Let's Moodle

This is a quick course to give you an overview of what the Learning Management System (LMS) - Moodle is, how it can help you deliver content to your students in an engaging and useful way.
It is the fastest growing LMS in the world so why not see why so many people are using it all around the world.

Enjoy

Richard Wallace

What is Moodle?

Why would I use Moodle?

Moodle is a course management system (CMS) - a free, Open Source software package designed using sound pedagogical principles, to help educators create effective online learning communities.

You can download and use it on any computer you have handy (including webhosts), yet it can scale from a single-teacher site to a University with 200,000 students. This site itself is created using Moodle, so check out the Moodle Demonstration Courses or read the latest Moodle Buzz. (an excerpt from the Moodle.org website)

Why would I use Moodle?

How do I login to Moodle?

as well as my students?

There is a "login box" on the front of most Moodle sites, as well as a "Login here" button at the bottom of each page.

If you are logged in, as you are now you should see the words "Logout". Once you have logged into Moodle, you are then able to see different views according to the "Role" you have been assigned.

As a student you will be able to see the courses you are currently enrolled in, as well as publicly available courses.

As a teacher you will be able to see the courses you are currently teaching in as well as publicly available courses, but in your courses, you will see many more options than students.

Adding/Editing Content in Moodle

(WYSIWYG Editor)

Adding content into Moodle is very easy, usually if you know how to use a common Word Processor, you should have no issues with the Moodle editor.

You will need to have the "Turn Editing on" button activated (so it shows "Turn editing off") for you to make any changes. You can only see this when you have teacher Rights, which you do in your sandbox.

The following flash movie shows a few of the functions within the editor.

Always to remember to "Save Changes" every 5 or so minutes as well as when your finished editing, as you are actually changing the file on the server (wherever that may sit).

Adding files, images, links etc into Moodle?

To add images or files to your moodle course, you will first need to upload them to the Moodle installation.

The easiest way is to open the WYSIWYG editor, click where you would like an image to appear and then click the "Add image" button, it looks like a green picture in a frame.

This will open the image box, where it allows you to upload an image after browsing for it. Then once it is uploaded, just select that image, add some Alt Text and away you go.

Blocks in Moodle

Moodle blocks are the boxes that you see to the left and right of the main content window in moodle, for example the "Moodle Links Block" in the top left corner of this course..
These are very simple to add and delete, simply by having the editing turned on and then clicking on the "Blocks" drop down box.

Have a play in your sandbox area, there are also a few resources below for you to look at.

Moodle Resources

(if you are up to it)

Moodle Activities

Activities in moodle are used to reinforce the knowledge delivered using the resources and other online delivery methods. You can see a list of the "Default" activities by clicking on the drop down box named "activities".

If we have time we will be covering a few of the commonly used ones such as forums, assignments, quizzes etc.

There are also thousands, well maybe hundreds of "Optional" activities which can be installed by your administrator if you require them. A listing of these is on the Moodle.org site