Moodle Handbook

7/31/2019 Moodle Handbook

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Introduction to Moodle 2.0

Where to find help materials

Training aids

Step-by-step guides to the basics of Moodle


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Greenwich University Training Materials 2

Contents

Why Moodle 2.0? 3

Introduction to Moodle 2.0 5

Training 7

Help Materials 8

You and Moodle 9

Orientation 10

Docking blocks 11

Editing your profile 13

Messaging 17

Task 1 19

Your Moodle Course 20

Course Layout 21

Announcements and editing 22

Blocks 24

Resources 26

Files & the file picker 28

Task 2 30

Folders & URLs 31

Task 3 33

Activities 34

Adding an activity (forum) 35

Task 4 37

Your Students and Moodle (student view) 38

Group messaging 39

Task 5 41

Flowcharts and notes 42

Directory 48


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Why Moodle 2.0Why are we changing to Moodle?

The need for change

The decision to conduct a review was prompted by

the following factors:

It is clear that students view online access to key

course materials as an entitlement. Increasingly

schools are also adopting forms of course design

which are reliant on access to web based course

tools for campus and non campus based students.

As part of the 2006 2011 Corporate plan the Uni-

versity has set itself a target of 80% of courses using

e-learning.

The version of WebCT currently used is now unable

to cope with the number of users attempting to use

it simultaneously during periods of high demand,for example during course work submission.

A number of systems have been introduced since

the University's adoption of WebCT. A review of the

University's VLE requirements was needed which

encompassed a review of how it works alongside

these systems. An example being the introduction

of Pebblepad as the University's e-portfolio system.

Blackboard who took over WebCT in 2006 now has

a clear upgrade path which will lead to the merger

of the two systems. A decision was needed to de-

cide if we should upgrade to the next version of

WebCT and eventually adopt the merged system or

look at other providers of web based course tools.

At the time of our adoption of WebCT it was one of

two creditable alternatives available to universities,

the other being Blackboard. This is no longer the

case with a number of proprietary alternatives such

as Desire2Learn, Microsoft's Sharepoint and open

source alternatives such as Moodle and Sakai now

available.

What is Moodle?

Moodle is an open source VLE meaning that it has

no licence attached to its use, and developers have

access to the software code on which it is based,enabling them to make changes to meet their indi-

vidual needs. Originally developed by Martin

Dougiamas at Curtin University at Adelaide, accord-

ing to UISCA 2008 survey it is the "most commonly

used platform within institutions, with 55% of re-

spondents identifying its deployment, representing

a marked increase from 2005 (8%)".

The word Moodle was originally

an acronym for Modular Object-

Oriented Dynamic Learning

Environment.

For more information on Moodle

go to http://docs.moodle.org/en/

About_MoodleOr check out the Wikipedia entry

athttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/

Moodle
http://docs.moodle.org/en/About_Moodlehttp://docs.moodle.org/en/About_Moodlehttp://docs.moodle.org/en/About_Moodlehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moodlehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moodlehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moodlehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moodlehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moodlehttp://docs.moodle.org/en/About_Moodlehttp://docs.moodle.org/en/About_Moodle


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Anticipated benefits of moving to Moodle

1. A system that is easier to use for both staff

and students.

2. Access to an improved range of tools to sup-

port learning and teaching.3. A system that will be adopted by all schools

within the institution.

4. Increased flexibility and ability to develop to

meet needs of different groups.

5. Reduced cost.

When will we start using it?

The project milestones are set as follows:

Stage 1: to December 2010

Development of school migration plans

Stage 2: to August 2011

New Moodle courses developed by teaching

teams

Training

Development of the technical infrastructure

September 2011: WebCT retired from service

Stage 3: August 2011 onwards

Continued enhancement of Moodle courses

September 2012: All legacy VLEs replaced by

Moodle

Who do I go to for further information?

Moodle migration websitehttp://www.gre.ac.uk/ils/moodle

Project managerClifton Kandler

School contactsA&C: Mark Ingham

Business: Paul Stoneman

CMS: Tony Ackroyd

Education: Malcolm Ryan

Engineering: Jodie Wetherall

GMI: Suzanne Louail

H&SC: Kathy Sullivan

H&SS: Sandra Clarke

NRI: Karen Birkbeck

Science: Mark Goss-Sampson

Educational Development Unit:[email protected]

ILS Web [email protected]


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Introduction to Moodle 2.0What is it and what does it do?

Moodle Philosophy

Moodle is a software package for producing Inter-

net-based courses and web sites. It is a global devel-

opment project designed to support a social con-

structionist framework of education.

Constructivism

From a constructivist point of view, people actively

construct new knowledge as they interact with their

environments.

Everything you read, see, hear, feel, and touch is

tested against your prior knowledge and if it is vi-

able within your mental world, may form new

knowledge you carry with you. Knowledge is

strengthened if you can use it successfully in your

wider environment. You are not just a memory bank

passively absorbing information, nor can knowledge

be "transmitted" to you just by reading something

or listening to someone.

This is not to say you can't learn anything from

reading a web page or watching a lecture, obviously

you can, it's just pointing out that there is more

interpretation going on than a transfer of informa-

tion from one brain to another.

Social Constructivism

Social constructivism extends constructivism into

social settings, wherein groups construct knowledge

for one another, collaboratively creating a small

culture of shared artifacts with shared meanings.

When one is immersed within a culture like this,

one is learning all the time about how to be a part

of that culture, on many levels.

A very simple example is an object like a cup. The

object can be used for many things, but its shape

does suggest some "knowledge" about carrying

liquids. A more complex example is an online course

- not only do the "shapes" of the software tools

indicate certain things about the way online courses

should work, but the activities and texts produced

within the group as a whole will help shape how

each person behaves within that group.

Consideration of these issues can help to focus on

the experiences that would be best for learning

from the learner's point of view, rather than just

publishing and assessing the information you think

they need to know. It can also help you realise how

each participant in a course can be a teacher as well

as a learner. Your job as a 'teacher' can change frombeing 'the source of knowledge' to being an influen-

cer and role model of class culture, connecting with

students in a personal way that addresses their own

learning needs, and moderating discussions and

activities in a way that collectively leads students

towards the learning goals of the class.

Moodle doesn't FORCE this style of behaviour, but

this is what the designers believe that it is best at

supporting. In future, as the technical infrastructure

of Moodle stabilises, further improvements in peda-gogical support will be a major direction for Moodle

development.


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What can Moodle do?

Choice of Course formats settings such as by week,

by topic or a discussion-focused social format

Groups - teacher(s) and students can be placed in

one or more groups

Recent changes to the course since the last login

can be displayed on the course home page - helps

give sense ofcommunity

Mail integration - copies of forum posts, teacher

feedback etc can be mailed in HTML or plain text.

Users can set a preference for daily emails in their

profile.

Flexible array of course activities - Forums, Quizzes,

Glossaries, Resources, Choices, Surveys, Assign-

ments, Chats, Workshops

Conditional activities in Moodle 2.0 allow the

teacher to set completion standards and conditions

for entry into any specific activity, based upon sev-

eral criterion.

Communication and collaboration may take place

using live Chats or asynchronous discussion Forums

for conversational activities. You can also use

Choices to gain group feedback. Wikis allow stu-

dents to work together on a collaboratively-

authored project.

Assignments or Workshops have several assess-

ment options, including instructor-assessment, self-

assessment, and even peer-assessment.

Online Quizzes offer several options for automatic

and manual scoring.

Lessons and SCORM activities deliver content and

offer ways of individualizing your presentation

based upon a student's choices.

Glossaries of keywords can be set up by the instruc-

tor, and can be configured to allow students to edit,

add, or rate entries.

Surveys and Databases are also very powerful addi-

tions to any course.

The word Moodle was originally an acronym for Modular Object-Oriented Dynamic Learning

Environment. It's also a verb that describes the process of lazily meandering through something,

doing things as it occurs to you to do them, a tinkering that often leads to insight and creativity.

As such it applies both to the way Moodle was developed, and to the way a student or teacher

might approach studying or teaching an online course. Anyone who uses Moodle is a Moodler.


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What does this handbook contain?

Today you will looking at some of the essential fea-

tures of Moodle and how to use them. This work-

book contains:

A summary of the information in the session Extra information for future reference

Information on further help and resources

Step-by-step guidelines for the tasks in the

session

What will you learn about today?

logging on to the system

The Moodle interface

Editing your profile

Messaging Editing blocks

Resources

Switching roles

School-specific functions

What does the training involve?

Training

Further technical training

Further training sessions on the more advanced

features of Moodle may be available at a later date.

Currently web services is in discussion with schools

regarding the best way to offer further training ses-

sion. Suggestions have included webinars, training

sessions such as the one today or more independ-

ent help materials. Please complete the post-

training feedback form to help us develop these

ideas further.

Pedagogic sessions

Training on the application of pedagogic practice to

the use of Moodle will be carried out by EDU and

any questions or requests for pedagogic training

should be directed to them.

Other opportunities for training

Contacts for your training

needs

For technical training

Web Services: [email protected]

For pedagogical trainingEDU: [email protected]

For all school-specific training

queries contact your school VLE

implementation representative.


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Greenwich University Website

There are help materials on the Greenwich Univer-

sity website in the form of annotated screenshots

for quick reference on how to perform most tasks in

Moodle:

http://www.gre.ac.uk/offices/ils/cis/projects/

moodle/help

Greenwich University Moodle

You can learn how to use Moodle by taking a

Moodle course! The Moodle Training category con-

tains short courses on how to perform basic and

advanced functions in Moodle. These courses offer

flash video tutorials, downloadable guides and in-

teractive quizzes, as well as links to lots of other

learning resources on the web.

The Moodle Training courses will already be avail-

able to you in your home screen when you log into

Moodle

Greenwich University Moodle forum

The Moodle Training Forum is part of the Moodle

Training category. Here you can post questions and

advice for other Moodle users. Web services will be

part of the forum answering your queries and offer-

ing help where needed.

Help materials

Other useful resources

http://docs.moodle.org

Site dedicated to Moodle documentation with thou-

sands of contributors. The best place for information

about something specific in Moodle.

www.youtube.com

Lots of videos on how to perform tasks in Moodle

and examples of Moodle in action. Content varies in

quality.

http://moodle.org/

Main website for Moodle, packed with useful infor-

mation.

The Handbook

Keep this handbook as a guide for

resources and as a record of what you

learn today.

Further copies of the handbook can be

downloaded from the Introduction to

Moodle training course in the Moodle

Training categoryor from the

Greenwich university help materials

website.


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What does this section contain?

This handbook is broken up into a number of sec-

tions to help you navigate more easily. This section

has information on the following

1. Navigation in Moodle2. Editing your profile

3. Messaging

Task sheets

At the end of this section there is a task sheet with

a list of tasks for you to complete based on the

things that have been explained in this chapter and

in the training session itself.

Use these task sheets as a place to make notes on

as you complete the tasks and ask the trainers

questions.

Your presence in the Moodle system

You and Moodle

Navigation

Moodle has a relatively simple navigation system

which is contained in the navigation block. You can

also use the back button on your browser to navi-

gate without causing any problems to the system

Your profile

Your profile will be your face inside Moodle so the

information contained will be easily accessible to

students and teachers.

Messaging

There are a number of ways to contact others

within Moodle, but this section focuses on individ-

ual messaging.

Introduction to You and Moodle

Whats in the following pages?

The rest of this section uses

annotated screenshots to take you

through the processes you will be

learning during the training session.

The quality of reproduction is not

always perfect but PDF versions of

these screenshots are available from

the university project website:

http://www.gre.ac.uk/offices/ils/

cis/projects/moodle/help


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OrientationWhat does what?

The annotated screenshots and instructions on this page can also be found online at: http://www.gre.ac.uk/

offices/ils/cis/projects/moodle/help


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Docking BlocksMoving the blocks on your screen

The dock icon is a little unclear and very close to the maximize and minimize

button so if you appear to have lost a block check the side bar to see if youhave docked it by accident.


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Editing your profileAdding contact and personal details


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MessagingSending messages to contacts


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Find out more about messaging at:

http://docs.moodle.org/en/Messaging


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TasksTry out the things youve learnt

Add a pictureWrite something in

your profile

Add some contact

infoDelete a picture

Dock the settings

and navigation

blocks

Search for a contact Add a contact Send a message

This page is for your use during

the training sessions. Below

you will find the tasks that

cover some of the basic areas

explained on the preceding

pages. Complete these tasks in

any order you please. There is

a space at the bottom for notes

and please direct any questions

you have to the trainers who

will be circulating during the

session.

Notes:

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What does this section contain?

This handbook is broken up into a number of sec-

tions to help you navigate more easily. This section

has information on the following

1. Blocks2. Announcements

3. Resources

4. Activities

Task sheets

At the end of this section there is a task sheet with

a list of tasks for you to complete based on the

things that have been explained in this chapter and

in the training session itself.

Use these task sheets as a place to make notes on

as you complete the tasks and ask the trainers

questions.

Adding content to your course

Your Moodle Course

Blocks

Moodle is fully customizable, although there will be

a standard template put forward by schools regard-

ing themes and blocks. These blocks contain vari-

ous different functions which are then displayed on

the course screen.

Announcements

Moodle has a different method of using announce-

ments to WebCT. Announcements are done using a

news forum resource, which automatically appears

whenever you create a new course.

Resources

Files and folders can be added to your course using

whats called the file picker. This process is ex-

plained in more detail in this section, as is the new

file system. This section also looks at adding URLs

to your course.

Activities

Activities are more interactive components of a

course and this section takes you through a basic

rundown of what they are, and then how to add a

forum.

Introduction to Your Moodle Course


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Course layoutWhat it looks like and how you can edit it


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The announcements in Moodle are done using the

News Forum which appears at the beginning of

every course.

You can post announcements on this forum in thesame way as you would on any forum. You click on

the icon above and then onAdd a new topic. You

write a title and body for your announcement and

post it.

Announcement Block

Students will see these announcements on the

news forum and there is also a block which can be

added called Latest News which displays the an-

nouncements from the forum on the page (see be-

low). You can add announcements directly into the

block by click on theAdd a new topiclink.

Announcements

The editing button


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BlocksBuilding your page

What are blocks?

Blocks are used to offer different functionality in

your Moodle course. You can add, edit and delete

some blocks on your course to enhance certain fea-

tures in your course.

Most course will come with some blocks as stan-

dard which have been decided by the school as

blocks which should be part of a course template.

However you may wish to add further blocks for

your students.

To add a new block you need to use the Adding a

new block tool. This is located under the current

blocks on the right when you turn editing on.

Remember that blocks can be minimized or docked. If you lose a block on your screen, check the side bar as you

may have accidently docked it

Types of blocks

On the facing page is a list of the standard blocks inMoodle. There may be other blocks with new fea-

tures available for you to use as well in the drop

down menu form the adding a block tool. The list

opposite shows you the name of the block and a

basic definition of what it is and what it does. Feel

free to experiment with blocks as they are easy to

delete, which is done by clicking on the X editing

icon. Remember you need to have editing on before

you can edit anything, including blocks, in your

course.


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Activities Displays links to lists of all activities by typeBlog menu Quick links to blog options add, view etc.Blog tags Displays blog tagsCalendar Displays calendarComments A box for comments that are then displayed on the pageCommunity Link to community hubs Mooch and My Learning Space

Hub.

Course completion

status Displays students progress towards course completion

Courses Quick links to all My coursesCourse/Site description Displays your description of the course

Global search Internal search engineHTML Add any HTML or content to this block that you wantLatest News Displays news from your news forumMentees Allows mentors to see their menteesMessages Displays new messages, contacts and links to messagingMy private files Displays a list of your files and a quick link to Manage my

private files

Online users Displays online usersPeople Link to the list of course participantsPersonal profile Displays your personal profile information (customizable)Quiz results Displays results from the quiz/quizzes of your choiceRandom glossary entry Displays a random glossary entry

Recent blog entries Displays recent blog entriesRemote RSS feeds RSS feeds from external sourcesSection links Links to various sectionsSelf Completion Provides a link for students to indicate when they have

completed the course

Tags Tag cloud


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ResourcesAdding a resource to you course


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There are six types of resource: File, Folder, IMS content package, Label, Page and

URL. Two of these(Label& Page) are created in Moodle itself and not uploaded.


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Files & The File PickerAdding files and using the file picker in Moodle

What is the file picker?

The file picker allows you to choose files from vari-

ous places to upload to Moodle, it appears when-

ever you want to add a file of some kind to Moodle,

as we just saw in the resources section.

How does it work?

in the screenshot below you can see what the file

picker looks like. On the left it has a list of places

that you can take files from to add to your course.

On the right the files are visible.

What options are there for adding files?

You can see from the screenshot that there are vari-ous different repositories available for adding files,

external repositories such as Dropbox, flickr or

Goodledocs can also be added.


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What are all these repositories?

We can break the repositories down in the table

below. Moodle 2.0 has a flexible file management

system with a stress on external repositories.

Private files and Course files

Moodle does offer a place to put private files and

course files but the system works better when you

use external files which are then stored on the

server.

If you add too many files to your private or course

files then this can affect import and backup func-

tions so try not to put huge amounts of data into

these file banks.

Adding files in various places

Files cannot be copied and pasted or added to mul-

tiple places in one go, they have to be added indi-

vidually each time. Make sure you remember as if

you try cutting and pasting images they will disap-

pear when you log off. They have to be added indi-

vidually each time.

Server files

These are files which you have previously uploaded andso are now stored on the server. This means you can pick

files from your other courses or topics and add them to

your current topic or course.

Recent files Files you have recently added

Upload a file Add a file from your computer

Private filesThis is a storage facility which allows you to keep a small

amount of files in Moodle for your own use

External storage (e.g. Picasa web album)Links to an external storage source allowing you to easily

take files from there and add them into Moodle


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Add an announce-

mentAdd a news block

Add a new topic to

the news blockHide a block

Move a block Delete a block Upload a fileDelete an announce-

ment












session.

Notes:

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Folders & URLsCreating folders for your files

Adding a folder

Folders are added in the same way as a file, by se-

lecting the options from theActivitydrop-down

menu. You give the folder a name and description

and begin to add files.

Once you have added all your files you can simply

click on Save and displayto see your folder laid out

in hierarchical order.

Subfolders

You can also create sub-folders to order your files

by clicking the Create folderbutton. This will create

a folder within your folder.

You can then select files and Movethem to that

specific folder by clicking on the menu icon on the

right of the file and selecting Move. You will have to

select the folder from a tree menu.

Remember to double click onthe folder where you

want to move the file to or nothing will happen. It

will look like this when you double click. Here the

folder name is Random Stuff.


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Adding a URL

To add a URL simply choose URL from the drop-

down menu and scroll down. Instead of the Add

button which you use for files and folders you will

see a box where you can write or paste a link.

Once saved the link will then display on the course

screen.


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Add a folderAdd files to your

folderCreate a sub-folder

Add files to the sub-

folder

Look at the folder

hierarchyAdd a URL

Move a file out of the

sub-folderDelete a URL












session.

Notes:

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Types of activities

The list below gives a basic explanation of each of

the standard activities that Moodle offers. These

activities vary in their function and in their ease-of-

use.

Activities differ from resources in that they offer aninteractive element, whether it be guided learning,

choice-based interaction or peer communication

and collaboration.

Developing Moodle

This is not a complete list of the activities that will

be available in the Greenwich Moodle. There are

currently discussions regarding other activities to be

added to the standard list.

As Moodle is open-source, new functionality can be

developed and incorporated into it, making it an

incredible flexible environment where new activi-

ties and capabilities can be added by separate insti-

tutions.

Adding interactive content

Activities

Assignments Allows to teachers to collect work, review it, grade it, and provide feedback. Students canupload files or write directly into Moodle.

ChatA chat room

Choice The teacher asks a question and specifies a choice of multiple responses. There is no grading,the tasks is only to stimulate discussion.

Database Allows teachers and students to build up a bank of structured information

Forum Students and teachers can exchange ideas by posting comments

Glossary Allows participants to create and maintain a list of definitions

Lesson An adaptive module that uses a students choices/answers to guide them

Quiz Set quizzes with multiple question types

SCORM package Upload a SCORM package

Survey Provides a number of verified survey instruments

Wiki Collaborative authoring tool

Workshop Peer assessment activity with many options


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Adding an activityAdding a forum


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Add a Forum Post on a Forum Reply to a post












session.

Notes:

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Your students and MoodleThe student view


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Group messagingContact large groups all together


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Switch between

rolesSend a group email Add a group note












session.

Notes:

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Work BookFor notes and processes

As most of the different schools have different

training requirements we have not been able to

provide specific screenshots for every process. In-

stead these pages provide an easy way for you to

record the details of the school-specific training you

will receive in this session. You can use the flow

diagrams to record the button clicks and actions you

need to complete to access a specific function any

other details you feel are important or that you

raise to the trainer during the session.

Step ThreeStep One

E.g. Click on the activity drop

down menu

Step Two

Step Four

Function: ____________________________ e.g. adding a group chat room

Step Five Step Six


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Notes:

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Work BookFor notes and processes

Step ThreeStep One

E.g. Click on the activity drop

down menu

Step Two

Step Four

Function: ____________________________ e.g. adding a group chat room

Step Five Step Six


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Notes:

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Notes:

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Useful contacts and resources for Moodle

This directory gives a list of useful contacts and resources for Moodle and Moodle-related information.

Technical training and queries [email protected]

Pedagogical training and support [email protected]

Greenwich help materialshttp://www.gre.ac.uk/offices/ils/cis/projects/moodle/

help

Moodle training courses (in Moodle)

See the Moodle Training category in the Greenwich

Moodle. All teachers are automatically enrolled on the

training courses

Moodle queries

http://docs.moodle.org/ is a list of forums and documen-

tation with answers to (almost) everything Moodle-

related.

Copyright issues and queries http://www.gre.ac.uk/offices/ils/ls/guides/edb/copyright

Training videos

Videos are available on the Moodle training courses, at

the Greenwich help materials site and of course on

www.YouTube.com.

Help & Contacts

Directory

Documents

Moodle Handbook