Moodle Docs: Background

From: martin Date: Mon, 19 Aug 2002 13:19:07 +0000 (+0000) Subject: Significant improvements to distributed documentation X-Git-Url: http://git.mjollnir.org/gw?a=commitdiff_plain;h=175ccb493f1214bd6dac5024a189b275fd41632e;p=moodle.git Significant improvements to distributed documentation --- diff --git a/doc/background.html b/doc/background.html index 79d4f6c1bc..e25fc178fa 100755 --- a/doc/background.html +++ b/doc/background.html @@ -8,12 +8,32 @@

Background

Right now, Moodle is still in early development. Some features are unfinished, - and there is a way to go yet before it could be compared to commercial tools - such as WebCT or Blackboard.

That said, it has already been used to successfully conduct a postgraduate - course at Curtin University of Technology, and many improvements are planned - in the near future.

Moodle is an active and evolving work in progress.

I've been working on it, in some way or other, for several years. It started + in the 90's when I was webmaster at Curtin University + of Technology and a system administrator of their WebCT installation. I + encountered many frustrations with the WebCT beast and developed an itch that + needed scratching - there had to be a better way (no, not Blackboard :-)

I also know a lot of people in schools and smaller institutions (and some big + ones!) who want to make better use of the Internet but don't know where to start + in the maze of technologies and pedagogies that are out there. I've always hoped + there would be a Free alternative that such people could use to help them move + their teaching skills into the online environment.

My strong beliefs in the unrealised possibilities of Internet-based education + led me to complete a Masters and then a PhD in Education, combining my former + career in Computer Science with newly constructed knowledge about the nature + of learning and collaboration.

Since then Moodle has progressed through several very different prototypes + to achieve something I'm ready to call version 1.0 and release upon an unsuspecting + world (August 20, 2002). I've been using it in several courses and find it an + extremely usable and reliable tool for building high-quality online courses + - others are reporting the same. Given the context in which it's been designed, + it works particularly well for smaller institutions, or for smaller, more intimate + classes.

When compared to the big commercial tools such as WebCT or Blackboard I think + it still falls short in some areas (such as scalability and standards support), + but it comes out ahead in many others (see Features). +

Moodle Documentation

diff --git a/doc/contents.html b/doc/contents.html index 6e7503f0a6..527d3f11b5 100755 --- a/doc/contents.html +++ b/doc/contents.html @@ -8,8 +8,10 @@

Moodle Documentation

Introduction -

Background -

Installation + +

Background +

Features +

Installation

Teacher Manual

Developer Manual diff --git a/doc/credits.html b/doc/credits.html index 36ca2ab4da..951d855b26 100755 --- a/doc/credits.html +++ b/doc/credits.html @@ -8,8 +8,8 @@

Credits

Other contributors

diff --git a/doc/developer.html b/doc/developer.html index 69e9a6e1ed..d1c4f95da9 100755 --- a/doc/developer.html +++ b/doc/developer.html @@ -4,20 +4,232 @@ -

Developers Manual

Moodle architecture

This section will describe the overall architecture for Moodle and some of - the major design decisions that were made during development.

Plug-in modules

Moodle has been designed to be modular, so that new learning activities can - be easily written and "plugged-in" to a Moodle installation by the - system administrator.

This section will describe the Plug-in API and provide a simple example of - a Moodle plug-in.

This document describes some of Moodle's design and how you can contribute.

Sections in this document:

Moodle architecture
How you can contribute +
1. Learning activities
2. Themes
3. Languages
4. Database Schemas
5. Course formats
6. Documentation and articles
7. Participating in the bug tracker
+

Moodle architecture

From a system administrator's perspective, Moodle has been designed according + to the following criteria:

Moodle should run on the widest variety of platforms
+
+ The web application platform that runs on most platforms is PHP combined with + MySQL, and this is the environment that Moodle has been developed in (on Linux, + Windows, and Mac OS X). Moodle also uses the ADOdb library for database abstraction, + which means Moodle can use more + than ten different brands of database (unfortunately, though, it can not + yet set up tables in all these databases - more + on this later).
+
Moodle should be easy to install, learn and modify
+
+ Early prototypes of Moodle (1999) were built using Zope + - an advanced object-oriented web application server. Unfortunately I found + that although the technology was pretty cool, it had a very steep learning + curve and was not very flexible in terms of system administration. The PHP + scripting language, on the other hand, is very easy to get into (especially + if you've done any programming using any other scripting language). Early + on I made the decision to avoid using a class-oriented design - again, to + keep it simple to understand for novices. Code reuse is instead achieved by + libraries of clearly-named functions and consistent layout of script files. + PHP is also easy to install (binaries are available for every platform) and + is widely available to the point that most web hosting services provide it + as standard.
+
It should be easy to upgrade from one version to the next
+
+ Moodle knows what version it is (as well as the versions of all plug-in modules) + and a mechanism has been built-in so that Moodle can properly upgrade itself + to new versions (for example it can rename database tables or add new fields). + If using CVS in Unix for example, one can just do a "cvs update -d" + and then visit the site home page to complete an upgrade.
+
It should be modular to allow for growth
+
+ Moodle has a number of features that are modular, including themes, activities, + interface languages, database schemas and course formats. This allows anyone + to add features to the main codebase or to even distribute them separately. + More on this below in the next section.
+
It should be able to be used in conjunction with other systems
+
+ One thing Moodle does is keep all files for one course within a single, normal + directory on the server. This would allow a system administrator to provide + seamless forms of file-level access for each teacher, such as Appletalk, SMB, + NFS, FTP, WebDAV and so on. Otherwise, there is work yet to do. Features planned + for Moodle in future versions include: flexible connection to existing databases + of user details and grades; import and export of Moodle data using XML-based + formats; and increased use of style sheets for interface formatting (so that + it can be integrated visually into other web sites).

How you can contribute

As mentioned above, Moodle has a number of features that are modular. Even + if you are not a programmer there are things you can change or help with.

Learning Activities

+
These are by far the most important modules, and reside in the 'mod' directory. + There are six default modules: assignment, choice, forum, journal, reading, + and survey. Each module is in a separate subdirectory and consists of the + following mandatory elements (plus extra scripts unique to each module):
+
+
mod.html: a form to set up or update an instance of this module
+
version.php: defines some meta-info and provides upgrading code
+
icon.gif: a 16x16 icon for the module
+
db/: SQL dumps of all the required db tables and data (for each database + type)
+
index.php: a page to list all instances in a course
+
view.php: a page to view a particular instance
+
lib.php: any/all functions defined by the module should be in here. If + the modulename if called widget, then the required functions include: +
+
widget_add_instance() - code to add a new instance of widget
+
widget_update_instance() - code to update an existing instance
+
widget_delete_instance() - code to delete an instance
+
widget_user_outline() - given an instance, return a summary of a user's + contribution
+
widget_user_complete() - given an instance, print details of a user's + contribution
+
+
To avoid possible conflict, any module functions should be named starting + with widget_ and any constants you define should start with WIDGET_ +
+
+
+
Lastly, each module will have some language files that contain strings + for that module. See below.
+
+
+

Themes

+
Themes (or skins) define the look of a site. A number of simple themes are + provided in the main distribution, but you may want to copy one of these and + customise it to suit your own needs (eg local logo, colours, styles, graphics + etc)
+
Each theme is in a subdirectory of the "theme" directory. You can + copy the "standard" theme as a template.
+
+

Languages

+
Moodle has been designed for internationalisation. Each 'string' or 'page' + of text that is displayed as part of the interface is drawn from a set of + language files. Each language is a subdirectory of the directory 'lang'. The + structure of the lang directory is as follows:
+
lang/en - directory containing all files for one language + (eg English)
+
+
moodle.php - strings for main interface
+
assignment.php - strings for assignment module
+
choice.php - strings for choice module
+
forum.php - strings for forum module
+
journal.php - strings for journal module
+
reading.php - strings for reading module
+
survey.php - strings for reading module
+
.... plus other modules if any.
+
+ A string is called from these files using the get_string() + or print_string() functions. Each string + supports variable substitution, to support variable ordering in different + languages.
+
+ eg $strdueby = get_string("assignmentdueby", "assignment", + userdate($date));
+
+ If a string doesn't exist in a particular language, then the equivalent + in English will automatically be used instead.
+
+
lang/en/help - contains whole help pages (for popup context-sensitive + help)
+
+
Main help pages are situated here, while help pages specific to each module + are located in subdirectories with the module's name.
+
You can insert a helpbutton in a page with the helpbutton function.
+
eg helpbutton("text", "Click here for help about text");
+
and for modules:
+
helpbutton("forumtypes", "Forum types", "forum");
+
+

+ Database Schemas

+
Given a working database with defined tables, the intentionally simple SQL + used in Moodle should work fine with a wide variety of database brands.
+
A problem exists with automatically creating new tables + in a database, which is what Moodle tries to do upon initial installation. + Because every database is very different, there doesn't yet exist any way + to do this in a platform-independent way. To support this automation in each + database, schemas can be created that list the required SQL to create Moodle + tables in a particular database. These are files in lib/db + and inside the db subdirectory of each module.
+
Currently, only MySQL is supported because that's what I know. If you are + familiar with another database (especially open source databases) and are + willing to help port the MySQL schema, please get in contact with me (martin@moodle.com).
+

Course Formats

+
Moodle 1.0 supports three different course formats: weekly, topics and social. +
+
These are a little more connected to the rest of the code (and hence, less + "pluggable") but it is still quite easy to add new ones.
+
If you have any ideas for different formats that you need or would like to + see, get in touch with me and I'll do my absolute best to have them available + in future releases.
+

Documentation and articles

+
If you feel like writing a tutorial, an article, an academic paper or anything + else about Moodle, please do! Put it on the web and make sure you include + links to http://moodle.com/
+

Participating in the bug tracker

+
Finally, I would like to invite you to register on the "bug tracker" + at bugs.moodle.org so you can file any + bugs that you find and perhaps participate in discussing and fixing them. +
+
"Bugs" not only includes software bugs with current versions of + Moodle, but also new ideas, feature requests and even constructive criticism + of existing features. The beauty of open source is that anyone can participate + in some way and help to create a better product for all of us to enjoy. In + this project, your input is very welcome!
+

+
+
+
Thanks for using Moodle!
+
Cheers,
+ Martin Dougiamas
+
+
+

+

+

Moodle Documentation

Version: $Id$

Version: $Id: developer.html,v 1.2 2001/12/09 + 10:34:19 martin Exp $

diff --git a/doc/features.html b/doc/features.html new file mode 100755 index 0000000000..848c95cede --- /dev/null +++ b/doc/features.html @@ -0,0 +1,34 @@ + + + + Moodle Docs: Background + + + + +

Features

+ +Here is a big list of some of the features in Moodle 1.0: +

Supports a social constructionist pedagogy (collaboration, activities, critical reflection, etc)
Suitable for 100% online classes as well as supplementing face-to-face learning
Simple, lightweight, browser-compatible interface
Plug-in "themes" allow you to customise the colours, fonts, layout etc
Easy to install on most platforms
Easy administration - students can create their own accounts. Email addresses are verified.
One account works for the whole server
Security - teachers can add an "enrolment key" to their courses to keep out non-students. They can give out this key face-to-face or via personal email etc
Students are encouraged to build an online profile including photos, description etc
Every user can specify their own timezone, and every date in Moodle is translated to that timezone (eg posting dates, assignment due dates etc)
Choice of course formats such as by week, by topic or a discussion-focussed social format
Flexible array of course modules - Forums, Journals, Readings, Choices, Surveys, Assignments.
New modules can be written and plugged in to existing Moodle installations
The code is clearly-written PHP under a GPL license - easy to modify and localise
Full database abstraction supports all major brands of database (except for initial table definition)
Ready for internationalisation - supports plug-in languages and locale-based date formats etc
Mail integration - copies of forum posts, teacher feedback etc can be mailed in HTML or plain text.
Recent changes to the course since the last login are displayed on the course home page
Full user logging and tracking - activity reports for each student are available with graphs and details about each module (last access, number of times read) as well as a detailed "story" of each students involvement including postings, journal entries etc on one page.

+Forum Module +

Different types of forums are available, such as teacher-only, course news, open-to-all, and one-thread-per-user.
All postings have the authors photo attached.
Discussions can be viewed nested, flat or threaded, oldest or newest first.
Individual forums can be subscribed to by each person so that copies are forwarded via email, or the teacher can force subscription for all

+Survey Module +

Built-in surveys (COLLES, ATTLS) have been proven as instruments for analysing online classes
Online survey reports always available, including many graphs. Data is downloadable as an Excel spreadsheet or CSV text file.
Survey interface prevents partly-finished surveys.
Feedback is provided to the student of their results compared to the class averages

+Readings Module +

Supports display of any electronic content
Files can be uploaded and managed on the server, or created on the fly using web forms (text or HTML)
External content on the web can be linked to or seamlessly included within the course interface.

+Choice Module +

Like a poll. Can either be used to vote on something, or to get feedback from every student (eg research consent)

+Journal Module +

Journals are private between student and teacher.
Each journal entry can be directed by an open question.
For each particular journal entry, the whole class can be assessed on one page in one form.
Teacher feedback is appended to the journal entry page, and notification is mailed out.

+Assignment Module +

Assignments can be specified with a due date and a maximum grade.
Students can upload their assignments (any file format) to the server - they are date-stamped.
Late assignments are allowed, but the amount of lateness is shown clearly to the teacher
For each particular assignment, the whole class can be assessed (grade and comment) on one page in one form.
Teacher feedback is appended to the assignment page for each student, and notification is mailed out.

+ +

Moodle Documentation

Version: $Id: features.html,v 1.2 2001/12/09 + 10:34:19 martin Exp $

+ + + diff --git a/doc/future.html b/doc/future.html index f9c4e87826..713e15a62d 100755 --- a/doc/future.html +++ b/doc/future.html @@ -6,14 +6,19 @@

Future

I'm committed to continuing my work on Moodle and on keeping it Open and Free. - I have a deeply-held belief in the importance of unrestricted - education, and Moodle is the main way I can contribute to these ideals. -

As Moodle gains in maturity, I hope its directions are influenced - by the community of developers and users. A dynamic database of proposed - features and their status can be found at bugs.moodle.org. - Your contributions in the form of ideas, code, feedback and promotion are all very welcome. - +

I'm committed to continuing my work on Moodle and on keeping it Open and Free. + I have a deeply-held belief in the importance of unrestricted education and + empowered teaching, and Moodle is the main way I can contribute to the realisation + of these ideals. +

As Moodle gains in maturity, I hope its directions are influenced by the community + of developers and users. A dynamic database of proposed features and their status + can be found at bugs.moodle.org. + Your contributions in the form of ideas, code, + feedback and promotion are all very welcome. +

Now that 1.0 has been released, most of my efforts will concentrate on the + macro level (supporting larger classes and integrating into larger institutions) + and the micro level (improving support for decisions and processes, for both + teachers and learners).

Moodle Documentation

Version: $Id$

diff --git a/doc/intro.html b/doc/intro.html index d349f59012..c4b2708600 100755 --- a/doc/intro.html +++ b/doc/intro.html @@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ license to any derivative work.

Moodle will run on any computer that can run - PHP, and supports almost every brand of database.

+ PHP, and can support many types of database (particularly MySQL).

The word Moodle is an acronym for Modular Object-Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment, which is mostly useful to programmers and education theorists.