Building an Engaging, Interactive Course in Moodle 2.2 - 3.1

Ben Audsley discusses the Getting to Know Moodle section, and what learners should expect to learn. 

1 1/2 Minutes

I will define what a Virtual Learning Environment is, what it does and does not do, and different types of VLE.  I will also inform learners of Moodle's history and extensive support community, along with the reasons for using Moodle to host online courses. 

5 Minutes

This lesson will teach participants how to create their own Moodle site by using the free Moodle Cloud platform.  I will take learners, step-by-step, through the process of applying for a Moodle site all the way through to setting up a course.  This course will then be used for the remainder of the course as a way for learners to practice what they are learning! 

4 Minutes

I will show learners how Moodle is organised and how to quickly and easily navigate the site.  This will include how to view courses and categories, as well as the Dashboard. 

3 minutes

In this lesson, learners profiles will be examined.  Information will be provided on how to edit and update a Moodle profile.  How and where profiles are used will also be examined. 

3 1/2 minutes

In this first learning activity of the course, I shall set two learning activities for learners to complete, so that learners can practice configuring profiles and dashboard settings.

15 minutes in total

A lesson dedicated to examples of all the topics covered in the Getting to Know Moodle section.  This will include examples of category and course configurations, dashboards and profiles. 

4 minutes

A brief introduction to the section on Moodle courses.  I shall explain what will be taught in this section.  I will explain the learning outcomes and what students should expect to learn. 

2 minutes

This lesson will teach learners how to create a new course in Moodle.  Probably the most technical of all the lessons, it will teach learners the importance of configuring a course correctly, as well as a detailed look at the course settings page. 

5 minutes

This bonus lesson will discuss the new features of Moodle version 3.2.  I will show learners how to change the default theme, as well as discussing new messgaing, user walkthroughs and the new media player.

This lesson is important, as the Moodle interface has changed in the latest version and this video will show learners how to change the Moodle theme so that it matches the video lessons and paper guides used in this course.

4 1/2 minutes

I will show learners how to create a new category, as well as demonstrating how to manage them.  Sorting, Moving and Deleting will also be addressed.  Ill touch on the reasons why organising Moodle courses matters! 

3 minutes

I will teach learners how to add new users to Moodle.

4 minutes

This lesson will cover basic enrolment options for courses in Moodle.  I will discuss the different roles available in Moodle 3, and what each key roles are permitted to do.

4 minutes

I will closely examine the topic course format.   This will include explaining the advantages and disadvantages of using this format,  show learners  how to add and delete topics, as well as editing topic headings. 

3 minutes

I will teach learners about the weekly topic in this lesson.  We will discuss course start dates as well as showing users how to edit weekly topics.

2 1/2 minutes

This lesson will focus on the social topic format, indicating areas of best practice and the reasons behind choosing this format. 

2 minutes

This lesson will explain the Single Activity Format, and how it can be used within Moodle.

2 minutes

In this lesson, I shall set some learning activities so that students can practice creating new courses and applying course formats. 

20 minutes in total

In this video I will show learners why certain course formats are used in certain situations, and provide an example of each format.   

5 1/2 minutes

An introduction to Moodle blocks, which will include showing learners how to add new blocks to the page.  I will explain why blocks are used and some best practice advice on the use of blocks within a Moodle course. 

2 minutes

This lesson will focus on the navigation block, showing learners how to use the block and the navigation implications.This lesson will also cover the course hierarchy, home button and the my profile link. 

2 1/2 minutes

I will teach learners how to use the admin block, and where key features are located, including Course admin, switch role to, my profile settings and site administration.

2 1/2 minutes

The html block is one of the most versatile blocks in Moodle.  This lesson will show learners what it can be used for, including adding text, images and videos.

2 1/2 minutes

This lesson will give an overview of how to add a twitter feed, via the HTML block in Moodle.

3 minutes

This lesson will highlight useful blocks and show learners how to add them to the Moodle course page.  This will include the RSS block, the calendar block and the online users block.

5 minutes

In this learning activity I shall ask learners to add various blocks to a Moodle course.

20 minutes in total

This video will show learners examples of where blocks are used, how they are used and which blocks are suitable for different learning situations.

5 1/2 minutes

This lesson will show users how to apply what they have learnt so far, by beginning work on an exemplar course.  This course will be added to throughout the rest of the course, resulting in a complete exemplar course that learners can download and use. 

Specifically, this introduction will show users how to create a new course, how to configure the course format, as well as adding blocks to the course. 

8 1/2 minutes

I will give a brief outline of the section ahead, which includes how to edit the Moodle page and what all the Moodle icons mean.  I will also introduce the concept of labels and topics and how they can be used to transform a Moodle course.  

2 minutes

This lesson will focus on Moodle editing icons, and their uses.  Learners will be shown how to turn editing on, how to delete, move, indent, hide and edit activities and resources.

2 1/2 minutes

I will explain the use of topics and how topic titles and descriptions can be edited. I will also show learners how to highlight, move, delete and hide topics.

3 1/2 minutes

I will explain the use of the activity chooser and how to find out more information about activities and resources. 

2 minutes

This lesson will focus on the Atto text editor.  I will explain what it does and show users how to alter text fonts, colours and sizes.  I will give a brief overview of all the functions and these functions will be examined in closer detail throughout the rest of the course. 

7 minutes

I will also show learners examples of indenting content, as well as hiding content, how to drag and drop files and some different effects learners can create using the atto text editor.

3 minutes

This introduction to the section will introduce learners to Moodle resources, and discuss when it's appropriate to include pages, books and files and folders on to the Moodle course.  This introduction will also discuss the use of Moodle as a file store vs a collection of interactive resources.

2 minutes

This lesson will focus on how to add a page of information to a Moodle course.  I will show learners how to edit pages once they have been created, and elude to when to use pages and when not to!

2 1/2 minutes

This lesson will show learners how to add a URL to the main course page, and explain when URLs and links should be used.

2 1/2 minutes

I will discuss the features of a book, before showing learners how to add one to a course page.  I will show learners how to add chapters and sub-chapters, and how to edit books once they have been created.

4 minutes

This lesson will focus on files and folders, and how to add them to the course page.  This will include showing learners how to organise folders and how to use compression to make it easier to copy folders of content to the course page.

5 minutes

In this learning activity, I shall ask learners to create several books, pages, files and folders to a moodle course page, in order to allow practising of creating these great resources.

20 minutes in total

Examples of best practice will be shown to learners.  How and why pages are suitable to some learning situations will also be explained.  The use of files and folders will also be examined.

6 minutes

This lesson continues work on the exemplar course, showing users how to add a page, book, file and folder to the course page.  These resources will be configured with test content to show learners how each resource can be used to display content.  

The exemplar lesson continues later in course.

9 minutes

I will talk through the meaning of a Moodle activity, along with the types of activity that the section will cover. 

2 minutes

I will show learners how to add a Moodle lesson to the course page, along with all the configuration options fully explained!

6 minutes

I will explain how content and quizzes within lessons are setup and how to add basic learning pathways.

6 minutes

Forums are a great method of communicating with your students!  I will show learners how to create a forum, along with settings for different types of subscription.

7 minutes

A choice activity is very simple – the teacher asks a question and specifies a choice of multiple responses. Use it as quick poll to stimulate thinking about a topic or to allow the class to vote on a direction for the course . This lesson will show learners how to add choices to your Moodle course.

4 minutes

This lesson will introduce learners to the chat window, and I will show how to configure the chat window in a Moodle course. 

3 minutes

I will show learners how to add a wiki to the course page, to encourage students to work collaboratively online, and how to make content engaging and interesting! 

7 minutes

In this learning activity, I shall ask learners to create a lesson, a choice, a chat and a wiki in order to allow practicing of creating these great resources.

20 minutes in Total

I will show learners some real world examples of lessons, forums, choices and chats, and discuss when each solution should be implemented.

6 minutes

This lesson continues work on the exemplar course, showing users how to add multimedia elements such as audio and video to the course.  A forum will be setup and configured, as well as adding choices, chats and a great example lesson.

The exemplar course will be finished and made available for download. 

8 minutes