I have a request from a professor who wants a hard copy of all the forum activity. Is there an easy way to print all the forums and topics with replies?
thanks
Jennifer
I have a professor requesting the same: how to print the forum discussions. He also wants to print the assignment descriptions. Any suggestions?
Thank you,
George
Thank you,
George
Firstly, I would send him to a site like this 
Then I would suggest making a snapshot backup of the course and storing it in a separate Moodle (or a hidden course category) specifically for archival and research purposes. The best part about this is that all the links and media work better than they do on paper.
Then I would suggest making a snapshot backup of the course and storing it in a separate Moodle (or a hidden course category) specifically for archival and research purposes. The best part about this is that all the links and media work better than they do on paper.
Martin, fabulous link, I'm posting it immediately for school use!
At my school the current photocopying bill per month is £3000
(- and that 's not for the money but for all the paper being wasted).
However
I'm grappling with the same usability issue re printing, and more, as others are:
I think not having a "print option" available for every module (a little like the print functionality available in postnuke) is one of the biggest usability gaps in moodle. Here's why.....
As I gradually woo teachers and students onto moodle I want to make it as easy as possible for them to use: this means (to me) giving them everything they might possibly want (within reason). I really can understand why people might want to print things (anything) out; maybe they're about to go on a train journey, or a student has to fight with siblings to get time on a shared computer, maybe they want to have something to refer to as they browse around or write an assignment, maybe teachers have to have hard copy for record/assessment purposes.
I know that in my own online studies (OU) I sometimes just have to print out an article or assignment instructions in order to focus my thinking (or read in the bath). I'm perfectly at ease with my browsers and know how to select and print so that (usually) the result is readable, but I can't make the assumption that my users know to do this.
It's only with use that people become adept at working around or changing their usual practice. I just think we should help them as much as possible. Just because the print button is there, doesn't mean they'll always use it.
Have I made a good case
cheers
Mandy
(who hasn't had a printer connected to her PC for two years
)
At my school the current photocopying bill per month is £3000
(- and that 's not for the money but for all the paper being wasted).However
I'm grappling with the same usability issue re printing, and more, as others are: I think not having a "print option" available for every module (a little like the print functionality available in postnuke) is one of the biggest usability gaps in moodle. Here's why.....
As I gradually woo teachers and students onto moodle I want to make it as easy as possible for them to use: this means (to me) giving them everything they might possibly want (within reason). I really can understand why people might want to print things (anything) out; maybe they're about to go on a train journey, or a student has to fight with siblings to get time on a shared computer, maybe they want to have something to refer to as they browse around or write an assignment, maybe teachers have to have hard copy for record/assessment purposes.
I know that in my own online studies (OU) I sometimes just have to print out an article or assignment instructions in order to focus my thinking (or read in the bath). I'm perfectly at ease with my browsers and know how to select and print so that (usually) the result is readable, but I can't make the assumption that my users know to do this.
It's only with use that people become adept at working around or changing their usual practice. I just think we should help them as much as possible. Just because the print button is there, doesn't mean they'll always use it.
Have I made a good case
cheers
Mandy
(who hasn't had a printer connected to her PC for two years
)
Hi Mandy!
I also understand the purpose of Martin's link and I think it is a good one to cause one to pause about printing but I wanted to make this post in support of what you said so well. I would like to add that for those of us with older eyes and who may not have been raised as much on computers, we want and need hardcopy. The electonic copy is not enough to enable us to analyze material, underline it, highlight it, scratch it out, move it around, go back and move it again. Hardcopy is essential for us folks.
If one just prints out the forum pages as they are, there are problems,
Printer-friently pages and the generation of PDF pages have been disscussed frequently for different reasons but I think your post kind of pulled it together for the thoughts of many.
If you would like to do a little reading check out previous posts,
http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=948
http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=4441
http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=4459
http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=6342&parent=29720
http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=3821&parent=18906
http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=4022
http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=4146&parent=18623
WP1
I also understand the purpose of Martin's link and I think it is a good one to cause one to pause about printing but I wanted to make this post in support of what you said so well. I would like to add that for those of us with older eyes and who may not have been raised as much on computers, we want and need hardcopy. The electonic copy is not enough to enable us to analyze material, underline it, highlight it, scratch it out, move it around, go back and move it again. Hardcopy is essential for us folks.
If one just prints out the forum pages as they are, there are problems,
- Use of extra toner / ink for forum design
- Use of extra paper because of design in forum.
Printer-friently pages and the generation of PDF pages have been disscussed frequently for different reasons but I think your post kind of pulled it together for the thoughts of many.
If you would like to do a little reading check out previous posts,
http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=948
http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=4441
http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=4459
http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=6342&parent=29720
http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=3821&parent=18906
http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=4022
http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=4146&parent=18623
WP1
Hi "W" (William, Walter, Wendy? 
)
Thanks for those links, I've now read/scanned them.
It seems to me (still) that the discussion about the need for printing functionality has been split up by module as opposed to discussing the need for it to be available across the board.
It was an interesting discussion about using CSS media stylesheets, personally, I think this would be the way to go, and, because of the current changes underway in moodle for 1.5 and 2, should be something not too difficult to sort out.
Here goes: I'd even volunteer to work on the necessary css stylesheet - though I haven't done one before, so risky proposition. Provided the stylesheet is CSS 1 compliant I don't believe that the browser compatibilty issue remains a problem (as 4-5yr old browsers across the board are compatible and really anyone still using netscape 4.7 deserves whatever they get
).
Unfortunately, as yet, I can't do the php so can't volunteer for that - large - bit. And as for how to integrate a print button across everything - well - aaarrghh.
PDFCreator is great but I think it should remain an individual user choice as to whether to download the 8MB setup file or not. I was still on dial-up until recently and I would have baulked at this. But maybe others understand the possibility of integrating it with moodle - I don't.
Cheers
Mandy
)Thanks for those links, I've now read/scanned them.
It seems to me (still) that the discussion about the need for printing functionality has been split up by module as opposed to discussing the need for it to be available across the board.
It was an interesting discussion about using CSS media stylesheets, personally, I think this would be the way to go, and, because of the current changes underway in moodle for 1.5 and 2, should be something not too difficult to sort out.
Here goes: I'd even volunteer to work on the necessary css stylesheet - though I haven't done one before, so risky proposition. Provided the stylesheet is CSS 1 compliant I don't believe that the browser compatibilty issue remains a problem (as 4-5yr old browsers across the board are compatible and really anyone still using netscape 4.7 deserves whatever they get
).Unfortunately, as yet, I can't do the php so can't volunteer for that - large - bit. And as for how to integrate a print button across everything - well - aaarrghh.
PDFCreator is great but I think it should remain an individual user choice as to whether to download the 8MB setup file or not. I was still on dial-up until recently and I would have baulked at this. But maybe others understand the possibility of integrating it with moodle - I don't.
Cheers
Mandy
If you can program, it must be easy to read the XML-tree of a backup and to harvest the things that you want to print and then use a CSS to make a pretty printout: As non-programmer I start to study this now, so see you all next year!
Then in two years I hope to present a user-friendly version where you can choose the categories to print in a Moodle-screen.. (I hope version 2.0 does not change the xml-tree of the backup in the meantime..)
If people want to print online content that badly I'm sure they will learn how to use "File -> Print" in their browser. The same technique works for PDF.
I would certainly not like to see print icons sprinkled over every page in Moodle, all it does is encourage more printing.
I would certainly not like to see print icons sprinkled over every page in Moodle, all it does is encourage more printing.
Poor trees...
A button like in Book where you can collect the content of a specific resource, copy it to Word and do the pre-press in Word is a far better solution. (with a virtual pdf-printer in Word you still can create paperless PDFs..)
We are working on two buttons:
- one to make a "filtered" vertical book-like-pdf of the current course sections
- one to make a book-like-pdf of all the sections of "all my current courses" of this week (we only use weeks or topicviews in 4 x 10-week-schedule/ a year)
- We use fPDF for this. (I saw that other moduls use ROS)
(We are training now our teachers to write meaningfull "one-liners" on the home page of each course, as summaries for the detailed activity-descriptions on level deeper. That is the hardest part of our approach )
Hi Martin!
I understand your concern.
But, why cannot "printer-friendly" pages and "pdf generated" pages be an option on an
It is my understanding that both can be done via CSS. Given the XML changes coming in Moodle it seems that would not be difficult to add. Would it be??
The "printer-friendly" pages would definately save "trees" as much of the formating would be removed so that less pages would be printed out that using the "file --> print" procedure.
WP1
I understand your concern.
But, why cannot "printer-friendly" pages and "pdf generated" pages be an option on an
- Admin level
- Teacher / Teacher Assistant --> per Activity & Resource
It is my understanding that both can be done via CSS. Given the XML changes coming in Moodle it seems that would not be difficult to add. Would it be??
The "printer-friendly" pages would definately save "trees" as much of the formating would be removed so that less pages would be printed out that using the "file --> print" procedure.
WP1
I agree Martin, I have converted my classroom to a paperless one using Moodle. However, I feel that the ability to print resources is important to support an asynchronous environment.
Let me relate my experience from graduate school. First of all, my entire M.Ed. was done online. A number of my classmates traveled during the week for their jobs. As a result they were many times unable to connect to the net for one reason or another. To help them keep up in the class, the assignments and many of the resources were available to be printed. The hard copy was their only link to completing the assignments offline; printing became a necessary evil.
Just a different point of view.
Marc
This is exactly what I was thinking. Since Moodle is browser based, the printing functions are all inherently available to the user, via the browser. 
If someone is particularly concerned about saving ink by not printing images, there are options for that in browsers, or perhaps they need a moodle course on "Cutting and Pasting".
Hello all!
Maybe you have an additional 5-7 sheets to run off when 2 or 3 might do Kevin. I and some others do not. Having a browser based function does not save paper and because one needs a print out, it does not mean they always have the time or ability to configure browsers. In New York City Library browsers users do not always have the "rights" to adjust browser configurations or even to make printing adjustments.
Cutting and Pasting, in my view (and what appears to be the sentiments of some in previous posts) is not an acceptable solution to this issue. Maybe, someone will be able to offer a hack for this. There are many who would appreciate it.
WP1
Maybe you have an additional 5-7 sheets to run off when 2 or 3 might do Kevin. I and some others do not. Having a browser based function does not save paper and because one needs a print out, it does not mean they always have the time or ability to configure browsers. In New York City Library browsers users do not always have the "rights" to adjust browser configurations or even to make printing adjustments.
Cutting and Pasting, in my view (and what appears to be the sentiments of some in previous posts) is not an acceptable solution to this issue. Maybe, someone will be able to offer a hack for this. There are many who would appreciate it.
WP1
Fair enough that some public computers may disable options in the browser - I understand that. But surely a solution to that is to approach the library desk (or whoever) and discuss that problem with them. They may actually like to hear a suggestion that will limit wastage of paper.
As far as issues with cutting and pasting - sorry, but what was the problem again?
I've looked through the thread again and don't see any other references to it. I don't see why it would not be an acceptable solution (for those few who required a printout but are not happy with the browser option). You can even cut paste to Word (or similar) and take the formatting with you - it's not like you have to paste to a plain text document and lose all the headers etc.
QUOTE
''Fair enough that some public computers may disable options in the browser - I understand that. But surely a solution to that is to approach the library desk (or whoever) and discuss that problem with them. They may actually like to hear a suggestion that will limit wastage of paper.." Kevin Martin
''Fair enough that some public computers may disable options in the browser - I understand that. But surely a solution to that is to approach the library desk (or whoever) and discuss that problem with them. They may actually like to hear a suggestion that will limit wastage of paper.." Kevin Martin
In a "nutshell". None of your suggestions are a "real" solution to the issue.
The response of the librarian at the
main desk would be [while a student was wasting valuable computer sit
down time - 15 to 30 minutes allowed per day], "You have run off your
allotment of 10 pages today, please pay for the additional pages.
You need to send an e-mail to the Administrator or Webmaster of the
site to place printer-friendly pages on the web site."
And quite frankly, I do not see it as the problem of the library. You want to encourge learning in whatever your
environment may be? Then you need to adjust the learning process
to the situation. My students need to be able to download some
material and read it on the train, bus, and in the library. They do not need
[or necessarily have the time to] configure browsers in order to limit
the number of pages printed. I should be able to help them some
by having the feature of printer-friendly pages available to them.
QUOTE
''As far as issues with cutting and pasting - sorry, but what was the problem again?
I've
looked through the thread again and don't see any other references to
it. I don't see why it would not be an acceptable solution (for those
few who required a printout but are not happy with the browser
option). You can even cut paste to Word (or similar) and take the
formatting with you - it's not like you have to paste to a plain text
document and lose all the headers etc." Kevin Martin
As I indicated above, none of your suggestions are a "real" solution to the issue. On many computers that allow browsing and printing, there are no WordProcessing programs to paste to..
Simple solution --> make pages at least "printer-friendly" (if not PDF generated) optional for the instructor. The instructor knows the cirumstanses the students have to deal with.
My comments on the issue for now.
WP1
WP,
I must concur with your description of library policies. In Atlanta, the response would be the same.
Printer friendly pages are indeed something that would be a benefit to my Moodle sites. Our librarian at school charges our students $0.10 per page, so a printer friendly version would help my kids
Marc
Perhaps I am misled by the fact that my experiences with library staff are with Australian libraries, which may have a more friendly disposition than in your area. Around here, I have found librarians to be not just helpful and understanding, but also keen to see/hear new ideas.
But I'm really quite surprised to hear that public computers would have "no WordProcessing programs to paste to". What Operating System would they be running? Surely if they are Windows, they would have Wordpad, and if Macs, they would have the default Mac Wor Processor. Since one of the main uses of public computers is for people to be able to write letters and other documents, I was working on the assumption that they would have the software necessary to do that.
As for PDF ... I just don't see the point of that either. PDF format has been a trouble-maker for me ever since it came out. I don't think I've ever seen any other software to cause more system slow-downs and crashes then Acrobat Viewer - especially when used via the browser plugin for IE.
I can certainly appreciate the value of making education as accessible as possible to all, but also feel very wary about placing the temptation in front of people's faces to print, simply because some people are so 'trigger-happy' with the print button.
Kevin;
Yes, these computers ARE running Windows, however, the START menus have been disabled and the CTRL-ALT-DEL function is passworded so that patrons cannot make any changes or shutdown the machines.
It would be nice to have access to at least Notepad, but no.
As far as PDFs, I am befuddled by the number of people in these forums that frown upon them. As an educator, there are still many resources that I create myself in programs that my more needy students do not have access to. PDFs and PDFCreator have been a God send.
Until my recent (6 months ago) introduction to OpenOffice, my students could not have opened a Word document unless I used RTF and lost much of the more intricate formatting or converted it to PDF. Granted, we now have 10, OO CDs in our Media Center for checkout to help this issue. But Publisher, ArcView and many more of the programs I use make it very difficult to share information.
I guess my desire is to make as much information available as is humanly possible. This is possible and I don't understand why there is such reluctance. Don't get me wrong, I am the first to lobby to "save a tree", but we must all understand that our students (K-12) do not control the purse strings in their families and must do everything they can to succeed, inspite of their parents
Marc
I must admit I'm a little stunned by "... these computers ARE running Windows, however, the START menus have been disabled and the CTRL-ALT-DEL function is passworded so that ..."
I have to wonder what the computers are for? Are they for INternet access only? If so, that may be why the problem didn't make sense to me at first. Here in Australia, from what I have seen, public computers are usually first and foremost for people to use word processors etc, and in most cases also have Internet access as well.
If the admins insist on removing Start Menu access (and unfirtunately I can understand why they would want to go that way), they could always consider placing a Notepad or Wordpad icon on the desktop, just as, I presume, they do for INternet Explorer.
P'raps I'm more naive than I realise.
I haven't been following this thread until now, but I just would like to point out that the Book Module has been developed with the ability to enable printing the book with the click of a button, if the teacher so chooses to enable it. As far as I can tell, it works using CSS, and the output is very nice. Perhaps this functionality should be extended to other modules and offered as an option if teachers want to use it.
I know I posted somewhere before here in this course some links to pages with information about setting up a printable page via CSS, but can't seem to find it now. If someone can dig it up, this might be a place for someone to start to learn how easy it is to do this.
I know I posted somewhere before here in this course some links to pages with information about setting up a printable page via CSS, but can't seem to find it now. If someone can dig it up, this might be a place for someone to start to learn how easy it is to do this.
Yes, that's it! I didn't realize I had posted it so long ago. Thanks for finding it. I think I made some very useful points actually in that post. That you don't need to even have a print version button on a page. Just a style sheet that takes over if a user decides to print.
Hello,
Martin says:
"I would certainly not like to see print icons sprinkled over every page in Moodle, all it does is encourage more printing."
WP1 says:
"But, why cannot "printer-friendly" pages and "pdf generated" pages be an option on an
).
Again there seems to be a slight lack of realisation about the kinds of students/teachers some of us are all dealing with.
For people who sign onto an online FE course, I say, hey let them get on with it, they must/should already have an idea how to use browsers/cut&paste etc. But for a bunch of eleven year olds, even primary school kids and their teachers, some of whom are only slightly aware of the term "browser" it is most surely a different story!
I believe that using this wonderful technology needs to be as good an experience as possible - it's not as though many of us old internet/web timers haven't had our share of bad experiences is it?
Isn't it in our own interests to make it all easily usable. And I re-iterate, just because a print button is there it does not mean it will be used, moreover, it surely will be used less over time.
cheers
Mandy
Martin says:
"I would certainly not like to see print icons sprinkled over every page in Moodle, all it does is encourage more printing."
WP1 says:
"But, why cannot "printer-friendly" pages and "pdf generated" pages be an option on an
- Admin level
- Teacher / Teacher Assistant --> per Activity & Resource"
).Again there seems to be a slight lack of realisation about the kinds of students/teachers some of us are all dealing with.
For people who sign onto an online FE course, I say, hey let them get on with it, they must/should already have an idea how to use browsers/cut&paste etc. But for a bunch of eleven year olds, even primary school kids and their teachers, some of whom are only slightly aware of the term "browser" it is most surely a different story!
I believe that using this wonderful technology needs to be as good an experience as possible - it's not as though many of us old internet/web timers haven't had our share of bad experiences is it?
Isn't it in our own interests to make it all easily usable. And I re-iterate, just because a print button is there it does not mean it will be used, moreover, it surely will be used less over time.
cheers
Mandy