This has to be one of the best modules I’ve seen for Moodle. It’s created by Sam Marshall from the Open University and still in beta but I simply had to install it.
It allows tutors to split a course up into sub-courses and add resources and activities within these sub-courses.
A bit like how I use meta courses already. But doing it this way reduces the overhead on the meta enrolments and easily allows resources to be moved around the course.
The tutor simply adds the sub-page through the “Add a Resource” activity.
The mod installed perfectly and I applied the patches that fix the redirect as suggested by Sam.
I wasn’t keen with the way it orphans the activies in the sub-page so I removed orphaned activities using CSS (I don’t like the orphaned activities in Moodle 2 period, I prefer to increase/reduce the number of topics instead).
Lastly, I added some CSS to my theme so that the links to the sub-pages use the same graphics we use for all of our unit links.
This mod has several advantages:
1)Long courses can be split up into units
2)No coding necessary
3)It auto creates the link to the new section
4) It auto creates the standard graphic we use for creating units
5) If you put assignments in a sub-course, or sub-courses, it will show from your main course gradebook, so everything is in one place.
6) You can have sub-courses, within sub-courses within sub-courses…great for complex courses or modules
7) You can use groups and groupings on the sub-course link so that only certain students on your course can see the sub-course
Thanks Sam, this mod is amazing. I’ll be keeping my eye on its development and maybe tweaking it some more myself.
“Discover what’s new in Moodle 2.0, how the new features work, and how it will impact you”.
That’s the books subtitle and it really does deliver on its promise.
What’s great about this book is that it dives straight into what’s new in Moodle 2.0, the book assumes the reader is already familiar with Moodle and therefore doesn’t get bogged down with explaining the core concepts and functionality that is already native to Moodle. Instead the reader gets an early digest of what’s to come.
Of course a lot has changed with Moodle 2.0 and this book does a fantastic job of holding your hand as it guides you through the changes. The new file system is explained very delicately with supporting screenshots and the whole writing process appears very natural. Mary’s teaching background plays a very important role here and she manages to illustrate the technical changes without becoming too technical.
The book not only explains the changes in Moodle 2.0 but also provides short tutorials which show you how to manage the new features and how to implement them. This for me extends the value of the book as it has enough content to come back to and re-use once your Moodle 2.0 setup is underway.
Later chapters include conditional learning and managing learning paths and this chapter is invaluable for anyone who is new to this practice. Blackboard has had conditional learning for a long time and this approach is new to Moodle. Mary explains the whole process very well and the accompanying screenshots are brilliant. What is most interesting here is that the book stays very balanced on the use of learning paths, as anyone involved in e-Learning will know, is it always the best option to limit students learning and lock things down conditionally? The book manages to voice both sides of the debate.
The workshop has changed dramatically in Moodle 2.0 and this book dedicates a lengthy section to it. As the online documentation has always been sketchy when it comes to the workshop module this book breathes new life into it and does a fantastic job of selling the benefits of using the module.
The last chapter of the book is written for administrators and covers some of the fundamental changes. Although there are no tutorials here, this chapter is more of a run down of what things Moodle administrators can expect to see. And as Mary quite clearly points out, this isn’t an Administrators book and those seeking a more technical guide should refer to Alex Buchner’s book also from Pact Publishing.
So who is the book for? And why should you consider buying it?
It’s perhaps the most comprehensive guide as to what is new in Moodle 2.0. The subject has been researched thoroughly and the features have been quite clearly test driven by Mary herself. And this is what sets the book apart from a simple feature list you will read on the Internet. Mary has spent an awfully long time working with Moodle 2.0 and not only highlights the changes but explains how they work and how to work with them.
This book is a must for any person thinking about an upgrade to Moodle 2.0, and let’s face it, anyone running a functional Moodle installation will have to make this decision sooner or later.
If you are trying to convince your organisation to move towards Moodle 2.0 then this book would be more than enough to highlight the benefits and would serve as a basis for a fantastic presentation.
Currently, there is no better resource on Moodle 2.0, and it’s written by one of the most keen and experienced Moodlers in the community.
This has quickly become of my favourite Moodle books as it offers something completely different. The book focuses on using Moodle as a teaching tool and mixes both the technical know-how and the pedagogical theory to great effect.
This book is ideal for any teacher/tutor who wants to use Moodle interactively. The book teaches the reader how to build an effective online course by promoting the use of the book module, forums, workshops, wikis and other core activities. The use of groups and groupings are not only explained but also put into practice.
The book assumes you have prior knowledge of working with Moodle and is therefore able to cut out a lot of the basic tutorials you find on the web and concentrate exclusively on the core components you wish to build upon.
The sections on Forums and Lessons are exemplary and of great use to those tutors who wish to really get to grips with the interactive elements of Moodle and feed these into the gradebook.
This book should really be considered as somewhat of a Moodle Bible for tutors/teachers as it really is quite indispensable for those who wish to use Moodle as it was originally intended. The days of repository style teaching would be numbered if more people followed the great examples found in here.
If you need to convince tutors about the benefits of using interactivity then lend them a copy of this book.
The tutorials are clearly explained and illustrated and most of all they are relevant to todays teaching.
I heartily recommend this book to all schools/colleges, we are certainly buying several copies for our institution.
