Beginning Moodle 2009

Like many teachers in the late nineties, I

created my own web site for use in the

classroom. Unfortunately, it was a great

deal of work to add new content and

maintain the site on a daily basis!

Even though the web site was very useful, it still lacked some important features…

Easy creation of content from my existing resources such as handouts and tests

Built-in tools for quick and easy content creation and management

Truly interactive learner involvement

Even though the web site was very useful, it still lacked some important features…

Enrolment and learner authentication and tracking that was simple yet secure – I had no idea who was doing what at any given time

An intuitive interface to manage online learner information such as email addresses, phone numbers, and grades

Even though the web site was very useful, it still lacked some important features…

A robust application proven to be secure, trustable, and affordable

An active support community to help me solve problems and generate new ideas

Then, one night at a party,someone told me about…

Moodle is an alternative to proprietary commercial online learning solutions, and is distributed for free under the GNU General Public License.

Modular

Object-

Oriented

Dynamic

Learning

Environment

Moodle Architecture

Moodle was originally designedby an educator with a "socialconstructionist pedagogy" in mind.

Social constructionists assert thatlearning is particularly effective when students are constructing something for others to experience.

Moodle is a Course Management System (CMS) or Learner Management System (LMS).

Martin DougiamasCreator & Lead Developer

An individual or organization has complete access to the source code and can make changes if needed.

Moodle’s modular

design makes it

easy to create

new courses,

adding content that

engages learners

on many levels.

Moodle is essentially an administrative platform that provides course pages that can be populated with…

Forums

Glossaries

Wikis

Assignments

Assessments

Choices (polls)

Scorm/AICC packages

Interactive databases

Interactive Lessons

Text pages

Labels

Web pages

Links to Resources

IMS Content

Surveys

Journal/Blog space

Workshops

and much more!

Depending on how you choose to set up Moodle, all of your course materials are password-protected. This is an invaluable feature for those concerned with copyright law compliance!

Let’s begin by creating a user account

at http://www.moodle.org

Now, we need to establish your first

course space at moodle.cliu.org. You

must provide:

• Your building name

• Your name

• Your course name (only one for now)

• Your course number if applicable

• Your user name

While you’re waiting, check out this

link…

http://www.moodletutorials.org/

Or

Google “how to”+Moodle

1 2 3

A

Blank

Course!

123

A

Blank

Course!

Now, let’s take

a tour of the

Administration

panel that

you’ll use to

control your

course.

The key to the world of Moodle“Turn editing on”

Link or button on Administration menu

Opens the editing/content-generation features

of Moodle

We’ll come back to this one Later!

The Settings Page

?Context-sensitive

help!

Summary ?

Index of All Help Files

General Course Settings

General Course Settings

Enrolments and Groups

Enrolments and Groups

Availability

You must make some important

decisions here!

Always use a key

Never allow guests without the key

Role renaming

It’s hard to make a mistake!

Moodle Docs on each page

Your

Personal

Profile

Important Choices!

City and Country are Required!

Info about you here

100px/100px image

Don’t forget to SAVE… or UPDATE

in this case!

Backing Up Your Course

What should I pick?

What should I pick?

What should I pick?

A quick double-check

Backup Completed

Successfully

Backups are stored in your Files

area. Download each backup

immediately to your hard drive or

another location.

Your Files Area

Reports!

The rest of

the panel…

Back to the key!“Turn editing on”

Link or button on Administration menu

Opens the editing/content-generation features

of Moodle

We’ll come back to this one Later!

Icons and links

that make sense!

Link to any Internet

Resource, and it

becomes part of

your course!

You and your

students can

create your own

content!

Create assignments requiring

students to upload a written product.

Next…

Some basic course building skills. Let’s

start with the “Add a Resource” menu.

Description

Always remember to SAVE!

Display a Directory from your

Files area.

Display the contents of a directory from the Files

area of your course. You can organize and upload

files to this area by choosing Files from your course

administration block.

Insert a Label

Edit a content block label

How to add a Block

Let’s add some

different

blocks, and see

how you can use

them to add

functionality to

your courses.

Add and arrange the following blocks on

your course page (some may exist)…

• Activities

• Calendar

• Latest News

• People

• Upcoming Events

Let’s add

some

activities you

might use to

deliver the

content of

your course.

Let’s begin with a

Forum or

Discussion

Forums may be

used in many

different ways!

A special Forum in a special place

Add an

Assignment…

Several different

types are

available. Each

has its own

settings.

Add a Lesson…

Lessons are very

powerful tools for

content delivery and

reinforcement.

However, they can

be a little

complicated to use!

Design interactive lessons with

whatever structure you prefer…

C

Q

Q

End

Intro

Q Q Q

Q Q Q

End

Branch

End

Branch

End

Branch

End

?

Create

Quizzes, Tests,

and Review Tools

*

*

*

*Note: Don’t store your questions in the

Default category!

Use the Wiki module for collaborative

projects of all kinds structured in just

about any way you can imagine!

Create peer assessment activities with

a huge array of options using the

Workshop module. Participants can

assess each other's projects, as well as

exemplar projects, in different ways.

1 2 3

LINK TO HOT POTATOES QUIZZES, TESTS, AND OTHER TOOLS CREATE INTERACTIVE WEB QUESTS HAVE

STUDENTS CREATE WEB QUESTS FOR OTHER STUDENTS PROVIDE MAKE-UP FOR VIDEOS QUIZ STUDENTS

ON VIDEO SHOWN IN CLASS CREATE REVIEW TOOLS THAT CAN BE USED REPEATEDLY BY STUDENTS HAVE

STUDENTS CREATE A GLOSSARY FOR THE COURSE CREATE A KEYWORD SEARCHABLE DATABASE OF YOUR

STATE’S STANDARDS AND ANCHORS PROVIDE LINKS TO REINFORCEMENT ACTIVITIES FOR PRIOR

KNOWLEDGE PROVIDE AREAS FOR THOUGHTFUL BLOGGING OF PROCESS OBSERVATIONS BY STUDENTS

DELIVER CONTENT THROUGH BRANCHED LESSONS PROVIDE DIFFERIENTIATED LESSONS PRESENTING

CERTAIN CONTENT ONLY TO THOSE WHO APPEAR TO NEED IT BASED ON THEIR PERFORMANCE PROVIDE

DIFFERIENTIATED VISUAL CONTENT BY PROVIDING DIFFERENT VIDEOS ON THE SAME SUBJECT FOR

DIFFERENT LEARNERS PROVIDE AUDIO AND VISUAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR ACTIVITIES HAVE STUDNTS POST

VISUAL AND AUDIO PROJECTS AND OBSERVATIONS FROM THE COMMUNITY POLL STUDENTS ON ANYTHING

AS IF YOU REALLY CARE WHAT THEY THINK HAVE STUDENTS CREATE THEIR OWN ASSESSMENTS BY

CREATING QUESTIONS THAT WILL BECOME PART OF THE ASSESSMENT ON GIVEN MATERIAL DELIVER

CONTENT IN PORTABLE DOCUMENT FORMAT CREATE FORMULAS FOR MATH ENGAGE STUDENTS IN PEER

EVAULATION THROUGH THE USE OF WORKSHOPS POST YOUR PRESENTATIONS AND NOTES FOR THOSE

WHO MISS CLASS ENGAGE STUDENTS IN THE USE OF A MULTITUDE OF WEB 2.0 TOOLS LINKED DIRECTLY

FROM YOUR COURSE WEB PAGE MIX THE USE OF MOODLE PRESENTATION AND ASSESSMENT TOOLS WITH

THE USE OF WEB 2.0 TOOLS IN ORDER TO ASSESS COMPREHENSION POST DAILY ACTIVITY RECORDS

POST ALL IMPORTANT CLASS DOCUMENTS SUCH AS SYLLABI, WORKSHEETS, AND RUBRICS PROVIDE ON

LINE ASSESSMENT ENABLE DIFFERIENTIATED INSTRUCTION BY PROVIDING MULTIPLE ASSESSMENT

PREPARATION TOOLS OF DIFFERING TYPE KEEP STUDENTS ENGAGED BY PROVIDING THEM IMMEDIATE FEED

BACK ON THEIR PROGRESS IN LESSONS AND ON ASSESSMENTS FREE YOURSELF FROM EXLAINING OVER

AND OVER WHAT YOU DID IN CLASS YESTERDAY BY SAYING IT’S ALL ON THE CLASS WEBSITE CREATE LINKS

TO OFFICIAL DOCUMENT FORMATTING SITES, ANTI-PLAGIARISM SITES, SCHOOL RULES SITES, AND OTHER

RULES AND REGULATIONS SITES THAT APPLY TO YOUR CLASSROOM PROVIDE A DIRECT LINK TO DISCOVERY

EDUCATION STREAMING AND ALL OF THE FANTASTIC THINGS THEY HAVE TO OFFER REALLY GET EDGY AND

USE THE CHAT MODULE TO PROVIDE A BACK CHANNEL FOR YOUR STUDENTS TO ENTER INTO LECTURES AND

PRESENTATIONS AS ACTIVE PARTICIPANTS INVITE THE WORLD INTO YOUR CLASSROOM WITH RSS FEEDS

FROM ANYWHERE NETWORK WITH OTHER MOODLE SERVERS

You will get the most out of Moodle if

each student has his or her own email.

•Think.com

•Gaggle.net

•SchoolCenter.com

•eChalk.com

•ePals.com

If you are working with younger

students, you may have to get

creative with email!

You

might

try one

of these

services

You can also have your site

administrator upload your students

using an Excel spreadsheet you

complete for him or her.

Who Will Help You Use Moodle?

www.moodle.org

Thanks!

O.B.A.A.T.

A.C.E.A.E