How to Moodle, Ray and Dave & Jobs!

A couple of weeks ago (March 9/10 and 15/16) we had some training, organised by a Moodle Partner called How to Moodle. We had 2 sessions, 1 the course creator workshop and 2, the administrator workshop.

The following is a list of jobs and things to investigate, that were identified throughout the workshops.


Blayn
•Change move arrows to a lighter colour against the block header colour.
•Can the gradiated background in the chat be removed and left as plain white or something. The dark text can’t be read against it.
•On the default theme, take out the topic outline text which appears at the top of the page.
•On default theme, figure out why, when uploading a file the choose option goes off the end of the page. It’s as though the table is set at a fixed size, larger than the size of the popup window. The same problem happens when using the quiz question matching question type. The answers appear to the far right of the screen.
•Change the link colour in the tab options on certain activities, because at the moment it is white on a white background making it invisible.
•Theme: look to change the theme once a user is in and make the top strip thinner. This is controlled in the php code. Logo and formal white both deal with this – so can be looked at as examples. http://docs.moodle.org/en/header_logo

Mark •Strip out the http:// from the add a file area. (setting in ADMIN)
•Add the role of auditor to the site and ensure that teachers can assign auditors to the roles.
•Remove Journal Activity as it is being stopped – do this for Maggie Holmes’s course.
•Make sure exercise is disabled
•Make sure workshop is disabled
•Do we need to archive in any way if we are having a lifecycle of 36 months for all courses?
o Is there a business requirement for extra storage space so that we can archive anything over 4 years old?
o What’s the university auditing requirements internally and externally (QAA)
•Site policy – need to set one up in moodle: Security > Site Policies – stick policy in the site files: Front page > Site files
•Show recent submissions in the Assignment module block. Should we disable this? It shows which users have submitted assignments in the Recent Activities block.

Jim
•Install the lightbox gallery – really nice photo gallery tool.
•Install quick comments block, quick way to ask questions via email - moodle.org
•Install the LRC block - allows tutors to add direct links to relevant journals etc
•Enabling open in new window for resources – option is set, but it doesn’t appear to take effect on document and web page files. See if there is a fix in Moodle Tracker.
•Feedback activity type (install)
•Questionnaire activity type (install)
•Install Comparative reports is an admin add on which allow you to look at more of the stats within moodle, such as most active users etc.
•Create a new language pack for Flexible Learning, so that we can set the assignment option for send for marking to something else.
•Manage updates on an ongoing basis. ‘composite’ version of moodle as each update is implemented.
•Use SVN to manage the version control – an open source product
•Need to figure out the upgrade strategy and how this will be managed
•Install a development server for testing and development purposes


•General Moodle Policies
Users never to be given course creator rights.
Teachers prevented from restoring courses from their own personal sites – this can be done, but must be requested through the e-Learning team.

•To consider
Should we disable email addresses being visible when users post forum messages?
Should we stop users from being able to see who has submitted an assignment in the latest news block?

Staff development, May - Oct 2010

We are currently planning the staff development programme for adopting moodle. Based on feedback, we will be organising subject-based sessions. This means that we can tailor sessions to the needs of the subject and focus on questions and issues pertinent to specific teams.

Amanda Hardcastle from Staff Development has kindly agreed to co-ordinate and arrange these sessions, which will be delivered by Mark Dransfield and Blayn Parkinson between May and October 2010.

The initial Fundamentals and Orientation sessions will cover the basics of moodle. The half day sessions will introduce attendees to the new environment of moodle and will cover some of the core functions, such as uploading files and organising content. By the end of the session attendees should be able to:

Be familiar with the moodle environment
Access moodle in a variety of ways
Organise the layout of their online courses
Upload learning materials and other content such as module handbooks
Add some basic activities, such as discussion forums
Understand how students are enrolled and how to control their access
Know where to look for help and advice

We will be following up these sessions with Carpe Diem sessions. These are more focussed inputs, aimed at spending devoted time with individuals, getting their courses ready for delivery by September.

From October onwards, we will be offering more in-depth sessions covering how to get more from moodle.

Responding to feedback

We've been listening to what people have been saying about moodle and have had some really good feedback from early adopters. Here are the things we've implemented from feedback:

1. Tested moodle for accessibility with HYAC and chosen the most accessible theme for users with difficulties.

2. Created a new theme which removes the numbering from the topic areas (requested by Alison Hayes)

3. Added a unicode font for the English Language and Linguistics programme (requested by Nikki Swift)

4. Implemented templates for the PDF assignment tool. This means that stuents can fill in form fields on a web page, such as name, student ID, assignment title etc. These fields are then automatically added to an assignment cover sheet in moodle.

5. Working on PDF e-submission so that files are converted to PDF for online marking at the point of submission. This means that a Word document can be submitted, and during the process, it is converted to PDF format, making it possible to electronically mark online.

6. Working on a batch file download for the PDF assignment types.

7. Working on an email receipt for students who have submitted assignments through moodle.

8. Added a new theme called 'autumn' for ELL (requested by Nikki Swift)

9. Looking into making some course icons larger (requested by Alison Hayes)