Home > Moodle Primer Part 1: Creating a Class

Tutorial

Moodle Primer Part 1: Creating a Class

10/3/2007


Adding a Label
Labels are probably the simplest elements of all to add. These are used just as identifiers for the material. By default, they will appear the same size as everything else within the week, and so I recommend increasing the font size on them and bolding in order to make them stand apart from everything else.

Adding a Link
Adding a link to a resource is almost as simple as adding a label. You must give a name, specify the link, and, optionally, supply a description. You can choose that when the link is clicked the resource will appear in the same window or a new window.

Adding a Quiz
As an example, a quiz will be added to this course that will be open-book and must be taken before the start of class (8:30 a.m. Sept. 6). The reason for the quiz is to encourage the students to have at least some familiarity with the assigned chapter and thus be better prepared to discuss it during class.

Choosing Activity and then Quiz opens the Editing Quiz page shown in Fig. 3. Because this is an open-book quiz, there are two approaches that can be taken: The first is that the students are allowed as much time to take it as they wish, and the second is that they should already have read the material at least once before starting. Preferring the latter approach, I've limited the amount of time on the quiz to 10 minutes.


Fig. 3: Begin defining the attributes for the quiz. Click to enlarge image.

Further down on this screen, you can configure actions as shown in Fig. 4. Notice that I've selected that the questions shuffle within the quiz, and the answer choices shuffle within each question. This way, if two people are taking the quiz at the same time, it makes it more difficult for them to compare what they are doing. Adaptive mode has been turned off: When it is on, the students can submit each answer one at a time and see whether they are right or wrong. If they are wrong, they can try again and have their score reduced by only a small portion of the total score.


Fig. 4: The additional attributes for the quiz. Click to enlarge image.

I have also chosen to limit the number of attempts to only one and allow them to see their results immediately upon finishing. At the bottom of this screen, you can provide the feedback that will be given based upon the score that is obtained on the quiz. The feedback, and boundary, I typically use is:


Recommended Reading
  • Tiffin U's New Online College to Use Pearson's eCollege for Course Management

    Beginning this fall, students in Tiffin University's newest online program, Ivy Bridge College, will use eCollege, a course management system from Pearson, for all of their online courses. The 2,350-student Tiffin U is located in Tiffin, OH and offers both on-campus and online classes. Since 2005, those online courses have been managed through Jenzabar Internet Campus Solution.

  • California Community Colleges Adopt SunGard Banner Software

    California's Rio Hondo College and Sierra College have selected software from the Banner Unified Digital Campus and other solutions from SunGard Higher Education to help address their growing enrollments and to help improve student retention and services.

  • Luidia Releases eBeam Interact 2.1 for Interactive Whiteboards

    Luidia has released a new version its eBeam software for use with classroom-based interactive projection environments. eBeam Interact 2.1 offers both new and upgraded features, including enhanced screen recording and a comprehensive online image gallery, as well as the company's Scrapbook Image Writer feature.

  • McGill U Library Scanning Rare Books with Kirtas

    McGill University Library in Montreal will be using a Kirtas Technologies APT BookScan 2400RA to digitize its collections. The company says that the 2400RA is capable of acquiring page images at the rate of 2,400 pages per hour. The library will be working with Ristech, a Canadian reseller, to implement the digitization solution.

  • Ball State U Web Sites Now Managed with Sitecore

    Ball State University in Muncie, IN has gone public regarding its deployment of a Web site content management system from Sitecore. Ball State chose Sitecore's software to revamp its 220-plus sites, integrating common new media applications and garnering a next-generation user experience that has won several awards from education and new media marketing organizations. Now, Ball State maintains uniformity across all university Web sites and said it has enhanced its recruiting efforts through the site's new look and interface.

  • Bio-Key Launches Emergency Alert Platforms for Schools

    Bio-Key International has announced the release of two new emergency alert and management solutions for the education market. MobileSRO is designed specifically for the K-12 environment, while MobileCampus caters to higher education and other campus-based organizations.