Author Archives: Mark Glynn
Dropbox
Dropbox allows users to store and share files and folders (documents, photographs, videos, etc.) on-line
Add files to the public folder to allow other invited users to be able to view and edit them
Documents are stored online – some security issues have been raised in the past
Need to download the installation
Users do need to sign up to a Dropbox account but that is only a minor irritation
Go to Dropbox
Listen to the IT gurus talk about DropBox – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9PfBkm618w&feature=related
Using the “advanced search” in Google
Google is an amazing search tool and within seconds can find exactly what you are looking for. But we have all been there, searching for hours on Google and NOT finding what we wanted. This simple tutorial shows you, through a few simple clicks , how you can optimise your time on Google.
Hopefully it proves useful
Student generated content as an assessment
There are a variety of tools that can be used in moodle allowing students to generate reusable learning objects. Click on each of the each on the links below to find out more and how they can be used to get students to generate content to help themselves and their peers learn a particular topic :
Related articles
- Getting your students to find Youtube videos for their assignment (enhancingteaching.com)
- Assessing Collaborative Work (lynnmunoz.me)
Moodle Glossary
The glossary activity module allows participants to create and maintain a list of definitions, like a dictionary.
Glossary can be used in many ways. The entries can be searched or browsed in different formats. A glossary can be a collaborative activity or be restricted to entries made by the teacher. Entries can be put in categories. The auto-linking feature will highlight any word in the course which is located in the glossary.
For information on how to set up a glossary please look at the video below
The wonderful Michelle Moore from Remote Learner gave a presentation at MoodleMoot 2012 in Ireland where she highlighted the huge potential behind Glossaries
For more information on Glossaries please visit: http://docs.moodle.org/22/en/Glossary_module
Moodle 2 Databases
Databases
The database activity module allows the teacher and/or students to build, display and search a bank of record entries about any conceivable topic. The format and structure of these entries can be almost unlimited, including images, files, URLs, numbers and text amongst other things. Similar to the glossary option the database module is a great activity that can be utilised as a student assessment, allowing students to generate content for the rest of the class (and future classes) to learn from. Three main features distinguish databases from glossaries
Databases allow the teacher to provide specific fields for students to populate with information
You have a variety of template options
You can format the how the final product looks very easily.
The screencast below illustrates how to set up databases
For more information go to: http://docs.moodle.org/22/en/Database_activity_module
Moodle Moot 2012
Where do I start? As one of the organisers of the conference and it being my first moodle moot, I must admit I was a little nervous, wondering would everything go well.
• Is three days too long?
• Will people be able to take that long out of their busy schedules?
• Is the fee too much?
• Is Dublin the right venue?
• What is the right format?
• Will we break even or will this end costing me (and if so where will I get this money from)?
I have organised several conferences before and these concerns although perfectly normal were only the tip of the iceberg relevant to the thoughts rushing my head leading up to the conference. Well it is reaching 48 hours since we officially closed the conference and I can confidently say the conference was a great success. Roll on 2013.
I went into the conference as passionate advocate for moodle, however I quickly realised that I was only an amateur when compared to the passion exhibited by other participants. The passion and enthusiasm emerging from each of the conference strands was overwhelming, matched only by the willingness of everybody to help their fellow participants achieve everybody’s ultimate goal – improve the learning experience for students.
My head is buzzing with ideas following the conference. If you follow the twitter hastag #mootieuk12 you will realise that it I am not alone. Over the next few days I will add posts on some of the amazing presentations that I was privileged to see. Hopefully these posts will give you a glimpse of what I experienced and encourage you to take time out of your schedule next year to attend Moodlemoot 2013!
PBWorks
PBWorks allows users to capture knowledge, share files (lots of various types) and manage projects. Use PBworks to set up your own wiki. For a quick review on wikis I’d highly recommend the YouTube video produced by “CommonCraft”
Technology Enhanced Learning 