Blackboard is the leading proprietary LMS and the leading open-source systems are Moodle (Modular Object-oriented Dynamic Learning Environment) and Sakai. Moodle is preferred to other LMS: (i) free (ii) easy to use and customize (iii) since it’s been developed through global collaboration, promotes critical thinking skills, social constructivism and social constructionism. Description is based on Moodle 1.9.7 version. Moodle 2.1 is the current version. Moodle aims to release the new major version every six months. 2.2 Release date: 1st December 2011
Moodle enables educators and learners create online dynamic learning environs. What are the various tools and modules that enable build dynamic learning environment.
Moodle is copyrighted, but that you have additional freedoms. You are allowed to copy, use and modify Moodle provided that you agree to: provide the source to others; not modify or remove the original license and copyrights , and apply this same license to any derivative work .
As of 1 st September, 2011: Registered sites : 56256 from 214 countries . Users: 4,51,18,611 Teachers: 11,04,594 India 475 sites total http://moodle.org/sites/index.php?country=IN
Social Constructivism emphasizes constructing or widening knowledge based on understanding of culture and context of society. Social Constructionism asserts that learning is particularly effective when constructing something for others to experience. This can be anything from a spoken sentence or an internet posting or powerpoint to more complex artifacts like a painting, a house or a software package.
Course content delivery; management of online class transactions; tracking and reporting of learner progress; assessment of learning outcomes; reporting of achievement and completion of learning tasks; and student records management are the general features of an LMS. LMS facilitates three types of interaction , viz., (i) Learner and Content, (ii) Learner and Instructor and (iii) Learner and Leaner(s); thereby promoting effective learning. Learner support tools enable “Formation of groups and portfolio, blogging and wikibased group work are all possible with Moodle.
Course is an online space for community of people with different roles to create and combine learning activities and resources to suit their purpose. Resources are usually added by teachers or other members with greater capabilities to edit course. In activities, the course participants get to 'do' something (post or reply in a Forum, vote in Choice, answer in Quiz, add to Database
Role in Moodle refers to capability of users to edit courses. Roles can be defined, renamed and changed at different levels, from the entire site to single activity.
Moodle Administrator can add and define a role. Moodle comes with 6 pre-defined roles: Administrator, Course creator, Teacher, Non-editing teacher, Student, and Guest. Some university also add Teaching Assistant role to a Moodle course.
Only Moodle site admin can create a category of courses. Ask your Moodle/site administrator to set up a new, blank course where you have teacher privileges.
This screen enables edit new course settings – format, enrolments, enrolment key, course availability, role renaming etc.
This screen enables edit new course settings – format, enrolments, enrolment key, course availability, role renaming etc.
Assign roles to a user for granting them the permissions contained in that role.
Assign a roles by clicking on the name and add button.
Click Turn Editing On to get edit mode of the course.
Click Turn Editing On to get edit mode of the course.
Click Turn Editing On to get edit mode of the course.
Click Turn Editing On to get edit mode of the course.
When you log in to a Moodle course, you will normally see three columns. The centre column – course content. Left and right side columns , which contain blocks . Most Moodle course home pages are arranged in the default three-column format. The two outside columns are made up of small boxes Moodle calls blocks. Blocks contain supplementary information to what’s contained in the centre of the page (e.g. you might add contact details) and some blocks help your students to navigate the materials more easily. They display information such as navigation menus, calendar information, latest news, who else is online and so on. http://www.ucl.ac.uk/isd/staff/e-learning/tools/moodle/guide/blocks
It is also possible to navigate between pages by using your web browser Back & Forward arrow buttons. But, y ou will obtain more consistent results by using the breadcrumbs and links within the course pages. Breadcrumb trail horizontally across the top of the page, just below the title bar or headers. The breadcrumb trail is a navigation aid. It helps you quickly to move to the previous pages of your course, you just navigated through. It allows you to keep track of where you are in the programme. The breadcrumbs give you a trail to follow back to the starting or entry point . I am sure you remember the little man finding his way back by making a pebble trail! Keep an eye on this as you navigate around the course, you will notice that it changes to reflect your current position . Links - Some links open inside the same window and some links will open a new window. We recommend if you are linking to a resource inside your Moodle course to select - same window. If you are linking to a resource outside your Moodle course then select - new window.
Blocks are placed on the left and right side columns and their distribution may vary depending on the course. Course Summary Block : the block give you a summary of the course you are currently viewing. Activities Block: the block provides quick access to all the course activities and resources. This block will only show you the activities that are available to you. People block allows you to see a list of all the participants on the course. You can access a user’s profile by clicking on their name. You can edit your own profile by clicking on your name and choosing the Edit Profile option. Online users: This block lists the names of the course participants that are currently online. You could immediately talk to them in the chat room! This block indicates any updates or posts made to the News Forum. Click the word more ... in blue to read the entire post. Upcoming events. Here your facilitator will remind you of deadlines or other events coming up you should be aware of. There are other blocks that can be added by your facilitator depending on the nature of course and the needs of the learners.
A course format refers to the layout of a course; can be changed by the course Course administration block under settings . LAMS only displaying the LAMS interface. SCORM – http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/xerte/ eXe (elearning XML editor) exelearning.org http://blog.enovation.ie/2011/03/creating-scorm-content-for-moodle/
Turn editing on is a magic button. But you need to have the right privileges to have it! if you want to “section” your course by topic or by week. http://docs.moodle.org/20/en/Getting_started_for_teachers
Turn editing on allows you (facilitator/teacher) to change the appearance and functionality of the course.
Turn editing on allows you (facilitator/teacher) to change the appearance and functionality of the course.
Turn editing on allows you (facilitator/teacher) to change the appearance and functionality of the course.
Collect and organize relevant Learning resources – use the “ Add a Resource ” drop down menu . use the “ Add an Activity ” menu – forum, wiki, assignment, blog, survey, quiz, glossary, workshop activities
Resources can be prepared files uploaded to the course server; pages edited directly in Moodle; or external web pages made to appear part of this course. Label : help in organizing course content. Banners or descriptions may be added to labels to distinguish between and highlight different areas. http://www.ucl.ac.uk/isd/staff/e-learning/tools/moodle/guide/add_a_resource
Copy and paste the Embed video code in the HTML toolbar.
Copy and paste the Embed video code in the HTML toolbar.
Assignment module includes grading facility. Database The format and structure of these entries can be almost unlimited, including images, files, URLs, numbers and text amongst other things. Forums - The postings can be viewed in a variety for formats, and can include attachments . By subscribing to a forum, participants will receive copies of each new posting in their email. The glossary also allows teachers to export entries from one glossary to another (the main one) within the same course. One useful Glossary type is the FAQ (Frequently Asked Question) - instead of a word and a definition, you enter a question and answer. "Wiki wiki" means "super fast" in the Hawaiian language , and it is the speed of creating and updating pages that is one of the defining aspects of wiki technology. Lesson, workshop, questionnaire, survey are other activities. SCORM – Sharable Content Object Reference Model - Xerte OPEN SOURCE SCORM Development Package http:// www.nottingham.ac.uk/xerte /
In the topic where you want the assignment to appear, click on the Add an activity… drop down menu and under Assignments select Advanced uploading of files. Advanced uploading enables the usual two way file exchange process; students submit work and tutors can respond with another file. This feature allows a student to upload one or more files in any format . Teachers may also upload files, and students may add online notes . Online text feature allows students to add and edit text online for the teacher to grade and provide comments. In addition, the teacher may add comments inline and/or edit a student's submission. Offline activity feature assumes that the assessed activity happens offline. The teacher still grades it here so students can see their grade
In the topic where you want the assignment to appear, click on the Add an activity… drop down menu and under Assignments select Advanced uploading of files. Advanced uploading enables the usual two way file exchange process; students submit work and tutors can respond with another file.
A choice is like a poll. We can use this activity for quick poll. t can be useful as a quick poll to stimulate thinking about a topic; to allow the class to vote on a direction for the course; or to gather research consent.
A choice is like a poll. We can use this activity for quick poll. t can be useful as a quick poll to stimulate thinking about a topic; to allow the class to vote on a direction for the course; or to gather research consent. Publish results options – (i) publish anonymous results, do not show students; (ii) publish full results, showing names & their choices
Similar to Microsoft Access and other database building technologies. Required entries - Users will see a reminder message displayed while viewing if they have not submitted the required number of entries. Require approval - This is useful for moderating content that may be potentially offensive or inappropriate .
Forums - This activity can be the most important - it is here that most discussion takes place. Forums can be structured in different ways, and can include peer rating of each posting. The postings can be viewed in a variety for formats, and can include attachments. By subscribing to a forum, participants will receive copies of each new posting in their email. A teacher can impose subscription on everyone if they want to. Single discussion forum useful for short, focussed discussions. is just a single topic, all on one page. Useful for short, focussed discussions. Q And A Forum - The Q & A forum requires students to post their perspectives before viewing other students' postings. After the initial posting, students can view and respond to others' postings. This feature allows equal initial posting opportunity among all students, thus encouraging original and independent thinking. Standard forum is the best general-purpose forum. Each person posts one discussion - This is useful when you want each student to start a discussion about, say, their reflections on the week's topic, and everyone else responds to these. News forum - only teachers can start discussions or reply to posts News forum – for general news and announcements; not meant for student’s participation
allows participants to create and maintain a list of definitions, like a dictionary. Enabling automatic linking allow individual entries in this glossary to be automatically linked whenever the concept words and phrases appear throughout the rest of the same course . This includes forum postings, internal resources, week summaries and so on.
Quiz module allows the teacher to design and set quiz tests, consisting of multiple choice, true-false, and short answer questions. These questions are kept in a categorised database, and can be re-used within courses and even between courses. Quizzes can allow multiple attempts . Each attempt is automatically marked, and the teacher can choose whether to give feedback or to show correct answers. This module includes grading facilities. When you create a quiz activity in Moodle, it is automatically placed in the grade book for you.
"Wiki wiki" means "super fast" in the Hawaiian language, and it is the speed of creating and updating pages that is one of the defining aspects of wiki technology.
To compose a webpage we need be familiarized with the components of HTML toolbar. Some are similar to Word document features of creating a page. Inserting links - What kind of window should be called up, (i) none, (ii) new window, (iii) same frame, (iv) same window -- typically, open a New window.
Install on Windows or Mac Operating System. The complete install packages allow Moodle to be installed, along prerequisites includes: a web server, database and scripting language (Apache, MySQL and PHP in this case). Cost: Free to download. Web server, web hosting costs
Language packs : http://download.moodle.org/lang16/ Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Tamil, Urdu. All language packs, apart from English, are stored in moodledata/lang folder. 97 language packs Download the zip file from Moodle Downloads - Language Packs
Moodle tutorials http://moodle.org/mod/page/view.php?id=7745 Moodle on Social Networking Sites: http://moodle.org/mod/page/view.php?id=7750