Moodle activity modules

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Activity modules for Moodle 1.8

A short summary for the Bielefeld workshop in December 2007

Georg Hartl and Martin Kattmann

Web- and Moodlemasters of PhD-ACT


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Preposition

Bielefeld December 2007

Dear Partners

With this handout we want to give you some help for deciding how to manage the Distance

Learning element in the PhD ACT module.

At first we will show you most of the activity modules included at MOODLE 1.8 and give

you a short description of these modules facilities.

Here is an image of included activity modules:

In a second part we will introduce the most interesting modules for PhD ACT more detailed.

We think the most useful activity modules for graduate students are:

o

Assignmento Chato Forumo Essayo Glossaryo WIKIo Workshop

You can find additional information at the official MOODLE website www.moodle.org under

the keyword modules and plugins.

The Url is: http://moodle.org/mod/data/view.php?id=6009

We hope that this little handout is helpful for your further work in this project.

Georg Hartl

Martin Kattmann


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Index of contents

Part 1 Short overview

Assignments .............................................................................................................................. 5

Chat ........................................................................................................................................... 5Choice ........................................................................................................................................5

Database .................................................................................................................................... 6

Forum ........................................................................................................................................6

Glossary..................................................................................................................................... 6

Hot potato quiz ......................................................................................................................... 7

Journal....................................................................................................................................... 7

Lesson ........................................................................................................................................7

Quiz............................................................................................................................................ 7

Scorm /Aicc ............................................................................................................................... 7

Survey........................................................................................................................................7

Wiki ........................................................................................................................................... 8Workshop.................................................................................................................................. 8

Part 2 Elaborated

Assignment module ..................................................................................................................9Assignment Types ..................................................................................................................9

Iterative Assignments.............................................................................................................9

Upload a single file assignment ............................................................................................. 9

Advanced uploading of files assignment ............................................................................. 10

Online text assignment......................................................................................................... 11

Offline activity assignment .................................................................................................. 12

Adding/editing an assignment .............................................................................................. 13

Viewing an assignment ........................................................................................................ 15

Assignment submissions ...................................................................................................... 15

Chat module............................................................................................................................ 16Adding/editing a chat ........................................................................................................... 16

Next chat time ...................................................................................................................... 17

Viewing a chat...................................................................................................................... 19

Chat sessions ........................................................................................................................ 19Chat reports .......................................................................................................................... 20

Forum module ........................................................................................................................ 20Teaching and Learning Forums............................................................................................ 20

Student Centred Forums....................................................................................................... 21

Adding/editing a forum ........................................................................................................ 24

News forum .......................................................................................................................... 26

Forum permissions ...............................................................................................................26

Viewing a forum................................................................................................................... 27

Viewing a discussion............................................................................................................ 28

Forum posting ...................................................................................................................... 28

Forum subscription............................................................................................................... 29Forum moderator role........................................................................................................... 29

Essay module .......................................................................................................................... 29


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Essay question type ..............................................................................................................29

Glossary module ..................................................................................................................... 30Collaborative glossaries ....................................................................................................... 30

Adding a glossary................................................................................................................. 31

General options .................................................................................................................... 31

Common module settings.....................................................................................................33Glossary permissions............................................................................................................ 34

Viewing a glossary...............................................................................................................34

Printing a glossary................................................................................................................34

Adding/editing a glossary entry ........................................................................................... 34

Glossary comments ..............................................................................................................35

Editing glossary categories................................................................................................... 36

Import glossary entries ......................................................................................................... 36

Export glossary entries ......................................................................................................... 37

Wiki module............................................................................................................................ 37Adding/editing a wiki........................................................................................................... 38

Adding and editing wiki pages............................................................................................. 38Advanced options ................................................................................................................. 39

Common module settings.....................................................................................................39

Wiki permissions.................................................................................................................. 39

Viewing a wiki ..................................................................................................................... 40

Overview .............................................................................................................................. 40

Adding a wiki page ..............................................................................................................40

Editing a wiki page............................................................................................................... 41

Wiki administration.............................................................................................................. 41

Wiki standard index pages ................................................................................................... 42

Export pages......................................................................................................................... 42

Workshop module ................................................................................................................... 43How to Create a Workshop.................................................................................................. 43

Creating Scoring Guides ...................................................................................................... 45

Uploading Example Assignments........................................................................................ 49

Managing Workshops .......................................................................................................... 50

Effective Workshop Practices.............................................................................................. 54

Creative Workshop Practices ............................................................................................... 55

Literature for Moodle teaching............................................................................................. 56


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Assignments

The assignment module allows teachers to collect work from students, review it and

provide feedback including grades.

Students can submit any digital content (files), including, for example, word-processed

documents, spreadsheets, images, audio and video clips. Assignments don't necessarily have

to consist of file uploads. Alternatively, teachers can ask students to type directly into Moodle

using an online text assignment. There is also an offline activity assignment which can be

used to remind students of 'real-world' assignments they need to complete and to record

grades in Moodle for activities that don't have an online component.

Assignment types

Screenshot 1

There are 4 types of assignments:

Upload a single file

Advanced uploading of files - options include: multiple file submission, allowing students to

type a message alongside their submission & returning a file as feedback.

Online text - students type directly into Moodle, teachers can provide inline feedback.

Offline Activity - teachers provide a description and due date for an assignment outside of

Moodle. A grade & feedback can be recorded in Moodle.

More you find beginning at page 8

Chat

The Chat module allows participants to have a real-time synchronous discussion via theweb. This is a useful way to get a different understanding of each other and the topic being

discussed the mode of using a chat room is quite different from the asynchronous forums.

The Chat module contains a number of features for managing and reviewing chat discussions.


Choice

A choice is very simple the teacher asks a question and specifies a choice of multipleresponses. It 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.

Choice requires some preparation time for creating your activity and thinking about what

results you would like to achieve, but your participation with activity itself is likely to be

minimal.


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Database

The Database module allows the teacher and/or students to build, display and search a bank

of record entries about any conceivable topic. The format and structure of these entries can be

almost unlimited, including images, files, URLs, numbers and text amongst other things. Youmay be familiar with similar technology from building Microsoft Access or Filemaker

databases.

Note: Please don't confuse this activity type with Moodle's underlying SQL database,

which stores all of the information used in Moodle courses and is only of interest to

Moodle Administrators.

Forum

Forums can contribute significantly to successful communication and community building inan online environment. You can use forums for many innovative purposes in educational

settings, but teaching forums and student forums are arguably the two more significant

distinctions.

Teaching and Learning Forums

When you decide to use a discussion forum as an activity in an e-learning environment it is

important to be aware that your time will be needed in some sense in order to make the

activity successful. If your goal is to encourage discussion, the forum will only work if:

a.) participants feel there is a need/reason to participate and they will gain something from the

experience. Incentives for learning, gathering support, etc. should be explored and encouraged

early on in order to clearly convey the purpose of the forum to others. Anyone considering

offering grades or marks for participation is advised to think very carefully about thedifference between quantity and quality of discussions in forums.

b.) a sense of community and purpose can be fostered amongst participants. This sense of

community can be fostered through tutor/teacher initiative and scaffolding, or primarily

through the students/participants themselves depending on the intentions of the activity.


Glossary

While a basic glossary is important, creatively applying the glossary can really make an

impact on your class.

This activity allows participants to create and maintain a list of definitions, like adictionary.

The entries can be searched or browsed in many different formats. The glossary alsoallows teachers to export entries from one glossary to another (the main one) within

the same course.

If glossary autolinking is enabled by an administrator (see Filters for further details)then it is possible to automatically create links to these entries from throughout the

course.



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Hot potato quiz

The Hotpot module allows teachers to administer Hot Potatoes and Tex Toys quizzes via

Moodle. The quizzes are created on the teacher's computer and then uploaded to the Moodle

course. After students have attempted the quizzes, a number of reports are available which

show how individual questions were answered and some statistical trends in the scores.

JournalThe teacher asks the student to reflect on a particular topic, and the student can edit and refine

their answer over time. This module has been replaced by two things:

1. The Online Assignment submodule (Moodle 1.5 onwards)2. Blogs which allow ongoing journalling and publishing (Moodle 1.6 onwards)

Lesson

There are two basic types of Lesson pages: Choice and Navigation. Most pages offer thestudent choices, "question pages" (related to Quizzes) are the most common. Moodle calls

another type of choice page "branch tables". Navigation pages create additional robust

features that impact a student's choices. "End of Branch", "Start Cluster" and "End Cluster"

are the Navigational pages seen by the teacher but they have no content seen by the student.

More you find at page

QuizA quiz is an activity that presents students with questions and then processes their responses

to give feedback and grades. Quizzes can be used both as a way to aid the learning process

(formative assessment) and as a way of assessing student achievement (summative

assessment). The quiz module allows teachers to assemble quizzes from the questions in the

question bank and to set a variety of options determining how the student interacts with the

quiz (time limit, repeated attempts, level of feedback, ...)

Scorm /AiccA module to load and play SCORM -compliant content packages. Currently supports

SCORM 1.2 and AICC.

The SCORM/AICC module is a course activity which allows you (the teacher) to upload any

SCORM or AICC package to include in your course.

SCORM (Sharable Content Object Reference Model) is a collection of specifications that

enable interoperability, accessibility and reusability of web-based learning content.

SurveyThe Survey module provides a number of verified survey instruments that have been found

useful in assessing and stimulating learning in online environments.

The Survey module is a course activity that provides a number of verified survey instruments,

including COLLES (Constructivist On-Line Learning Environment Survey) and ATTLS

(Attitudes to Thinking and Learning Survey), which have been found useful in assessing and

stimulating learning in online environments. Teachers can use these to gather data from their

students that will help them learn about their class and reflect on their own teaching


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Wiki"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. Generally, there is no

prior review before modifications are accepted, and most wikis are open to the general public

or at least to all persons who also have access to the wiki server.

The Moodle wiki module enables participants to work together on web pages to add, expand

and change the content. Old versions are never deleted and can be restored.

A wiki is a collection of collaboratively authored web documents. Basically, a wiki page is a

web page everyone in your class can create together, right in the browser, without needing to

know HTML. A wiki starts with one front page. Each author can add other pages to the wiki

by simply creating a link to a page that doesn't exist yet.

Wikis get their name from the Hawaiian term "wiki wiki," which means "very fast." A wiki is

indeed a fast method for creating content as a group. It's a hugely popular format on the Web

for creating documents as a group. There is usually no central editor of a wiki, no single

person who has final editorial control. Instead, the community edits and develops its own

content. Consensus views emerge from the work of many people on a document.Moodle's wiki is built atop an older wiki system called Erfurt wiki:

http://erfurtwiki.sourceforge.net.


WorkshopThese are the settings for 1.6 but are similar for 1.8 onward. The settings have help buttons.

The fields or options in settings in Moodle 1.6.include:

Submission Title, Description,

Grade for Assessments, Grade for Submission, Grading Strategy, 'Number of Comments,

Assessment Elements, Grade Bands, Criterion Statements or Categories in a Rubric',

Number of Attachments expected on Submissions, Allow Resubmissions, Number of

Assessments of Examples from Teacher, Comparison of Assessments, Number of

Assessments of Student Submissions, Weight for Teacher Assessments, Over Allocation, Self

Assessment, Assessments must be agreed, Hide Grades before Agreement, League Table of

Submitted Work,

Hide Names from Students, Use Password, Password, Password Maximum Size

Start of submissions, Start of assessments, End of submissions, End of assessments, Release

Teacher Grades, Group mode, Visible to students.



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Assignment module

The assignment module allows teachers to collect work from students, review it and

provide feedback including grades.

Students can submit any digital content (files), including, for example, word-processed

documents, spreadsheets, images, audio and video clips. Assignments don't necessarily have

to consist of file uploads. Alternatively, teachers can ask students to type directly into Moodle

using an online text assignment. There is also an offline activity assignment which can be

used to remind students of 'real-world' assignments they need to complete and to record

grades in Moodle for activities that don't have an online component.

Assignment Types

There are 4 types of assignments:

1. Upload a single file2. Advanced uploading of files (1.7 onwards) - options include: multiple file submission,

allowing students to type a message alongside their submission & returning a file as

feedback.

3. Online text - students type directly into Moodle, teachers can provide inline feedback.4. Offline Activity - teachers provide a description and due date for an assignment

outside of Moodle. A grade & feedback can be recorded in Moodle.

Iterative Assignments

It is possible to create iterative assignments - where the piece of work is graded by theteacher, re-edited by the student, re-graded and so on using either the single file or the online

text and setting 'Allow resubmitting' to 'Yes' in the assignment settings.

Upload a single file assignment

A student can upload a single file.

This could be a Word document, spreadsheet or anything in digital format. Multiple files may

be zipped and then submitted. After students upload their files, the teacher will be able to

open the submission and use the Moodle interface to assign a grade and offer comments as

feedback.

Settings

These settings are in addition to the general assignment settings outlined on editing an

assignment.

Allow resubmitting

By default, students cannot resubmit assignments once the teacher has graded them. If you

turn this option on, then students will be allowed to resubmit assignments after they have beengraded (for you to re-grade). This may be useful if the teacher wants to encourage students to

do better work in an iterative process.


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Email alerts to teachers

If enabled, then teachers are alerted with a short email whenever students add or update an

assignment submission.

Only teachers who are able to grade the particular submission are notified. So, for example, ifthe course uses separate groups, then teachers restricted to particular groups won't receive any

notices about students in other groups.

Maximum Size

This setting specifies the maximum size of the file which the students can upload as theirsubmission. If your students are uploading word processing documents or spreadsheets,

typically you only need to allow for a few megabytes. If your students are submitting

multimedia projects or other files with many images or audio clips, then the space allowed

will need to be larger.

Advanced uploading of files assignment

This type of assignment allows each student to upload one or more files in any format.

Features

This type also allows teachers to send files back to students in response to theirsubmissions. A typical way to use this would be to edit the student's submitted file by

adding comments and/or corrections, and then returning this file back to the student

via the assignment. When a student clicks on the assignment, files sent to him or her

appear as a list of Response files.

Response files can be also uploaded before submission which can be used to give each student

a different file to work with.

Students may also enter notes describing the submitted files, progress status or anyother text information.

Submission of this type of assignment must be manually finalized by the student. Teachers can review the current status at any time, unfinished assignments are marked

as Draft. Teachers can revert any ungraded assignment back to draft status.

Settings


assignment.

Maximum size

This setting specifies the maximum size (in total) of the file which the students can upload as

their submission. If your students are uploading word processing documents or spreadsheets,

typically you only need to allow for a few megabytes. If your students are submitting

multimedia projects or other files with many images or audio clips, then the space allowedwill need to be larger.


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Allow deleting

If enabled, students may delete uploaded files at any time before submitting for grading.

Maximum number of uploaded files

Maximum number of files each participant may upload, this number is not shown to students,

please write the actual number of requested files in assignment description.

Allow notes

If enabled, students may enter notes into text area associated with the assignment.

This text box can be used for communication with the grading person, assignment progress

description or any other written activity.

Hide description before available date

If enabled, assignment description is hidden before the opening date.




Only teachers who are able to grade the particular submission are notified. So, for example, if

the course uses separate groups, then teachers restricted to particular groups won't receive anynotices about students in other groups.

Online text assignment

This assignment type asks students to submit text, using the normal Moodle editing tools.

Teachers can grade them online, and even add inline comments or changes. Online text

assignments, together with Blogs, have replaced the non-standard Journal module.

Settings


assignment.

Allow resubmitting

By default, students cannot resubmit assignments once the teacher has graded them. If you

turn this option on, then students will be allowed to resubmit assignments after they have been

graded (for you to re-grade). This may be useful if the teacher wants to encourage students to

do better work in an iterative process.


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Only teachers who are able to grade the particular submission are notified. So, for example, ifthe course uses separate groups, then teachers restricted to particular groups won't receive any

notices about students in other groups.

Comment Inline

If this option is selected, then the original submission will be copied into the feedbackcomment field during grading, making it easier to comment inline (using a different colour,

perhaps) or to edit the original text. Of course even if the teacher makes inline comments and

changes, the student's original submission is kept intact.

If inline comments are not permitted, then the teacher will see the students submission and a

separate area for making comments.

Educational Benefits

As reflective learning and formative assessment have a greater presence in education today,

the online text assignment proves a useful way for students to record their thoughts and

feelings about a particular topic or theme within the Moodle environment itself. Tutors can set

up online text activities that ask students to reflect on both rhetorical or assigned questions

depending on the learning outcome or goal.

Online text assignments can also be free spaces set up by the course tutor for students to

reflect at moments of their own choosing within a course. It is perfectly acceptable to make

use of the online text assignment as a private space for personal learning and reflection in

some instances (ie. no tutor feedback) and as a collaborative space between tutor and student

in others (ie. tutor feedback, comments and/or short discussions). Pedagogically, both

methods of using the activity are good learning models for the former allows students a

reflective space of their own to develop their ideas, whilst the latter gives them a space of

private support with you that provides them with reliable feedback.

How you decide to monitor online text activities is, of course, up to you. The most significant

element of monitoring is to provide students with clear guidance of when and how this willtake place. For instance, if you do not plan to monitor the activity at all, be sure to inform the

students that this is a private space for their own personal use (although tutors will be able to

read entries) and be clear that no feedback will be provided. Alternatively, if you wish to

make contributions in the form of feedback, be sure to inform the student that, for example,

they can expect feedback and comments from you once a week or every two weeks. In terms

of feedback and expectation levels, keeping communications between you and students very

clear will ensure a level of trust necessary to build and maintain a community in your e-

learning environment.

Offline activity assignment

This is useful when the assignment is performed outside of Moodle. It could be something

elsewhere on the web or face-to-face. Students can see a description of the assignment, but


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can't upload files or anything. Grading works normally, and students will get notifications of

their grades.

There are no settings specific to offline assignments, just the general assignment settings

outlined on editing an assignment.

Adding/editing an assignment

Assignment name

Give your assignment a name (e.g. Report on Topic Content). The name entered here will

be the name that learners see in the course content area. Learners will click on this name to

view the details of the assignment and, if applicable, submit their work.

Description

The description of the assignment, which should include precise instructions for studentsregarding the subject of the assignment, the form, in which it should be submitted, the grading

criteria etc.

Use this area to describe the assignment and explain what learners are expected to do to

complete this task. The assignment description can be as brief or as expansive as you feel is

necessary to meet the needs of your learners. However, it is to your benefit to provide as

much detail and information as possible, especially at the start of the course while you are still

establishing procedures. Generally, the more information you are able to provide here the

fewer questions and problems your learners will have completing the task.

The assignment description field can also be used to provide information or resources relatedto the assignment. An instructor, for example, could provide some literature, a video clip, an

image, or a link to a webpage, and then ask the learners to use these materials in completing

the task. (Alternatively, the instructor could post these items using the Resource Module and

refer students to them in the assignment details. See the section titled Resource Module for

more information.)

Finally, if you are adding rich content, tables, etc. to your description, it is best to expand the

HTML editor into full screen mode so you can make your webpage document look nice when

participants view it.

Grade

The grade for the assignment is specified here. Choosing a number will become the maximum

grade for this assignment. Apart from the numbers, one of the descriptive grades which have

been defined for this course can also be picked.

If you will not be giving a grade for the assignment, choose No Grade.

Available from

Setting this date prevents students from submitting their assignments before this date.

The Available from date setting allows an instructor to set a day and time at which learners

can begin submitting the assignment. This setting does not, however, hide the activity from

the learners. Instead, the learner will see the activity, be able to view the instructions and use

any materials you have include in the description, but the learner will not be able to submit or


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complete the assignment until the Available from date.

To activate the Available from date, make sure that the check box is marked. Then, use the

drop down menus to choose the day, month and year. You can also set a time with the last two

fields on the line. Note: the time is based on a 24 hour clock or military time, so 14:00

refers to 2:00 p.m.

If you do not wish to use the Available from option, just remove the check from the checkboxby clicking on it; the rest of the field will turn gray and the date will be ignored.

Due date

And this prevents students from submitting their assignments after this date.

The Due date field works in much the same way as the Available from field with a few small

differences. The checkbox activates the Due date option and you have the same ability to

select a day, month, year, and time. If the checkbox is empty, then the due date will be not be

applied.

As with the Available from setting, the Due date defines when learners are able to submit

their assignment. However, with the Due date settings, you also have the Prevent late

submissions option (below the date and time fields). Setting Prevent late submissions to Yes

will prevent learners from being able to submit this assignment after the Due date. If you set

Prevent late submissions to No, then learners can submit the assignment as long as theassignment is visible or accessible to them.

Both the Available from and Due dates are displayed for learners in the assignment details,

but the Due date is also marked in the course Calendar as a visible reminder for participants.

Furthermore, the indicator on the calendar will actually link learners directly to the activity!

Your use of the Available from and Due date settings will probably be dependent on the

overall structure of your course. If you are facilitating an open ended course or a course with

rolling enrollment, then you might find it easier to not apply the Available from and Due date

settings (uncheck the boxes). This arrangement will allow the learners to access the

assignments according to their own schedule and progress within the course. Alternatively, if

you are working within a more structured format or adhering to a timeline, the Available from

and Due date settings are useful for keeping learners on schedule. Using the Available from

setting will make it possible for learners to preview upcoming activities, while at the same

time, prevent them from finishing the course in the first week and not returning for additional

activities or information. Likewise, the Due dates help keep the learners from lagging too farbehind and decrease the likelihood that the learner will become overwhelmed by having to

complete several weeks worth of work at once.

Prevent late submissions

Set to "No", assignments submitted after the due date will be marked as late, but students will

still be able to submit them. Set to "Yes", assignment submission will be blocked after the due

date.

Settings for specific assignment types (1.7 onwards)

Each assignment type, except offline assignment, has further settings which are detailed on

the relevant assignment type pages:


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Upload a single file Online text Advanced uploading of files

Group mode

The group mode can be one of three levels: no groups, separate groups or visible groups.

Visible

Choose whether to Show or Hide the assignment

Tips and tricks

Copy an assignment by backing up the course and selecting just the assignment, withor without students and their data. Restore the backup. Move and or edit the

assignment.

Viewing an assignment

Viewing/submitting an assignment you will see the assignment name and its description with

the 'View x submitted assignments' link (where 'x' is the number of assignments submitted)

and the opening/closing dates and hours ('Available from' and 'Due date') of a given

assignment. What's (and if there is anything) below depends on the type of assignment.

In the Offline activity assignment there are no additional options. In the Online text assignment you will also see your assignment submission (if you

have done so) with the Edit my submission option as well as the Feedback from the

Teacher field.

In the Upload a single file assignment, you can go for the Upload a file option, theexecution of which demands using the Browse link allowing you to choose the file on

your computer you wish to be uploaded.

Assignment submissions

he submissions page contains a table with headings:

1. First name and Surname (along with the photograph)2. Grade (for the submitted assignment)3. Comment (the feedback information you have written in the feedback field while

grading the assignment)

4. Last modified (Student) (the date of the last modification of the assignment by thestudent)

5. Last modified (Teacher) (the date of the last modification of the assignment by thestudent)

6.

Status (with which you can move to the page where you grade the submittedassignment or, in case it's been graded, update the grade and/or the comment)


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Above the table there is an alphabetical index, which helps you narrow down the number of

students shown on one page only to those whose surname (or name) starts with the same

letter. That is particularly helpful in case of a large number of course participants.

The list of submissions may be sorted by clicking on a particular heading. Clicking twice on

the same heading sorts the list in the opposite order. If the table is too large then columns maybe collapsed by clicking on the Hide icon next to a particular column heading.

By default, 10 submissions are shown per page, though this may be changed at the bottom of

the page.

To grade a submission, click on the Grade link opposite a particular student's name. A new

window will open containing a feedback area.

Once you've reviewed the student's assignment, pick the grade for the assignment from the

dropdown list. (You set the scale when you created the assignment.) Below the grade scale,

you can type comments regarding their work. When you're done, click "Save changes" or"Save and show next".

You may prefer to use "quick grading" by checking the box at the bottom of the submissions

page. This enables you to quickly grade multiple assignments all on one page, rather than one

by one in a new window. Simply add the grades and comments then when you're done, click

"Save all my feedback" at the bottom of the page.

Chat moduleThe Chat module allows participants to have a real-time synchronous discussion via the

web. This is a useful way to get a different understanding of each other and the topic being

discussed the mode of using a chat room is quite different from the asynchronous forums.

The Chat module contains a number of features for managing and reviewing chat discussions.

Adding/editing a chat

Name of this chat room

Begin by entering a name for your chat room. The name entered here will be the name that

learners see in the course content area. Learners will click on this name to view the

description of the purpose of the chat room and then to enter the chat. It is useful to name

your chat room with a name that implies its purpose. For example, if you will be using your

chat room for virtual office hours, then you might name your chat room Virtual Office.

Alternatively, if the chat room is designed solely to give learners a place to socialize or

discuss class activities, you might name the chat room Student Lounge.


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Introduction text

Type the description of the chat here. Include precise instructions for students regarding the

subject of the chat.The introduction text is designed to welcome learners to the chat and to provide information

regarding the purpose of the chat room. The introduction can be as simple or as complex as

you would like. As an example, you could simply explain that the chat room is being made

available for learners to collaborate on group projects. A chat could also be used for

structured discussions of course content; in that case, the Introduction text might present a

specific list of questions to be addressed or the protocols to be followed.

It might also be beneficial to let the learners know in the Introduction text who will be able to

see the transcripts of the chat sessions. The instructor will be able to see every part of any

conversation that takes place in the chat room. However, you can choose to make these

transcripts visible to all learners as well. When working with younger learners, experience has

revealed that discussions in the chat rooms are more likely to be on-task and appropriate whenthe learners are aware that their discussions can be viewed by the instructor and/or other

learners. The same may well be true with adult learners.

Next chat time

The day and hour of the next chat session.

If you wish to schedule chat sessions for or with your learners, then you can use this setting to

publish a time and date for the next chat. The date you select here will be displayed on the

course calendar along with a link to the chat room. Realize that setting a date and time here

will not restrict access to the room at other times, it is merely a tool to communicate with your

learners; to let them know when they can expect to find you or other learners in the chat room.If you wish to make the chat room unavailable, you must hide it from the learners.

To choose a chat time, use the drop down menus to choose the day, month and year. Then, set


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a time with the last two fields on the line. Note: the time is based on a 24 hour clock or

military time, so 14:00 refers to 2:00 p.m.

For courses involving users across different time zones, it is useful to know that the time you

set here will be adjusted to match the time zone of the user viewing it.

If you do not wish to publish chat times, then you can disregard the date and time settings

here and then choose not to publish them in the next step.

Repeat sessions

You can choose any out of four options allowing to schedule the future chat sessions:

1. Don't publish any chat times--If you prefer not to schedule chats for the chat room,select this setting. This option will cause Moodle to disregard the date and time set

above for the Next chat time. Not publishing chat times could be used to indicate to

learners that the chat room is available at all times for them to use.

2. No repeats - publish the specified time only--This setting will cause only the dateand time selected for the Next chat time to be published. The date and time will bedisplayed on the course calendar as well as when the learners click on the title of the

chat room in the course content area. Published chat times could be used to schedule

special events or meetings or simply to help learners identify a common time in which

they can expect to find other learners in the chat room.

3. At the same time every day--In some situations, you may need to schedule a chatsession for the same time every day; this setting allows for this option. The scheduled

chats will then be based on the time of day you selected above for the Next chat time.

Scheduled daily chats are useful for scheduling daily office hours or work sessions

with learners.

4. At the same time every week--To schedule a chat for the same day and time everyweek, select this option. When this option, the scheduled chats will be on the same day

of the week at the same time you indicated in the Next chat time area above. If you

regularly give assessments on the same day of the week, this setting could be useful

for scheduling review sessions prior to each assessment. You could also schedule a

weekly chat to meet and review key ideas and questions related to the weeks

contentassessment or not.

Save past sessions

You can determine the number of days.

When users (two or more) participate in a chat session, a record, or complete transcript of thesession is created. As the instructor, you can choose how long these transcripts are saved and

available for viewing. You may wish to never delete the messages from a special chat room

used for discussions between learners and visiting authors, but you may choose to keep

transcripts from an open, informal chat room for only 30 days.

If you have any concerns about discussions that might take place in your chat room, you may

want to keep transcripts for an extended period of time to allow the transcripts to be used for

documentation. Likewise, you may find the documentation provided by the transcript to be

useful for accreditation or evaluative purposes. Another consideration is how long you expect

your learners to need access to the transcript. For instance, if learners are using the chat room

to collaborate on a group project, you wont want to delete the messages until that project is

completed and assessed.


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Everyone can view past sessions

You can decide here whether or not allow everyone to view past chat sessions.

Instructors in a course can always view transcripts from sessions in the chat rooms. However,

you also have the option to make these chat transcripts available to all of the learners in the

course. If you select Yes for this setting, learners can click on the title of the chat room andthen view past sessions to see any interactions that have taken place in the chat room. If you

select No here, then only the instructors in the course will have access to the transcripts. If

learners need access to a specific transcript though, the instructor can always copy the

transcript and share it with learners in the form of a document.

Visible to students

You can hide the activity from students by selecting "Hide" here. It is useful if you wouldn't

like to make the activity available immediately.

Changing the Visible to students setting is the equivalent of opening or closing the eye on the

course page to hide or display an activity for learners. If you choose Show, then learners in

the course will be able to see this assignment. If you choose Hide, then only the instructor will

be able to see the assignment.

Viewing a chat

You will see the chat name and description as well as the 'Click here to enter the chat now'

link. If the chat has next sessions scheduled, there will also be the information concerning the

time of the next chat session.

If you have set past chat sessions to be archived, you will be able to view them clicking 'View

past chat sessions' on the top right-hand side of the page. You can also add any number ofHTML blocks to the chat using the Add Block field on the left-hand side of the chat page.

Chat sessions

As you access the chat session page, clicking the 'Click here to enter the chat now' link, you

will see it divided into two parts, the left one with the posts that appear during a given chat

session and the right one listing the people in the chat room at the very moment. Underneath

you will find the field, in which you can type the message you wish to appear on the chat

session page.

There are some guidelines you can think of considering while using the chat module.

The chat module contains some features to make chatting a little nicer.

Smilies

Any smiley faces (emoticons) that you can type elsewhere in Moodle can also be

typed in here and they will be displayed correctly.

Links

Internet addresses will be turned into links automatically.

Emoting

You can start a line with /me or : to emote. For example, if your name is Kim and you

type :laughs! or /me laughs! then everyone will see "Kim laughs!"

Beeps

You can send a sound to other people by hitting the "beep" link next to their name. A

useful shortcut to beep all the people in the chat at once is to type "beep all".

HTML


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If you know some HTML code, you can use it in your text to do things like insert

images, play sounds or create different coloured and sized text.

Chat reports

To view previous chats with two or more participants, you need to click on the 'View past

chat sessions' link in the upper right of the chat session page.

This will bring up a listing of each chat session under the current chat topic. The listings

include the time the chat started and ended, which users participated, and how many messages

each user sent. If you are the teacher or an administrator, you will also see a 'See this session'

and a 'Delete this session' link underneath each of the individual listings.

In order to see the past chat sessions as a student, the teacher or an administrator must setup

the chat to allow everyone to view past chat sessions. Please refer to the Everyone can view

past sessions section of the Adding/editing a chat page.

Forum moduleForums can contribute significantly to successful communication and community building in

an online environment. You can use forums for many innovative purposes in educational

settings, but teaching forums and student forums are arguably the two more significantdistinctions.

Teaching and Learning Forums

When you decide to use a discussion forum as an activity in an e-learning environment it is

important to be aware that your time will be needed in some sense in order to make the

activity successful. If your goal is to encourage discussion, the forum will only work if:

a.) participants feel there is a need/reason to participate and they will gain something from the

experience. Incentives for learning, gathering support, etc. should be explored and encouraged

early on in order to clearly convey the purpose of the forum to others. Anyone considering

offering grades or marks for participation is advised to think very carefully about thedifference between quantity and quality of discussions in forums.


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b.) a sense of community and purpose can be fostered amongst participants. This sense of

community can be fostered through tutor/teacher initiative and scaffolding, or primarily

through the students/participants themselves depending on the intentions of the activity.

Participation and Scaffolding

Whilst one of the great advantages of e-learning is the flexibility it affords participants, this

does not mean that days or weeks should pass without response and discussion in a forum

(unless it is appropriate for it to do so). This is perhaps most especially true at the beginning

of a course or programme when students and tutors are new to each other and in need of

welcome messages/encouragement. Whilst e-learning, and discussions in particular, can

support learning that is not always tutor/teacher-centred, your role will be important,

especially as an online community begins to develop. It is during these initial stages of

introductory material that a group of students can become a community of participants who

begin to grow in their understandings of course material and individual contributions to the

knowledge construction process.

As the discussions progress and learners become accustomed to the mechanics and the tone of

the forums then there are key ways in which your input can be reduced, thereby helping to

foster a community that is less dependent on the tutor/teacher. Even then, however, you will

probably want to be a presence in the discussions although you may choose to be one of many

contributors rather than the font of all wisdom.

Committment and Participation

Ask yourself if

1. you wish to have involvement in the forum or if you want the students to lead and ownthe space

2. you want the forum to add value to the face to face environment or have a life of itsown in its own right outside the lecture theatre/classroom or seminar room

3. you are prepared to make appropriate contributions to the discussion in order to:1. encourage discussion if students are quiet2. help shape ideas if students begin to wander off-task3. your role will be defined as discussions/a course progresses4. you will explicitly but gradually relinquish control of the discussions5. you will encourage and support learners to share control of discussions(for

example you might ask a learner/group of learners to summarise contributionsto a discussion thread/topic or you might ask learners to initiate discussion

topics)

Student Centred Forums

With the growing popularity of social networking software like Facebook, Bebo, MySpace

and the like, students are leaving schools and coming to Higher and Further Education with a

new technological sophistication and with new expectations for communication. And as

school, colleges and universities recognise that reflective and life long learning are significant

goals in education, student centered learning and the creation of student centered spaces

online are also gaining credence in educational settings. We know that effective learningrequires access to social and academic networks for both study material and emotional


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support; as such, online communities can offer a holistic knowledge construction and support

mechanism and recognize that affective activity is effective.

Social forums, often called Virtual Cafes or Common Rooms can be set up for courses or

for programmes, depending on the student need. Such spaces provide a common area for

students to come together and discuss unlimited topics, including social activities andeducational ideas. They are supportive spaces for students, most successful with large first

and second year courses where students would not otherwise have the opportunity to

communicate with others outside their own tutorial group. It is arguable that students will

experience a greater sense of community within and a sense of belonging to an educational

institution or individual department having had the experience and convenience of the social

forum on their course; this could arguably have implications for retention.

These spaces are typically highly active, especially in first term. Depending on your

institution, they are usually self monitored by students, who understand that the same rules

and netiquette that apply to them within any computing space, also apply in Moodle.

The News Forum

Moodle courses automatically generate a News Forum which defaults to automatically

subscribe all participants in a course. The name of the News Forum can be changed to

something more appropriate, such as Important Announcements or the like. This is a usefulfeature and many use this forum in a Moodle course to announce exam dates, times or

changes to exams, lectures or seminars, as well as important information about course work

throughout a term or special announcements relating to events.

Teacher/Tutor forums

A teacher/tutor-only forum may be added to a course by creating a hidden forum. Teachersare able to view hidden course activities whereas students cannot.

How do I know which forum is right for my purpose?

Moodle has four kinds of forums:

1. A single simple discussion2. Standard forum for general use3. Each person posts one discussion4. Q And A Forum

Which of the above will best suit your needs for a particular activity? In order to answer this

question it is useful to think how you might lead such a discussion in a face-to-face

environment. Would you throw the question out to the class and sit back to observe them in

their answers? Or would you break them up into smaller groups first and ask them to have

discussions with a partner before bringing them back to the main group? Or perhaps you

would like to keep them focused on a particular aspect of a question and ensure that they do

not wander away from the topic at hand? All of the above approaches are both valid and

useful, depending on your learning outcomes, and you can replicate all of them in Moodle

forums.


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A standard forum for general use is probably most useful for large discussions that you intend

to monitor/guide or for social forums that are student led. This does not mean that you need to

make a new posting for each reply in each topic although, in order to ensure that discussion

does not get 'out of control', you may need to be prepared to spend a significant amount of

time finding the common threads amongst the various discussions and weaving them together.

Providing overall remarks for particular topics can also be a key aspect of yourresponsibilities in the discussion. Alternatively, you could ask students to summarize

discussion topics at agreed points, once a week or when a thread comes to an agreed

conclusion. Such a learner-centred approach may be particularly useful once the online

community has been established and, perhaps, when you have modeled the summarizing

process.

A single simple discussion is most useful for short/time-limited discussion on a single subject

or topic. This kind of forum is very productive if you are interested in keeping students

focused on a particular issue.

Each person posts one discussion is most useful when you want to achieve a happy mediumbetween a large discussion and a short and focused discussion. A single discussion topic per

person allows students a little more freedom than a single discussion forum, but not as much

as a standard forum where each student can create as many topics as they wish. Successful

forums of this selection can be active, yet focused, as students are not limited in the number of

times they can respond to others within threads.

A Q and A forum is best used when you have a particular question that you wish to have

answered. In a Q and A forum, tutors post the question and students respond with possible

answers. By default a Q and A forum requires students to post once 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.

Some forum suggestions to consider

1. If your course is at a distance, if your face to face time is limited, or if you just wish tofoster a sense of community in your Moodle course which supplements your face to

face course, it is good practice to begin with a welcome or introductory message or

thread in one of your forums. This welcome or introduction from you invites

participants, for example, to post some specific details to introduce themselves to you

and their peers. This can be your icebreaker or you can have an icebreaker separately.2. If you have two questions for participants to answer, starting the two strands or topics

within the forum itself will both help learners to see where to put their responses, and

remind them to answer all parts of your question.

3. Remember that you are communicating in an environment that does not have thebenefit of verbal tone, eye contact, body language and the like. Careful consideration

of your communication is, therefore, necessary.

4. Postings to a forum are always written but they can take different forms and you maywish to consider what form best suits the activity. For instance, you might choose to

articulate a form of contribution in order to be explicit. Thus you might say, 'This is a

think-aloud forum in which, together, we will try to tease out ideas and possibilities' or

'This is a formal forum in which you are invited to share your ideas on (topic)' and,where you select the latter, you might have already suggested learners plan those ideas

offline or in another kind of activity within Moodle.


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5. Create a forum where only the teacher can start discussions, but the students can onlyreply. Each thread you start contains an essay question (or several similar ones). The

students make a bullet point plan for the essay and post it as a reply. This works well

as a revision strategy as the students can see how others have approached the same

task. Once everyone has posted their plan, you can start a discussion as to which plans

seem better and why. Creating a scale to use for rating the posts can be useful so thatthe students can see how helpful other people think their effort were.

Grading forums

You can use the ratings to grade student activities by restricting ratings to instructorsonly, and then rating all student posts. But be aware that this reports an average of all

ratings for a single student to the gradebook, and not a sum total of the ratings for all

posts. So if you want your students to make several posts in one forum, then you may

want to use an Assignment module to house the Forum grade for a particular block.

That grade will then be reported to the gradebook. Be sure to make it clear to the

students that they don't have to do any assignment in that assignment module, and thatthat's where their forum grade will be housed.

Adding/editing a forum

In your course, click "Turn Editing On", and go to the topic or week section in which you

want to create the forum. From the drop-down list labelled "Add an activity", select "Forum".

This will take you to the "Adding a new forum" page.

General

Forum name - A short name of the forum (e.g. "Favourite colour"), which will bedisplayed on the course homepage

Forum type - There are four forum types to choose from:o A single simple discussion - a single topic discussion developed on one page,

which is useful for short focussed discussionso Standard forum for general use - an open forum where anyone can start a

new topic at any time; this is the best general-purpose forum

o Each person posts one discussion - each person can post exactly one newdiscussion topic (everyone can reply to them though); 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 theseo Q and A Forum - Instead of initiating discussions Teachers (only) pose a

question in the initial post of a discussion. Students may reply with an answer,

but they will not see the replies of other Students to the question in that

discussion until they have themselves replied to the same discussion.

Forum introduction - Type the description of the forum here. Include preciseinstructions for students regarding the subject of the forum and, if necessary, the

grading criteria.

Force everyone to be subscribed?

When a person is subscribed to a forum it means that they will be sent email copies of everypost in that forum (posts are sent about 30 minutes after the post was first written).

People can usually choose whether or not they want to be subscribed to each forum.


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However, if you choose to force subscription on a particular forum then all course users will

be subscribed automatically, even those that enrol at a later time.

This is especially useful in the News forum and in forums towards the beginning of the course

(before everyone has worked out that they can subscribe to these emails themselves).

If you choose the option "Yes, initially" then all current and future course users will be

subscribed initially but they can unsubscribe themselves at any time. If you choose "Yes,forever" then they will not be able to unsubscribe themselves.

Note how the "Yes, initially" option behaves when you update an existing forum: Changing

from "Yes, initially" to "No" will not unsubscribe existing users, it will only affect future

course users. Similarly changing later to "Yes, initially" will not subscribe existing course

users but only those enrolling later.

From Moodle 1.6 onwards there is an "Subscriptions not allowed" setting which prevents

Students from subscribing to a Forum. Teachers may choose to be subscribed if they wish.

Read tracking for this forum?

If 'read tracking' for forums is enabled, users can track read and unread messages in forums

and discussions. The instructor can choose to force a tracking type on a forum using thissetting.

There are three choice for this setting:

1. Optional [default] - students can turn tracking on or off for the forum at theirdiscretion

2. On - tracking is always on3. Off- tracking is always off

Grade

By default, only admins and teachers can rate posts. If you wish students to be able to rateposts, then a role override may be used.

There are several grading scales you can choose from. You can give a number of points to

each post (from 1 to 100) or you can opt for two other scales: Scale: satisfactory

(Outstanding, Satisfactory and Not satisfactory) or Separate and Connected ways of

knowing (Mostly Connected Knowing, Separate and Connected, Mostly Separate Knowing).

http://docs.moodle.org/en/Image:Tweak-student-role-in-forum.gif

Post threshold for blocking

Post threshold for warning - Students (only) will be blocked from posting after aspecified number of posts in a given period - this option is for setting the number of

posts a Student may make before receiving a warning. Set to 0 to disable warnings.

Post threshold for blocking - This option is for setting the number of posts a Studentmay make in the period defined below. Set to 0 to disable blocking. If blocking is

disabled, warnings will automatically be disabled.

Time period for blocking - This option defines the period in which a student maymake a the number of posts specified in "Post threshold for blocking".

Common module settings

Visible to students - You can hide the activity from students by selecting "Hide" here.It is useful if you wouldn't like to make the activity available immediately.


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Pre-Moodle 1.7 settings

Note: From Moodle 1.7 onwards, forum permissions may be accessed via the Roles tab on the

update/edit forum page and the override roles link.

Can a student post to this forum?This option allows you to restrict students from posting new content in this forum. There are

three options to choose from:

1. Discussions and replies are allowed - This option leaves students unrestricted, which isthe case for most forums. Thus, you choose to allow them to start new discussion

topics (threads), and also to post replies within those threads.2. No discussions, but replies are allowed - This option should be chosen if only teachers

are to be allowed to start new discussions. Students will still be allowed to reply

within those threads (for example within the news forum on the site home page).

3. No discussions, no replies - Choosing this option bars students from starting newdiscussion topics and replying within those threads. This is useful for the News forum

when you only want teachers to post new items that appear on the course main page.

Use ratings

If you decide to rate posts on the forum, you will have to define settings of the three following

aspects:

Users - If you want everybody to rate posts, choose 'Everyone can rate posts'.Otherwise, pick 'Only teachers can rate posts'.

View - If you want to keep the grades known only to the individual students graded,you should choose the option 'Students can only see their own ratings'. If there is nosuch a need, opt for 'Students can see everyone's ratings'.

News forum

The news forum is a special forum that is automatically created for each course and for the

front page of the site, and is a place for general announcements. By default, only teachers and

administrators may add news or reply to news. By default, everyone is forced to be subscribed

to the news forum.

The Latest News block displays recent discussions from the news forum. A course may only

have one news forum.

Removing the news forum

The news forum may be removed from a course as follows:

1. Delete the news forum from the course homepage2. In Course settings set "News items to show" to 03. Delete the Latest news block

Forum permissionsRoles and capabilities in Moodle 1.7 onwards enable possibilities such as students being

given permission to moderate forums.


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No discussions, but replies are allowed

A role override may be used to set up a forum in which only teachers are to be allowed to start

new discussions.

1. Access the Assign roles page via the Roles tab in editing forum page2. Follow the "Override roles" link3. Select the Student role4. Set the capability mod/forum:start discussion to Prevent5. Click the "Save changes" button

No discussions, no replies

A role override may be used to close/archive a forum so that students may no longer start new

discussions, nor add replies, but may still read all the discussions.

1. Access the Assign roles page via the Roles tab in editing forum page2. Follow the "Override roles" link3. Select the Student role4. Set the capabilities mod/forum :start discussion and mod/forum :replypost to Prevent5. Click the "Save changes" button

Enabling students to rate posts

By default, only admins and teachers can rate posts. A role override may be used to enable

students to rate posts.

1. Access the Assign roles page via the Roles tab in editing forum page2. Follow the "Override roles" link3. Select the Student role4. Set the capability mod/forum :rate to Allow5. Click the "Save changes" button

Viewing a forum

What you can see under the introduction text to the forum depends on which of the three

options you have chosen in the Forum type field while creating the forum.

1. If you have chosen A single simple discussion, you will see the text you have writtenat the 'Forum introduction' space while creating the forum as the first post of the

discussion: there will be a heading, which is the forum name, the information aboutthe author and its date. Below you will find the replies that have been posted (if there

are any).

2. If you have chosen Standard forum for general use, you will see the introductiontext in a separate space above the discussion field, in which you will see the

information such as the title of the discussion (which means the forum's title), its

author, the number of replies and the date of the last post.

3. Choosing Each person posts one discussion the view will be basically the same as inthe previous case, the only difference being the 'Add a new discussion' option.

Viewing a forum page, you will see the text you have written at the 'Forum

introduction' space while creating the forum, and, if there are any, the discussions that

have been started.


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In all cases, above the introduction to the forum you will find options concerning subscription

to the forum as well as the 'Update the forum' button and the 'Jump to' field, with which you

can 'jump' to any part of the course.

Viewing a discussion

A discussion thread may be displayed in four ways.

1. Display replies flat, with oldest first - the discussion will be displayed in one lineand the chronological order from the oldest to the newest

2. Display replies flat, with newest first - the discussion will be displayed in one lineand the chronological order from the newest to the oldest

3. Display replies in threaded form - only the post starting the discussion will bedisplayed in its full form; replies will be reduced to the headlines (including

information about its author and date of release) and organized chronologically;

moreover, replies will be shifted towards the right so that only replies to the same post

were in the same line

4. Display replies in nested form - all posts are displayed in their full forms; replies willbe reduced to the headlines (including information about its author and date of release)

and organized chronologically; moreover, replies will be shifted towards the right so

that only replies to the same post were in the same line

You may also move the whole discussion to any other forum in the course. To do that, use the

'Move this discussion to...' field positioned in the right-side corner above the discussion

thread.

Forum posting

The default content ofSubject is usually 'Re: '. You canchange it though.

There are several tips concerning careful reading, writing and asking you might consider

worth following - you will find them on the left-hand side of the Message field.When writing text in Moodle there are several formats you can choose to produce your text,

depending on your expertise and the type of browser you are using. Please refer to Formatting

text for further information.

If you check the "Mail now" box it results in an email being sent immediately to everyone

subscribed to the forum, rather than after a certain time limit (usually 30 minutes).

Sharing images through forums

When an image is "attached" as a file to a forum message, it is immediately displayed full size

after the message (i.e. no need to click on an attachment). This an excellent way of sharing

images without having to go through the process of uploading them as files and linking them

from within web pages.

Post length

Extra-long posts cause problems when doing a forum search and can be difficult to read on

screen. Rather than creating a very long post, consider copying and pasting the text into a text

file and add it as an attachment to your forum post.


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Forum subscription

When a person is subscribed to a forum it means that they will be sent email copies of every

subsequent post in that forum. Posters have 30 minutes by default to edit their post before it is

sent though this time limit can be changed by an Administrator.

People can usually choose whether or not they want to be subscribed to each forum. However,

if a teacher forces subscription on a particular forum then this choice is taken away andeveryone in the class will get email copies.This is especially useful in the News forum and in

forums towards the beginning of the course (before everyone has worked out that they can

subscribe to these emails themselves).

Note that even if you force subscriptions every user can disable all email from Moodle by

editing the settings in their profile, or elect to have all email sent once a day in a digest

contain either all posts or simply the subject headings.

ChoosingEveryone can choose to be subscribedenables you to check (and modify) the

number of subscribers ('Show/edit current subscribers') and to subscribe to (or unsubscribe

from) the forum ('Subscribe to this forum' / 'Unsubscribe from this forum').

Forum moderator role

A forum moderator for a particular forum is able to edit or delete forum posts, split

discussions and move discussions to other forums.

Role assignment

A user is assigned the role of Teacher in the module context as follows:

1. Access the Assign roles page via the Roles tab in editing forum page2. Choose the Teacher role to assign3. Select the user in the potential users list, and use the left-facing arrow button to add

them to the existing users list

Essay moduleIn response to a question (that may include an image) the respondent writes an answer in

essay format. For longer essays, Online text assignment or Upload a single file assignment are

better choices.

Essay question type

The essay question type is intended for short answers of a paragraph or two, that one often

finds on exams.

Question set-up

1. Choose a category2. Give the question a descriptive name - this allows you to identify it in the question

bank.

3. Enter the question in the 'question text' field4. Select an image to display if you want to add a picture to the question. For the student,

it appear immediately after the question text.

5. Set the 'default question grade' (i.e. the maximum number of marks for this question).6. Moodle 1.7+: Add 'General Feedback' if required. This is text that appears to the

student after he/she has answered the question. Note that this is effectively the same as

the subsequent 'Feedback' field. The only difference is that General Feedback always


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appears at the bottom of the question, even after the grade and teacher's comments

have been added.

7. Add feedback if required. This is text that appears to the student after he/she hasanswered the question. See 'General Feedback' above if using Moodle 1.7 or higher.

8. Click Save changes to add the question to the category.Question grading

The essay question will not be assigned a grade until it has been reviewed by a teacher and

manually graded. Until that happens, the student's grade will be 0.

To grade a student's answer in a quiz, use the manual grading tab on the Results section of the

quiz. When manually grading an essay question, the grader is able to enter a custom comment

in response to the essay and assign a score for the essay.

Essay questions in a Lesson

To grade lesson essay questions, first click on the name of the lesson in your course page. If

there are essay questions to be graded, there will be a link saying "Grade essay questions".This link will open a screen showing how many ungraded essay questions there are. Ungraded

essay questions will be in listed in red. Click the link for the essay you wish to grade.

The essay grading screen shows the title of the question, the student's essay response, and a

place you can write optional comments and give the essay a score. Click the Submit grade

button to record your score and comments. Graded questions will be displayed in green.

Repeat the process to finish grading. Click the "Email graded essays" link to email your

responses to your students.

Glossary module

This activity allows participants to create and maintain a list of definitions, like adictionary.

The entries can be searched or browsed in many different formats. The glossary alsoallows teachers to export entries from one glossary to another (the main one) within

the same course.

If glossary autolinking is enabled by an administrator (see Filters for further details)then it is possible to automatically create links to these entries from throughout the

course.

Creative glossary practices

While a basic glossary is important, creatively applying the glossary can really make animpact on your class.

Collaborative glossaries

Instead of creating a glossary on your own, why not have the students create them as they

encounter unfamiliar terms? A collaborative glossary can serve as a focal point for

collaboration in a course. Each member of the class could be assigned to contribute a term, a

definition, or comments on submitted definitions. Multiple definitions can be rated by you and

by the students, with the highest-rated definitions accepted for the final class glossary.

When students are responsible for creating the definitions, they are much more likely to

remember the word and the correct definition. Engaging in the process of learning, debating,

and refining a glossary can go a long way toward helping students begin using new terms.You can also structure multiple glossaries over the course of a semester. Break them up by

unit, chapter, week, or any other organizational structure.


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If you have a large class, assign student teams to come up with definitions and answers. One

strategy for managing large courses is to make each team responsible for one weeks worth of

definitions, while all the other teams must rate and comment. Alternatively, each team could

be responsible for one definition per chapter and then rate and comment on the other teams

work.

Credit for word use

This is a combination strategy using the forum and the auto-linking feature of the glossary.

After you and your students have defined the glossary terms, its important for students to

begin practising using the words in realistic contexts. Students, however, are usually reluctant

to experiment with new terms. With the auto-linking feature, its easy to spot when a glossary

word has been used in a forum or in a posting on the web site. To encourage word use, assign

a portion of the credit students receive for their forum postings for correct use of glossary

terms. As you or other students rate posts, you can quickly scan for highlighted glossary

words and award points for usage. You may even want to break the score down further.

Perhaps award one point for using the word and two points for using it correctly.

Adding a glossary

To add a glossary:

1. Click the "Turn editing on" button.2. Select Glossary from the "Add an activity" dropdown menu.3. On the Adding a new glossary page give your new glossary a descriptive name.4. Describe the purpose of the glossary, provide instructions or background information,

links etc. in the Description area.

5. Select the general and grade options and the common module settings (see below).6. Click the "Save changes" button at the bottom of the page.

General options

Entries shown per page

This sets the number of words and definitions that students will see when they view the

glossary list. If you have a large number of automatically-linked entries you should set this

number lower to prevent long loading times.

Is this glossary global?Administrators can make a global glossary, with entries linking throughout the whole site.

Any course may contain a global glossary, though usually they are only included on the site

front page.

Glossary type

Here you can decide whether the glossary will be main or secondary. The glossary system

allows you to export entries from any secondary glossary to the main one of the course. In

order to do this, you should specify which glossary is the main one. You can only have one

main glossary per course.

Note: Prior to Moodle 1.7, only Teachers could edit the main glossary. From Moodle 1.7onwards, a role override can be used to change glossary permissions.


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Students can add entries

Prior to Moodle 1.7, you can specify whether a student may add, edit or delete their own

ent

Documents

Moodle activity modules