Tailoring Moodle to Your Own Needs JALTCALL International Conference, Waseda University, Tokyo, 2...

Tailoring Moodle to Your Own Needs

JALTCALL International Conference, Waseda University, Tokyo, 2 June 2007

Don Hinkelman, Sapporo Gakuin UniversityThomas Robb, Kyoto Sangyo University

Paul Daniels, Kochi University of TechnologyAndy Johnson, Sapporo Gakuin UniversityGordon Bateson, Kanezawa University

Peter Ruthven-Stuart, Hakodate Future University

Version 5, Updated 2007.6.1

2007.6.2 JALTCALL 2007, Waseda University, Tokyo

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Your LMS

Learning Management System (LMS)

Commercial or Open Source?

Moodle LMS >> My LMS


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Types of “Tailoring”

Module Plug-in Block Modification

(tweak, hack, mod)

Customization Theme

Most difficult

Easiest


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Outline of WorkshopModules Modules Plug-ins Blocks Tweaks Custom1. Hot Potatoes

2. Lecture Feedback

3. Project Module

4. Self-Study

Tom RobbDon HinkelmanPeter Ruthven-Stuart

5. Presentation

6. Media Blog

7. Seating Chart

8. FreeMail

Paul Daniels

9. Word Order Quiz Type

10. Split Screen Quiz Type

11. Content Choice Quiz Type

12. Seat Numbers & Nicknames

Tom Robb Andy Johnson

13. Lab Attendance

14. Blogger Links

15. Highest Quiz Scores

Tom RobbDon Hinkelman

16. Standard Romaji17. Cellphone Addresses18. Language Menu19. Multilang Filter20.Show/HideActivities21. Useful Links 22. Rotating Banners

Gordon Bateson

23. Roles

24. Themes

25. Language

Peter Ruthven-StuartDon Hinkelman


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Basic Structure of Moodle

Moodle code directory (moodle) (See next slide)

Data directory (moodle_data) Contains all uploaded files including user pix

Numbered folders correspond to course IDs

Database (MySQL or PostgreSQL) MySQL is preferable since the user base is far greater


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The Moodle Code Directory

Most common directories for tweaking Block Course

Many files herein can be tweaked to add/delete items that are displayed on the course page

Lang en_utf8 needs to include any new definitions

Lib code that is used in more than one place

Mod Themes


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Adding new modules

Best to start by copying an existing module, renaming all elements within to a new name

A custom module that is not complete may wreak havoc with backups and restores, as well as cause “white screens” and other unpredictable behavior


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Moodle Directory

Modules go here

Blocks go here


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Moodle ‘mod’ folder


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Moodle Database


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Moodle Table


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Module 1

Hot Potatoes Module Type: Module What it does:

Takes activities created in Hot Potatoes…Drap and dropMatchingxxx

Converts into a Moodle activityWhere to get it: now a standard moduleWhere to get help: moodle.org Using

Moodle forums


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Module 2

Lecture Feedback Module Type: Module What it does:

Collects student questions and summaries of lecture-type classes

Semi-automatic coding of student feedbacks for printing (handout for next class)

Takes attendence with numbered, printed slips entered into a database (now separate module)

Mobile phone option (in class) or Desktop computer input option (after class)


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Module 2

Lecture Feedback Module Screenshot


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Module 2

Lecture Feedback Module Screenshot


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Module 2

Lecture Feedback ModuleHow to install it:

Contact Don Hinkelman directly for package

Drop package into “mod” folder For mobile phone option:

hire program developer to install and monitor

Who to contact for help: Don Hinkelman (English)

<[email protected]> Narumi Sekiya ( 日本語 ) <n-sekiya@it-

sapporo.com>


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Module 3

Project Module Type: Module What it does:

Manages project-based language learningSlideshows, video speeches, audio recordings, essays

Five connected modulesBrainstormSignupSubmitAppointmentAssessment

Peer-assessment and Self-assessmentRatings (rubrics)Comments


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Module 3

Project Module


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Module 3

Project Module


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Module 3

Project ModuleHow to install it:

Download from: http://englishforum.sgu.ac.jp/downloads/

Drop project folder into “mod” folder Drop lang folder into “en_utf8” folder Go to Admin menu, triggers auto-install

Who to contact for help: Don Hinkelman (English) <[email protected]> Moodle.org Project Module Forums

http://moodle.org/mod/forum/view.php?id=6930


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Module 4

SelfStudy Project (an interi

m report)What it will do

Phase 1: (student) “QuestionMaker”Phase 2: (student) “QuizMaker”Phase 3: “AutoQuizGenerator”

How to install itPlease wait - beta testers will be needed

Who to contact for informationPeter R-S: http://www.petesweb.org/Jamie Pratt: http://jamiep.org


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Module 4

SelfStudy Project (an interim report)

Screenshots:

QuestionMaker Activity set up page

QuestionMaker grade activity page

QuestionMaker administration page

Student QuestionMaker page


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Module 4


Advice: from the POV of a teacher getting a programmer to assist in a customisation project

Familiarise yourself as much of possible with the workings and limitations of Moodle

Make it clear what you want the end product to do from Teachers' and Students' points of view

Be prepared to describe User Interfaces; both teacher and student - know what’s possible, look at other module UIs

Be prepared to lose control over the development, just don’t lose sight of the ultimate objective

Think about the future of your customisation: Who will make the necessary changes to it when the

Moodle core is updated? Who will pay for those changes?


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Module 4


Advice: from the POV of a programmer assisting a non-programming teacher in a customisation project

(coming soon)


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Module 4


Advice: being a Moodle administrator and Tinkerer Set up some experimental Moodle sites:

On a hosted server site On your laptop On your own server

Regular backups! Keep a record of changes you make Mark files that you’ve changed Don’t rush - try out changes on an experimental Moodle

before a production site Get to know your database Use CVS to do regular updates


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Module 4


Advice: being a Moodle administrator and Tinkerer

Files Folders & Tools that you should know about: The Moodle admin pages: MySQL Admin tool PHP configuration:

php.ini file -> Resource Limits, File Uploads, Data Handling

Apache configurationhttpd.conf -> MaxClients

The Moodledata directory: language packs and course data

Moodle.org & tracker.moodle.org


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Modules & BlocksPresentationLecture QuestionsSeating chartHotFlashAttendanceDisplay DataMedia BlogMail Quiz ModuleMoodle & Gallery 2 Integration

FreeMailMoodle Grades


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Presentation Module Description:

Upload PowerPoint presentations & view in Flash Add comments to presentations.

Install: Copy ‘presentation’ folder to Moodle ‘mod’ directory.

Visit to admin page to finish installation.

Download/Support: eng.core.kochi-tech.ac.jp/digital

FlashPlayer


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Presentation Thumbnails


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Presentation View in Flash

FlashPlayer


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Seating Chart Description:

Manage data with an interactive seating chart

Install: Copy ‘seatingchart’ folder to Moodle ‘mod’ directory.


Download/Support: eng.core.kochi-tech.ac.jp/digital


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Seating Chart


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Seating Chart Data


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Media Blog Description:

Add voice, sound recordings and videoPost from web or by email.

Install: Download and unzip media blog module.Copy ‘blog’ folder to Moodle ‘mod’ directory.


Download/Support:eng.core.kochi-tech.ac.jp/digital/


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Media Blog


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Media Blog


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FreeMail Description:

Upload content to Profile, Blog or Gallery using (mobile) email.

Install: Copy ‘freemail’ folder to Moodle ‘mod’ directory.


Download/Support:eng.core.kochi-tech.ac.jp/digital


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FreeMailimages

text

video

audio

Blog

Gallery

Profile


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Moodle DevelopmentAdvice

Familiarize yourself with Moodle’s backend.database & directory structure

Read up on PHP and MySQL.freewebmasterhelp.com/tutorials/php/webmonkey.com/webmonkey/programming/php/tutorials/tutorial4.html

Find a programmer to work with long term.Scriptlance, Getafreelancer or RentACoder

Try out some easy jobs first.Project management skills are crucial.Set aside some extra funds for bug fixes.


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Plug-in

Ordering Question Type

Available: contact Tom Robb for latest download


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Plug-in

Split Screen Mode


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Plug-in

Content Choice Question Type


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Plug-in/Hack

Seat Numbers & Nicknames


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Plug-ins & Modifications

Advice

Working with Non-teacher Programmers Creating plug-in and “mod” proposals

Testing & debuggingOverall experience


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Working with Non-teacher Programmers

Skills/experience recommended to work with non-teacher programmer (in order of useful to least useful)Software userExperience with computers in classroom

Basic skills with graphics programs Novice PHP/MySQL programming skills


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It’s not enough to simply describe in general terms what you want your hack to do. You must explain in detail (better yet, visually show) what you want to happen on every stage.

<show Word HOs here>


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Make sure you and programmer are using exact same version of Moodle.

Check in various browsers and in both Mac and Windows platforms.


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Don’t test/debug new modules in active Moodle (i.e. one with real students’ data)


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Thoroughly check for bugs in every possible situationLog in as a student and test (i.e. just switching role to student is not enough); If you are an admin, also log in as a teacher and test.

You find different bugs testing as a single teacher than when you test a whole class full of students.


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Use movies to show bugs to programmer

QuickTime™ and aSorenson Video 3 decompressorare needed to see this picture.

QuickTime™ and aSorenson Video 3 decompressorare needed to see this picture.


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Nothing is ever 100% done; New bugs will always be found.

Make sure you have a programmer who offers “after-service care” and is willing to make minor modifications over time.


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You can’t rush it. Testing and debugging is a lengthy process.

The more time you spend at this stage, the easier actually implementing the new module into your active Moodle will be.


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Finding a Programmer

Qualifications: MySQL, PHP experience Moodle and open source Track record, and willing to give references Good communication (English, Japanese)

Costs: Developed Nation Fees: 3,000--20,000 yen/hour Developing Nation Fees: 1,000--3,000 yen/hour

Recommendations: Moodle Partner, JALTCALL members, … Moodle Partners: Manabu, Mits, Moodle HQ http://moodle.com Open Source Specialist: Chrisranjana (good references)

http://www.chrisranjana.com Bidding Sites http://www.admiz.com/


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Blocks

Lab Attendance

Available: contact Tom Robb for latest download


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Blocks

Blogger Links


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Blocks

Highest Quiz Scores


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Modifications & Tweaks

Overview Seven mods or “tweaks”: easy ->

difficult Can be implemented by:

a) Moodle administratorsb) Moodle teachers

Arose from collaboration between:a) programmer-teacher: GBb) CALL-teacher: teacher with previous

experience using yahoo.com for CALL


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Tweak 1

Standardize romaji What it does:

• standardizes the romanization of user’s first name, last name and city

• converts any double-byte roman letters, spaces and punctuation to single-byte equivalents

Demonstration:• http://call.kanazawa-gu.ac.jp

/moodle/english/2007/login/signup_form.php

Where to get it• http://englishforum.sgu.ac.jp

/downloads/bateson/1.standardize-romanization.txt

http://call.kanazawa-gu.ac.jp/moodle/english/2007/login/signup.php






http://englishforum.sgu.ac.jp/downloads/bateson/1.standardize-romanization.txt




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Tweak 2

Cell phone email addresses

What it does:• Allow Moodle signup using (cell phone) email

addresses, which can contain “invalid” character combinations:• repeated full-stops, “..”• a full-stop just before the at-sign, “.@”• e.g. [email protected]

Demonstration:• http://call.kanazawa-gu.ac.jp

/moodle/english/2007/login/signup_form.php


/downloads/bateson/2.validate-email.txt







http://englishforum.sgu.ac.jp/downloads/bateson/2.validate-email.txt


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Tweak 3

Language menu on all pages

What it does:• Adds a language menu to every page which

has a Moodle header

Demonstration:• http://call.kanazawa-gu

.ac.jp/moodle/english/2007/


/downloads/bateson/3.language-menu.txt

http://call.kanazawa-gu.ac.jp/moodle/english/2007/



http://englishforum.sgu.ac.jp/downloads/bateson/3.language-menu.txt








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Gordon Bateson: Moodle Tweaks (4)

Improve multilang filter

What it does:• allow nested <lang> and <span> tags in

multilang blocks• accommodates htmleditor which in some

browsers uses <span> for bold and italic, causing the standard multilang filter to terminate multilang blocks prematurely




/downloads/bateson/4.multilang-filter.txt




http://englishforum.sgu.ac.jp/downloads/bateson/4.multilang-filter.txt










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Show/Hide section details

What it does:• adds a toggle switch to hide and display

specified activities on the course page. • makes display of sections containing many

activities more manageable




/downloads/bateson/5.show-hide-activities.txt




http://englishforum.sgu.ac.jp/downloads/bateson/5.show-hide-activities.txt









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Useful links block What it does:

• combines the useful links from several other blocks into one single block

• different links for teacher or student• text shown in user’s preferred

language




/downloads/bateson/6.useful-links.txt




http://englishforum.sgu.ac.jp/downloads/bateson/6.useful-links.txt








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Rotating banners and links

What it does:• displays a rotating selection of images in an

html block• the advanced version can optionally allow a

link for each image

Demonstration:• http://bateson.kanazawa-gu.ac.jp/moodle/16/ms/


/downloads/bateson/7a.banners.txt• http://englishforum.sgu.ac.jp

/downloads/bateson/7b.banners-and-links.txt

http://bateson.kanazawa-gu.ac.jp/moodle/16/ms/





http://englishforum.sgu.ac.jp/downloads/bateson/7a.banners.txt







http://englishforum.sgu.ac.jp/downloads/bateson/7b.banners-and-links.txt








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Gordon Bateson: Moodle Tweaks

Advice You can do quite a lot with Javascript

won’t interfere with CVS and upgrading

Small changes to your Moodle scripts are usually OK if you use CVS, changes are automatically merged otherwise you need to keep patching, manually or semi-automatically (e.g. WinMerge)

Offer code improvements on the forums or tracker small improvements that have been tested even then, the developers may be too busy to implement the changes.


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Gordon Bateson: Moodle Tweaks

Links http://englishforum.sgu.ac.jp/downloads/bateson/Tailoring-Moodle.BATESON.html/Tailoring-Moodle.BATESON.full.doc

/Tailoring-Moodle.BATESON.ppt


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Roles

From Moodle 1.7, you can add your own roles.

A role is a set of permissions for a person in a specific context

Classic Roles:TeacherStudentAdmin


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Roles New roles you might try to create: Moderator: a person who can edit or delete a forum post

Seminar Leader: a student who can make activities in a single course, but cannot view or change grades

Quiz-maker: students can make quizzes but no other teacher functions

Super Teacher: a teacher with limited admin functions, can add/edit users


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Roles

How to Make a New Role Go to the Admin menu Click on Users >> Permissions >> Define Roles

Click button: Add a new role Assign the permissions you want, a little complex so read documentation in Moodle Docs

Then assign *people* to the role you create in the specific context (ie: course, not site) where they will use the role. The role will apply to them only in that context.


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Themes

Simplest way to “tailor” your site Change themes

Go to Admin >>

Edit themes Themes: header.html, footer.html Get Firefox Web Developer Toolbar


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LanguageAnnoyed by a Moodle phrase on-screen?

Language: you can edit those strings Go to Admin>>Language>>Edit Language>>Edit Words

or Phrases Select the module and file you think it is in

(trial and error)


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Help & Discussion

Moodle for Language Teaching

http://moodle.org/course/view.php?id=31

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