked.

Forum thread by Mark Nielsen, developer

Conclusion

Blocks seem to suit lesson well. Here are a few key points:

  • Lesson would have a more customizable layout.
  • Lesson can take advantage of an existing Moodle feature.
  • Moodle users can create their own blocks to plug into lesson.
  • The number of lesson settings can be reduced.
  • More functionality can be added to existing lesson features.
  • Reduce lesson's code base.

Author

Mark Nielsen

See also