</HEAD>\r
<BODY BGCOLOR="#ffffff">\r
\r
-<H2>Features</H2>\r
- \r
-Here is a big list of some of the features in Moodle: \r
+<H2 ALIGN=CENTER>Features</H2>\r
+<p>Moodle is an active and evolving product. This page lists some of the many \r
+ features it contains:</p>\r
+<p><strong>Overall design</strong></p>\r
<UL>\r
- <LI>Supports a social constructionist pedagogy (collaboration, activities, critical \r
+ <LI>Promotes a social constructionist pedagogy (collaboration, activities, critical \r
reflection, etc)</LI>\r
- <LI>Suitable for 100% online classes as well as supplementing face-to-face learning\r
- <LI>Simple, lightweight, browser-compatible interface</LI>\r
- <LI>Plug-in "themes" allow you to customise the colours, fonts, layout etc</LI>\r
- <LI>Easy to install on most platforms</LI>\r
- <LI>Easy administration - students can create their own accounts. Email addresses \r
- are verified.</LI>\r
- <LI>Plug-in authentication modules are supported (eg LDAP) for integration with \r
- existing user databases</LI>\r
- <LI>One account works for all courses on a server</LI>\r
+ <LI>Suitable for 100% online classes as well as supplementing face-to-face learning \r
+ <LI>Simple, lightweight, efficient, compatible, low-tech browser interface</LI>\r
+ <LI>Easy to install on almost any platform that supports PHP. Requires only \r
+ one database.</LI>\r
+ <LI>Full database abstraction supports all major brands of database (except \r
+ for initial table definition)</LI>\r
+ <LI>Course listing shows descriptions for every course on the server, including \r
+ accessibility to guests.</LI>\r
+ <LI>Emphasis on strong security throughout. Forms are all checked, data validated, \r
+ cookies encrypted etc</LI>\r
+</UL>\r
+<p><strong>Site management</strong></p>\r
+<UL>\r
+ <LI>Site is managed by an admin user, defined during setup</LI>\r
+ <LI>Plug-in "themes" allow the admin to customise the site colours, fonts, layout \r
+ etc to suit local needs</LI>\r
+ <LI>Plug-in activity modules can be added to existing Moodle installations</LI>\r
+ <LI>Plug-in language packs allow full localisation to any language. These can \r
+ be edited using a built-in web-based editor.</LI>\r
+ <LI>The code is clearly-written PHP under a GPL license - easy to modify to \r
+ suit your needs</LI>\r
+</UL>\r
+<p><strong>User management</strong></p>\r
+<UL>\r
+ <LI>Goals are to reduce admin involvement to a minimum, while retaining high \r
+ security</LI>\r
+ <LI>Supports a range of authentication mechanisms through plug-in authentication \r
+ modules, allowing easy integration with existing systems.</LI>\r
+ <LI>Standard email method: students can create their own login accounts. Email \r
+ addresses are verified by confirmation.</LI>\r
+ <LI>LDAP method: account logins can be checked against an LDAP server. Admin \r
+ can specify which fields to use.</LI>\r
+ <LI>IMAP, POP3, NNTP: account logins are checked against a mail or news server. \r
+ SSL, certificates and TLS are supported.</LI>\r
+ <LI>External database: any database containing at least two fields can be used \r
+ as an external authentication source.</LI>\r
+ <LI>Each person requires only one account for the whole server - each account \r
+ can have different access</LI>\r
+ <LI>An admin account controls the creation of courses and creates teachers by \r
+ assigning users to courses</LI>\r
<LI>Security - teachers can add an "enrolment key" to their courses to keep \r
out non-students. They can give out this key face-to-face or via personal \r
email etc</LI>\r
- <LI>Students are encouraged to build an online profile including photos, description \r
- etc</LI>\r
+ <LI>Teachers can unenrol students manually if desired, otherwise they are automatically \r
+ unenrolled after a certain period of inactivity (set by the admin)</LI>\r
+ <LI>Students are encouraged to build an online profile including photos, description. \r
+ Email addresses can be protected from display if required.</LI>\r
<LI>Every user can specify their own timezone, and every date in Moodle is translated \r
to that timezone (eg posting dates, assignment due dates etc)</LI>\r
+ <LI>Every user can choose the language used for the Moodle interface (English, \r
+ French, German, Spanish, Portuguese etc)</LI>\r
+</UL>\r
+<p><strong>Course management</strong></p>\r
+<UL>\r
+ <LI>Teacher has full control over all settings for a course</LI>\r
<LI>Choice of course formats such as by week, by topic or a discussion-focussed \r
social format</LI>\r
- <LI>Flexible array of course modules - Forums, Journals, Quizzes, Resources, \r
+ <LI>Flexible array of course activities - Forums, Journals, Quizzes, Resources, \r
Choices, Surveys, Assignments.</LI>\r
+ <LI>Recent changes to the course since the last login can be displayed on the \r
+ course home page - helps give sense of community</LI>\r
<LI>Most text entry areas (resources, forum postings, journal entries etc) can \r
be edited using an embedded WYSIWYG HTML editor</LI>\r
<LI>All grades for Forums, Journals, Quizzes and Assignments can be viewed on \r
one page (and downloaded as a spreadsheet file)</LI>\r
- <LI>New modules can be written and plugged in to existing Moodle installations</LI>\r
- <LI>The code is clearly-written PHP under a GPL license - easy to modify and \r
- localise</LI>\r
- <LI>Moodle code uses encryption, data validation and careful design to be as \r
- secure from hackers as possible</LI>\r
- <LI>Full database abstraction supports all major brands of database (except \r
- for initial table definition)</LI>\r
- <LI>Ready for internationalisation - supports plug-in languages and locale-based \r
- date formats etc</LI>\r
- <LI>Mail integration - copies of forum posts, teacher feedback etc can be mailed \r
- in HTML or plain text.</LI>\r
- <LI>Recent changes to the course since the last login are displayed on the course \r
- home page</LI>\r
<LI>Full user logging and tracking - activity reports for each student are available \r
with graphs and details about each module (last access, number of times read) \r
as well as a detailed "story" of each students involvement including postings, \r
journal entries etc on one page.</LI>\r
+ <LI>Mail integration - copies of forum posts, teacher feedback etc can be mailed \r
+ in HTML or plain text.</LI>\r
</UL>\r
<B>Assignment Module</B> \r
<UL>\r
comment) on one page in one form.</LI>\r
<LI>Teacher feedback is appended to the assignment page for each student, and \r
notification is mailed out.</LI>\r
+ <LI>The teacher can choose to allow resubmission of assignments after grading \r
+ (for regrading)</LI>\r
</UL>\r
<P><B>Choice Module</B> </P>\r
<UL>\r
<LI>Like a poll. Can either be used to vote on something, or to get feedback \r
from every student (eg research consent)</LI>\r
+ <LI>Teacher sees intuitive table view of who chose what</LI>\r
</UL>\r
-<B></B>\r
<P><B>Forum Module</B> </P>\r
-<UL><LI>Different types of forums are available, such as teacher-only, course news, open-to-all, and one-thread-per-user.</LI><LI>All postings have the authors photo attached.</LI><LI>Discussions can be viewed nested, flat or threaded, oldest or newest first.</LI><LI>Individual forums can be subscribed to by each person so that copies are forwarded via email, or the teacher can force subscription for all</LI>\r
+<UL>\r
+ <LI>Different types of forums are available, such as teacher-only, course news, \r
+ open-to-all, and one-thread-per-user.</LI>\r
+ <LI>All postings have the authors photo attached.</LI>\r
+ <LI>Discussions can be viewed nested, flat or threaded, oldest or newest first.</LI>\r
+ <LI>Individual forums can be subscribed to by each person so that copies are \r
+ forwarded via email, or the teacher can force subscription for all</LI>\r
+ <LI>The teacher can choose not to allow replies (eg for an announcements-only \r
+ forum)</LI>\r
</UL>\r
<B>Journal Module</B> \r
<UL>\r
<LI>Journals are private between student and teacher.</LI>\r
<LI>Each journal entry can be directed by an open question.</LI>\r
<LI>For each particular journal entry, the whole class can be assessed on one \r
- page in one form.</LI>\r
+ page in one form</LI>\r
<LI>Teacher feedback is appended to the journal entry page, and notification \r
is mailed out.</LI>\r
</UL>\r
modified </LI>\r
<LI>Quizzes can have a limited time window outside of which they are not available</LI>\r
<LI>At the teacher's option, quizzes can be attempted multiple times, and can \r
- show feedback and correct answers</LI>\r
+ show feedback and/or correct answers</LI>\r
<LI>Questions allow HTML and images</LI>\r
<LI>Multiple-choice questions supporting single or multiple answers</LI>\r
<LI>Short Answer questions (words or phrases)</LI>\r
<LI>External content on the web can be linked to or seamlessly included within \r
the course interface.</LI>\r
</UL>\r
-<B></B><B>Survey Module</B> \r
+<B>Survey Module</B> \r
<UL><LI>Built-in surveys (COLLES, ATTLS) have been proven as instruments for analysing online classes</LI><LI>Online survey reports always available, including many graphs. Data is downloadable as an Excel spreadsheet or CSV text file.</LI><LI>Survey interface prevents partly-finished surveys.</LI><LI>Feedback is provided to the student of their results compared to the class averages</UL>\r
+\r
<P> </P>\r
\r
<P ALIGN="CENTER"><FONT SIZE="1"><A HREF="." TARGET="_top">Moodle Documentation</A></FONT></P>\r
projects / moodle.git / commitdiff