Thursday, 16 April 2009
Moodle theming
Just a few notes from Moodleman Julian Ridden's workshop on theming at the recent Moodlemoot.
Why might one need to create a Moodle theme?It is best not to use Dreamweaver to design pages - creating a proper theme is the way to go. By installing Moodle on your laptop/desktop and editing the theme files there, when you are satisfied with the local build and it's been tested locally, you can upload it to the server.
- to meet brand requirements
- to match an existing site
- to present a more engaging design for your particular audience – engaging content eg in schools, or a more corporate look
- establish a unique look and feel for your site – to stand out
- don't want the standard “VLE” look, eg for a Moodle used as a collaborative workspace
Useful tools:Start small - edit an existing theme
- Firefox web browser
- Firefox web developer plugin
- or Firebug
- Basic text editor
- Local webserver
Create a new theme using standard style sheets
Or start with a theme that is similar to your need and hack it
The files that are edited when producing a theme are:
php files
config.php
styles.php
docstyles.php
meta.php
html files
header.html
footer.html
readme.html
css files
styles_layout.css
styes_fonts.css
styles_color.css
Other files
favicon.ico
screenshot.jpg
After this I got a bit lost so I need to revisit the presentation and Julian's helpful files - everything is explained by Moodleman himself here
posted by Helen Whitehead 1:16 PM
Wednesday, 16 July 2008
Implementing Moodle
Here's a good case study of the implementation of Moodle at Thanet College. Though dated 2006 it still rings a lot of bells if you work in FE. Some highlights:
The difficulties that had to be overcome were:
1. Seeing a benefit; ‘if its not broke don’t fix it’ mentality
2. Expecting this to be an extra piece of work
3. Finding time to train
4. Having time to explore and experiment.
Benefit for students:
Students liked the way they could manage their learning better by accessing information and activities at times to suit themselves and in ways that suited their learning approach, including the facility to repeat work.
Benefit for staff:
There is no doubt that staff feel empowered and excited by using the VLE.
Tutors use the forums to discuss lesson planning.
Project lead Geoff Rebbeck says:
“There are no rules. You want the teacher to be totally in charge of the learning experience. We have started to change the culture of a college, which like most education is based in part on the A4 piece of paper, which is perhaps the most interesting and challenging journey for us all."
There are also lots of good resources on the Moodle belonging to the JISC RSC Yorkshire and Humberside website.
posted by Helen Whitehead 9:41 AM
Monday, 7 July 2008
Monday's Moodle tip: icebreaker e-tivities
One of the steps to facilitating deeper learning is to get your group of learners to "gel". Icebreakers and group work can help to get students working together and supporting each others' learning. This needs to happen in the online environment as much as in the classroom and is one of the key skills of e-moderating.
Although it certainly helps to build the group online if the students know one another from face-to-face classes, the socialisation has to happen again in each new learning space. This means it can happen in the classroom, then again in Moodle (or other VLE), and if you use something separate again like an external wiki, blogs or social networking space, the group needs to go through the group-forming stages yet again in there - it can't be avoided.
Online-only and distance learners can build a group just as well as learners on a blended programme if properly guided by the e-moderator and taken through a stepped programme designed to gradually increase interaction and collaboration.
I run online writing courses (Season of Inspiration) with learners in several different countries. My co-tutor in Australia and I didn't meet face to face for the first time until 5 years after we started working together! However we design our activities so that in the first week students familiarise themselves both with the technology (Moodle), the online environment for learning, and the group that they are part of.
Icebreakers that facilitate this kind of familiarisation and socialisation are key and should include introductions that reveal a little about each student without requiring them to reveal too much of themselves. Some examples of appropriate e-tivities include:
- If you were an animal what animal would you be and why?
- Tell us about one of your favourite websites that is typical of one of your interests.
- What can you see out of your window?
- What items do you have on your desk?
- If you were a TV or film character which one would you be and why?
Labels: e-moderating, e-tivities, icebreakers, Moodle, online learning
posted by Helen Whitehead 8:59 AM
Friday, 23 May 2008
Places available on eModerating and Online Tutoring course (online)
5 weeks - online - in MoodleStarts 4th June 2008
contact helen@reachfurther.com
I am running an eModerating and Online Tutoring course in partnership with Park Lane College in Leeds. This is an introductory course for those starting to or planning to teach online in HE, FE or even in schools. The format - 5 weeks online in Moodle - is based on successful courses I have run in the past with local, national and international participants and builds on my work with Professor Gilly Salmon at Leicester University. I'm delighted to be able to offer the course to teachers and tutors inside and outside the college as I know that a mix of participants from different institutions will, as in my previous courses, form a lively and mutually supportive community.
Although it's in Moodle, the skills taught are generic and not VLE-specific. Moodle is very easy to use :) £295 plus VAT
More information at http://reachfurther.com/?page_id=82
Contact me for more details helen@reachfurther.com
Labels: courses, e-facilitation, e-moderating, emoderating, Moodle, online learning, online tutor, online tutoring, VLE
posted by Helen Whitehead 2:18 PM
Thursday, 10 January 2008
Duplicating or copying resources & items within a Moodle course
I think I've solved a problem here that a lot of Moodle users may be having. Duplicating or copying resources and items within a Moodle course has been difficult. Here's how to use a topic template to duplicate items in topics within your course. (It's a workaround - I suspect this feature will be available in later versions of the software.)
It's easier now to duplicate or copy a course or elements of one Moodle course into another course by using the Import feature.This transfers your chosen course elements, such as forums, resources or quizzes, into the corresponding topics in the new course.
- As an administrator, in the course you want to fill, click Import
- Choose the course you wish to import from
- Choose the elements of the course you want to transfer (e.g., ALL)
- Choose whether you want to transfer course files
- Click Continue lots of times
This is great if you wish to recreate a course for a new cohort or copy items that have taken a long time to create and modify them.
But there isn't so far as I can see, a way to copy items, elements, resources etc. within a course, from one topic to another, or within a topic.
I had a nicely designed resource that I wanted to use as a template, plus a series of other elements such as a forum, and labels, e.g., Resources and E-tivity, that I needed to duplicate every week (or in every topic).
It may help here if you have two windows open, one for the real course and one for the template.There was no need to move items about individually. In the end I had 12 topics with templates that I could adapt. Much less laborious than copying the content of a one resource into another!
- I created a new course called Template, with the same number of topics/weeks as my real course,
- I created the topic template as Topic 1 in there (in this case, containing two resources, two labels and a forum with a template description). The only things in this template course were these template items in Topic 1.
- Then, from my course, I imported, in the way described above, from the Template course, importing ALL. I was then left with the series of template items in Topic 1 of my course.
- Back into Template course, and with editing on move Topic 1 to the position of Topic 2 (one click on an arrow).
- From my real course, repeat the import, which added the template items to Topic 2 of my course.
- Back into Template course, and with editing on move Topic 2 (containing the templates) to the position of Topic 3.
- From my real course, repeat the import, which added the template items to Topic 3 of my course.
- Repeat for as many topics as you need...
Hope this helps someone - if it does - comment and let me know :)Labels: copying, duplicating courses, Moodle, templates
posted by Helen Whitehead 5:45 PM
