Moodle 2.0 First Look

By Mary Cooch

In Detail

Moodle is currently the world's most popular E-learning platform. The long-awaited second version of Moodle is now available and brings with it greatly improved functionality. If you are planning to upgrade your site to Moodle 2.0 and want to be up-to-date with the latest developments, then this book is for you.

This book takes an in-depth look at all of the major new features in Moodle 2.0 and how it differs from previous Moodle versions. It highlights changes to the standard installation and explains the new features with clear screenshots, so you can quickly take full advantage of Moodle 2.0. It also assists you in upgrading your site to Moodle 2.0, and will give you the confidence to make the move up to Moodle 2.0, either as an administrator or a course teacher.

With its step-by-step introduction to the new features of Moodle 2.0, this book will leave you confident and keen to get your own courses up and running on Moodle 2.0. It will take you on a journey from basic navigation to advanced administration, looking at the changes in resource management and activity setup along the way. It will show you new ways tutors and students can control the pace of their learning and introduce you to the numerous possibilities for global sharing and collaborating now available in Moodle 2.0

This book is your personal guided tour of the new and enhanced features of Moodle 2.0

Approach

The book looks at the main functional areas of Moodle that have significant new features, explains the new features and how to use them. It draws attention to significant differences from how things used to behave, and gives the reader an idea of the kind of consequences these changes will bring to them.

Who this book is for

If you are an existing Moodle user, tutor, or administrator, then this book is for you. You are expected to be familiar with the operation of Moodle.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Packt Publishing
• Release date: Sep 24, 2010
• ISBN: 9781849511957

Mary Cooch

Mary Cooch has taught Languages and Geography in the UK for over 20 years. She manages several web sites, even more Moodles, and runs her own Moodle blog. A Moodle Certified Teacher, she now spends part of her working week travelling the country as a VLE trainer specializing in Moodle. She regularly promotes its benefits in Junior and High schools and has a deep understanding of what works best for younger students. Known online as the moodlefairy, Mary is a frequent contributor to the help forums of Moodle.org where she aims to enthuse others with her passion for this open source Virtual Learning Environment.

Book preview

Table of Contents

Moodle 2.0 First Look

Credits

About the Author

About the Reviewers

Preface

What this book covers

What you need for this book

Who this book is for

Conventions

Reader feedback

Customer support

Errata

Piracy

Questions

1. What's New in Moodle 2

Why read this book?

Looks cleaner, moves faster

A new way of managing your content

More places to have your say

Existing activities updated and improved

Control your students' progress

Improved admin

How do we get Moodle 2.0?

What you need for Moodle 2.0

Installing Moodle 2.0 for the first time

Upgrading to Moodle 2.0

Potential problems with upgrading

Themes

Third party add-ons and custom code

Backup and Restore

Summary

2. Finding our way around (Navigation and Blocks)

Meet the cast

Emma

Martin

Stuart

Andy

What does Moodle 2.0 look like?

What do users who are logged in see?

Home/My home

Site pages

My profile

My courses

The Settings block

Navigating around a course

Named topic sections

What does a student see?

Configuring the navigation block

The Navigation bar (breadcrumb trail)

The course administration block

What admin sees

Managing blocks

Making a block sticky throughout our Moodle

Adding a block to a course category page

Adding a block to courses in one category

Teachers managing blocks in courses

Hiding blocks

Moving blocks

Summary

3. Editing Text and Managing Files

Typing and editing text in Moodle 2.0

Embedding multimedia in the HTML editor

Managing files

Uploading through the HTML editor

Where's our file on the front page?

Reusing a file in another course

Uploading a file from the Resource menu

Where's our file in the course?

Follow the path!

What about Course files?

What about FTP?

Importing an image from Flickr

Using images from other Flickr users

Private files—personal storage space

Sending work out of Moodle with the Portfolio API

Exporting an assignment

Exporting a forum post

Summary

4. What's new in Add a Resource

New look — new wording

Adding a file

Displaying a file

Resource administration

Edit settings

Locally assigned roles and Permissions

Adding a folder

Uploading a folder to Moodle

Adding an IMS content package

Inserting a label

So what's new? Other options for our label

Page

Adding a page

URL

Adding a link to a website with URL

Summary

5. What's new in Add an Activity

Spot the difference...

What's hiding?

What's changed?

Making a Moodle 2.0 quiz

Where do we go from here?

Creating questions for our quiz

Click Add a question

Add question details

Adding more questions

Ordering and displaying the quiz questions

What does the student see?

Making sure our students don't submit before they've answered all the questions

The teacher's perspective

Making more quizzes

Sharing questions between courses

Quiz reports

Recap on the Quiz

Making a Moodle 2.0 Wiki

Adding new pages

What's new in the tabs

View

Edit

Comments

History

Map

Recap on the wiki

What's new in the Workshop

The set-up phase

Workshop features

Grading settings

Submission and assessment settings

When and who?

The submission phase

How does the student submit their work?

Who assesses what?

The assessment phase

How do students assess each others' work?

What the teacher sees

Weighting the assessments

The grading evaluation phase

Teacher control

A glance in the gradebook

Where's the League table?

Recap on the workshop

Downloading assignments

A new forum type

Standard forum displayed in a blog-like format

Neater display of SCORM packages

Summary

6. Managing the Learning Path

Why would we want to do this?

What admin needs to do

What the course teacher needs to do

Setting up the tasks

Setting up the introductory webpage

Restricting when students see a resource: 1

No restrictions

What does Only available from mean?

What does Grade condition mean?

What does Activity completion condition mean?

What does Add 2 grade/activity conditions to form mean?

What does Before activity is available mean?

Restricting when students see a resource: 2

Activity completion condition: Require view

What does Completion tracking mean?

What does Require view mean?

What does Expect completed mean?

Setting up the forum

Grade condition

Activity completion condition

Before activity is available

Restricting when students see a resource: 3

Activity completion condition: Require post

Completion tracking

Require view

Require grade

Require posts

Require discussions/require replies

Expect completed

Setting up the quiz

Only available from

Grade condition

Activity completion condition

Before activity is available

Restricting when students see a resource: 4

Activity completion condition: Require grade

Completion tracking

Require view

Require grade

Expect completed

Setting a pass or fail grade condition

Setting up the Lesson

Grade condition

Activity completion condition

How can students track their progress?

The completion tracking options

What does a student see?

Automatic tracking

Manual tracking

Differentiating with conditional activities

Differentiating with a grade condition

Basic Lesson grade conditions

Intermediate Lesson grade conditions

Differentiating with a forum post

Marking a course as Complete

Overall criteria type aggregation

Course prerequisites

Manual self completion

Manual completion by

Activities completed

Date

Duration after enrolment

Grade

Unenrolment

Course Completion in Practice: Example 1

What does a student see? How can they self-complete?

Course Completion in Practice: Example 2

What does a teacher see?

What does a student see?

Summary

7. Having your say

Blogs—before and after

Where's my blog?

The Blog Menu block

The Recent Blog Entries block

Course specific blogs

The blog tags block

Blog settings

Preferences

External blogs

Register an external blog

Admin issues

Commenting on blogs

Getting a dialog going

Deleting comments in a blog

Recap—the blog in Moodle 2.0

Using the Comments block

Deleting comments on the course page

Why comment on the course page?

Students comment on the usefulness of a resource

Teachers comment in private (1)

What admin needs to do

What the teacher needs to do

Teachers comment in private (2)

Moderating grades with a Comments block

Students hold a dialogue during a workshop or Wiki

Recap the Comments block in Moodle 2.0

Moodle messaging

What does admin need to do?

Where are my message options?

What does admin see?

What does a teacher or student see?

How do messages display?

Giving feedback

Why anonymous?

Adding a new feedback

Giving feedback

Summary

8. Admin Issues

The navigation block

The Settings block

Changes in Site administration

Notifications/Registrations

Community hubs

Advanced features

Completion tracking

Progress tracked roles

Enable conditional availability

What's new in Users

Authentication

Bulk User Actions

Cohorts

Permissions

User Policies

Site administrators

Define roles

Assign system roles

Check system permissions

Capability reports

What's new in Courses

What's new in Grades

What's new in Location

What's new in Plugins

Activity modules

Blocks

Authentication

Enrolments

Manage enrol plugins

Text editors

License

Filters

Portfolios

Repositories

Repository example 1: Flickr

Repository example 2: File System an FTP workaround

What does a course tutor see?

Repository example 3: Webdav — another FTP workaround

Webservices

Question types

Local plugins

What's new in security

IP blocker

Site policies

What's new in appearance

Themes

Theme settings

Individual theme settings pages

Blog

Navigation

Default MyMoodle page

Default profile page

Course Contacts

Ajax and JavaScript

What's new in Front page

Front page settings

Users

Groups

Permissions

Front page roles

Front page filters

Front Page backup/restore

Where are site files?

What's new in server

What's new in networking

What's new in reports

Comments

Config changes

Question instances

Development

Experimental

Web service test client

Purge all caches

Moodle network test client

Functional database tests

Changes in Course administration

How to enrol students into a course—the Users link

How to back up a course — the Backup link

How to restore a course—the Restore link

How to share a course—the Publish link

Repositories

Where are the course files?

Summary

Index

Moodle 2.0 First Look

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Moodle 2.0 First Look

Copyright © 2010 Packt Publishing

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embedded in critical articles or reviews.

Every effort has been made in the preparation of this book to ensure the accuracy of the information presented. However, the information contained in this book is sold without warranty, either express or implied. Neither the author, nor Packt Publishing, and its dealers and distributors will be held liable for any damages caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly by this book.

Packt Publishing has endeavored to provide trademark information about all of the companies and products mentioned in this book by the appropriate use of capitals. However, Packt Publishing cannot guarantee the accuracy of this information.

First published: September 2010

Production Reference: 1170910

Published by Packt Publishing Ltd.

32 Lincoln Road

Olton

Birmingham, B27 6PA, UK.

ISBN 978-1-849511-94-0

www.packtpub.com

Cover Image by Ed Maclean (<[e-mail]>)

Credits

Author

Mary Cooch

Reviewers

Alex Büchner

Susan Smith Nash

Acquisition Editor

Sarah Cullington

Development Editor

Dhiraj Chandiramani

Technical Editor

Gauri Iyer

Indexer

Tejal Daruwale

Proofreader

Lesley Harrison

Editorial Team Leader

Aanchal Kumar

Project Team Leader

Ashwin Shetty

Project Coordinator

Ashwin Shetty

Graphics

Nilesh R. Mohite

Production Coordinator

Melwyn D'sa

Cover Work

Melwyn D'sa

About the Author

Mary Cooch has been a Languages and Geography teacher in the UK for the last 25 years, Mary Cooch now spends part of her working week travelling the country as a VLE trainer specializing in Moodle. The author of Moodle 1.9 for Teaching 7-14 Year Olds https://www.packtpub.com/beginners-guide-moodle-1-9-for-teaching-7-14-year-olds/book, she regularly promotes its benefits in schools and has a deep understanding of what works best for younger students. She is looking forward to putting to practical use all the new features of Moodle 2.0. Known online as the moodlefairy, Mary is a moderator on the help forums of www.moodle.org where she aims to encourage others with her passion for this Open Source Virtual Learning Environment. Mary's blog is at www.moodleblog.org.

Mary is based at Our Lady's Catholic High School in Preston, Lancashire, UK, but will go anywhere to Moodle! She may be contacted at <[e-mail]>.

I would like to thank Packt for the chance to write another book, my family for their tolerance; Helen Foster at Moodle HQ for her behind the scenes support; Carl at CS New Media for his excellent customer service; Andrew, Stuart and Emma for (ab)use of their names and of course to my Moodle Manager Mark Greenwood for having all the Best Ideas.

About the Reviewers

Alex Büchner is the co-founder and technical lead of Synergy Learning (www.synergy-learning.com), the UK's and Ireland's leading Moodle and Mahara partner. He has been working with virtual learning environments of all shapes and sizes since their advent on the educational landscape. Services offered include Mahara & Moodle hosting, support, training and branding.

Alex holds a PhD in Computer Science and an MSc in Software Engineering. He has authored over 50 international publications, including Moodle Administration by Packt Publishing, and is a frequent speaker on Moodle, Mahara, and related open-source technologies.

Susan Smith Nash has been involved in the design, development, and administration of online courses and programs since the early 1990s. Her current research interests include the use of learning objects, mobile learning, leadership in e-learning organizations, and energy, and sustainability technology transfer. Her articles and columns have appeared in magazines and refereed journals. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Oklahoma in 1996, and in addition to e-learning, Nash has also been involved in international economic development training, interdisciplinary studies, international energy education (renewables and non-renewables), and sustainable business and career training. Her book, Leadership in the e-Learning Organization, was co-authored with George Henderson, and published by Charles Thomas and Sons. Her most recent books include Klub Dobrih Dejanj (Good Deeds Society) and E-Learner Survival Guide (Texture Press). Her edublog, E-Learning Queen (www.elearningqueen.com) has received numerous awards and recognitions.

Preface

Moodle is currently the world's most popular E-learning platform. The long-awaited second version of Moodle is now available and brings with it greatly improved functionality. If you are planning to upgrade your site to Moodle 2.0 and want to be up-to-date with the latest developments, then this book is for you.

This book takes an in-depth look at all of the major new features in Moodle 2.0 and how it differs from previous Moodle versions. It highlights changes to the standard installation and explains the new features with clear screenshots, so you can quickly take full advantage of Moodle 2.0. It also assists you in upgrading your site to Moodle 2.0, and will give you the confidence to make the move up to Moodle 2.0, either as an administrator or a course teacher.

With its step-by-step introduction to the new features of Moodle 2.0, this book will leave you confident and keen to get your own courses up and running on Moodle 2.0. It will take you on a journey from basic navigation to advanced administration, looking at the changes in resource management and activity setup along the way. It will show you new ways tutors and students can control the pace of their learning and introduce you to the numerous possibilities for global sharing and collaborating now available in Moodle 2.0

This book is your personal guided tour of the new and enhanced features of Moodle 2.0

What this book covers

Chapter 1, What's New and How To Get it: This chapter gives a brief look at what Moodle 2.0 has to offer with the exciting new modules and enhanced features, and the major overhauls in the file uploading and navigation system

Chapter 2, Finding your Way Around: This chapter will cover finding our way around Moodle, with the improved navigation system and the new way blocks are dealt with.

Chapter 3, Editing Text and Adding Files: This chapter will focus on editing text and adding files—looking at the replacement HTML editor and the new way files are brought into Moodle.

Chapter 4, What's New in Add a Resource: This chapter concentrates on the add a resource drop-down and we investigate the different terminology and additions to this menu.

Chapter 5, What's New in Add an Activity: This chapter concentrates on the add an activity drop-down and we investigate improvements to existing modules such as Quiz, Workshop, and Wiki.

Chapter 6, Managing the Learning Path: This chapter deals with how to manage the learning path of our students. It focuses on Conditional Activities and Completion tracking.

Chapter 7, New Modules for Moodle 2: This chapter deals with improved communication.