From 31ed825f223f76896d055d87eb9d7a3f7917ca16 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: martin Date: Sun, 18 Aug 2002 15:23:21 +0000 Subject: [PATCH] Finally sat down and wrote this page. SHould do for now as a starter. --- doc/teacher.html | 213 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++- 1 file changed, 211 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-) diff --git a/doc/teacher.html b/doc/teacher.html index 7684d4a460..74cb838f6d 100755 --- a/doc/teacher.html +++ b/doc/teacher.html @@ -10,8 +10,217 @@ the main functions that are available, as well as some of the main decisions you'll need to make.

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Under construction

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Sections in this document:

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    +
  1. Getting started
    2. +
  2. Course settings
    3. +
  3. Uploading files
    4. +
  4. Setting up activities
    5. +
  5. Running the course
    6. +
  6. Further information
    7. +
+

Getting started

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+

This document assumes your site administrator has set up Moodle and given + you new, blank course to start with. It also assumes you have logged in to + your course using your teacher account.

+

Here are three general tips that will help you get started.

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  1. Don't be afraid to experiment: +
    feel free to poke around and change things. It's hard to break anything + in a Moodle course, and even if you do it's usually easy to fix it. +
    +
  2. Notice and use these little icons: +
    +

      - the edit icon + lets you edit whatever it is next to.

    +

    - the help + icon will provide you with a popup help window

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    +
    3. +
  3. Use the navigation bar at the top of each page +
    this + should help remind you where you are and prevent getting lost. +
    4. +
+
+
+

Course settings

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+

The first thing you should do is look under the "Administration" + on your course home page and click on "Settings..." + (Note that this link, and in fact the whole Administration section is only + available to you (and the site administrator). Students will not even see + these links).

+

On the Settings page you can change a number of settings about your course, + ranging from its name to what day it starts. I won't talk here about all these, + as they all have a help icon next to them which explains them all in detail. + However, I will talk about the most important of these - the course + format.

+

The course format that you choose will decide the basic layout of your course, + like a template. Moodle version 1.0 has three formats - in future there will + probably be many more (please send new ideas to martin@moodle.com!)

+

Here are some screenshots of three sample courses in each of these three + formats (ignore the different colours, which are set for a whole site by the + site administrator):

+

Weekly format:

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+

 

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Topics format:

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+

 

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Social format:

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+

 

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Note that the weekly and topics formats are very similar in structure. The + main difference is that each box in the weekly format covers exactly one week, + whereas in the topic format each box can cover whatever you like. The social + format doesn't use much content at all, and is based around just one forum, + which is displayed on the main page.

+

See the help buttons on the Course Settings page for more details.

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+
+

Uploading files

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You may have existing content that you want to add to your course, such as + web pages, audio files, video files, word documents, or flash animations. + Any type of file that exists can be uploaded into your course and stored on + the server. While your files are on the server you can move, rename, edit + or delete them.

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All of this is achieved through the Files link in your Administration + menu. The Files section looks like this:

+

+

 

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This interface is only available to teachers - it is not accessible by students. + Individual files are made available to students later on (as "Readings" + - see the next section).

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As you can see in the screenshot, files are listed alongside subdirectories. + You can create any number of subdirectories to organise your files and move + your files from one to the other.

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Uploading files via the web is currently restricted to one file at a time. + If you want to upload a lot of files at once (for example a whole web site), + it can be a lot easier to use a zip program to compress them + into a single file, upload the zip file and then unzip them again on the server + (you will see an "unzip" link next to zip archives).

+

To preview any file you have uploaded just click on its name. Your web browser + will take care of either displaying it or downloading it to your computer.

+

HTML and text files can be edited in-place online. Other files will need + to be edited on your local computer and uploaded again. if you upload a file + with the same name as an existing file it will automatically be overwritten.

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A final note: if your content resides out on the web then you don't need + to upload the files at all - you can link directly to them from inside the + course (see the Readings module and the next section).

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+
+

Setting up activities

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Building a course involves adding course activity modules to the main page + in the order that students will be using them. You can shuffle the order any + time you like.

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To turn on editing, click "Turn on editing" under Administration. + This toggle switch shows or hides the extra controls that allow you to manipulate + your main course page. Note in the first screenshot above (of the Weekly format + course) that the editing controls are turned on.

+

To add a new activity, simply go to the week or topic or section of the screen + where you want to add it, and select the type of activity from the popup menu. + Here is a summary of all the standard activities in Moodle 1.0:

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Assignment
+
An assignment is where you set a task with a due date and a maximum grade. + Students will be able to upload one file to satisify the requirements. The + date they upload their file is recorded. Afterwards, you will have a single + page on which ou can view each file (and how late or early it is), and then + record a grade and a comment. Half an hour after you grade any particular + student, Moodle will automatically email that student
+ a notification.
+
+
Choice
+
A choice activity is very simple - you ask a question and specify a choice + of responses (currently only two). Students can make that choice, and you + have a report screen where you can see the results. I use it to gather research + consent from my students, but you could use it for quick polls or class + votes.
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Forum
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This module is by far the most important - it is here that discussion + takes place. When you add a new forum, yu will presented with a choice of + different types - a simple single-topic discussion, a free-for-all general + forum, or a one-discussion-thread-per-user.
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+
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Journal
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Each journal activity is an entry in the whole course journal. For each + one you can specify an open-ended question that guides what students write, + as well as a window of time in which the journal is open (weekly course + format only). Encourage students to write reflectively and critically in + these journals, as they are only available to them and you. Afterwards, + you will be able to grade and comment all the entries for that week or topic, + and students will receive an automatic email informing them of your feedback.
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Reading
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Readings are the content of your course. Each reading can be any file + you have uploaded or can point to using a URL. You can also maintain simple text-based pages by typing them + directly into a form.
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Survey
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The survey module provides a number of predefined survey instruments that are useful in + evaluating and understanding your class. Currently they include the COLLES and the ATTLS instruments. + They can be given to students early in the course as a diagnostic tool and at the end of the + course as an evaluation tool (I use one every week in my courses).
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After adding your activities you can move them up and down in your course + layout by clicking on the little arrow icons ( + ) next to each one. You + can also delete them using the cross icon , + and re-edit them using the edit icon .

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+

Running the course

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+

I could write a thesis about this. Actually I am writing + a thesis about this.

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Until then here are just a few quick pointers:

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    +
  1. Subscribe yourself to all the forums.
    2. +
  2. Encourage all the students fill out their user profile (including photos) + and read them all - this will help provide some context to their later writings.
    3. +
  3. Keep notes to yourself in the private "Teacher's Forum" + (under Administration). This is especially useful when team teaching.
    4. +
  4. Use the "Logs" link (under Administration) + to get access to complete, raw logs. In there you'll see a link to a popup + window that updates every sixty seconds and shows the last hour of activity. + This is useful to keep open on your desktop all day so you can feel in touch + with what's going on in the course.
    5. +
  5. Use the "Activity Reports" (next to each name + in the list of all people, or from any user profile page). These provide + a great way to see what any particular person has been up to in the course.
    6. +
  6. Respond quickly to students. Don't leave it for later - do it right away. + Not only is it easy to become overwhelmed with the volume that can be generated, + but it's a crucial part of building and maintaining a community feel in + your course.
    7. +
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+

Further information

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+

If you have any particular problems with your site, you should contact your + local site administrator.

+

If you have some great ideas for improvements to Moodle, or even some good + stories, come over to moodle.com and join + in the Teacher's forum on that site. We'd love to hear them, and you can help + Moodle improve.

+

If you want to contribute to coding new modules, or writing documentation, + or papers, contact me: Martin + Dougiamas or browse the "bug tracker" site for Moodle, at bugs.moodle.com

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Thanks for using Moodle - good luck!

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Moodle Documentation

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Version: $Id$

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Version: $Id: teacher.html,v 1.4 2002/08/18 10:00:01 + martin Exp $

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