I searched the forum and didn't really find anything (other than some discussion on how the new templating system will make altering the theme based on the browser easier).
Actually, the standardlogo theme works great on my Palm. It's quite usable.
My only suggestion for improving usability on a Palm would be some sort of reorganization for the blocks (blocks on both sides = lots of horizontal scrolling). Having the blocks show up on the right (regardless of where they were supposed to be) might be the best way to go. They'd still be available, but you wouldn't have to be scrolling past them all the time to get to the forum posts or the course resources.
Other than that (minor) annoyance, the standardlogo Moodle theme appears to work fine. I can read, post, etc. with no difficulty whatsover.
Hi Tony,
It has been kicked about some [see links below]. Martin offered a solution by suggesting the use of some online sites which will enable site RSS feeds to be read by a PDA. I cannot remember where that is posted right now but, if Martin sees this thread maybe he can post a few for you to use. It would be nice though to have a way to "hook up" with WAP pages in Moodle.
http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=4734&parent=29172
http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=4734&parent=25259
http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=2780&parent=19057
http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=5070&parent=23902
http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=7980&parent=38772
http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=9624&parent=47359
WP1
Yeah, I saw those, but they mostly seem to be about storing Moodle content to read offline using something like AvantGo.
I was wondering if anyone else had tried using Moodle live through a wireless Internet connection.
It works great!
I was wondering if anyone else had tried using Moodle live through a wireless Internet connection.
It works great!
I'm using it from a wireless connection at this very moment. Lying on my settee, laptop on lap, wifi connection talking to router upstairs.
Snicker chortle
Snicker chortle
Hi Marcus!
Just wanted to ask since you responded to this thread. Are there any good basic instructions on the web that you could refer me to about how to install JAVA on a server. I would like to install JAVA with the easyPHP install on my computer and then eventually on a Linux server. I have looked around but feel lost still after reading about JAVA installation. The SUN site was not helpful.
Now back to watching this thread.
Thanks in advance.
WP1
You only need to install java on a server if you intend to run server side Java, typical examples are JSP,Servlets and EJB. To do this you download the JDKfrom Sun (though I think IBM have a version as well) and run the install, which is a standard gui driven .exe for Win32 or rpm/bin for Linux platforms. That gives you the bare language runtime and development tools. To actually dish up some content to the user you would then need a server (the equivalent of Apache) for which the default is Tomcat, available from apache.org As you can see Java on the server is deep magic by contrast with PHP.
Note that if you simply want your users to run Java Applets you need no Java runtime on the server at all, simply the .class or .java files in the appropriate locations.
Bet you wish you never asked.
Note that if you simply want your users to run Java Applets you need no Java runtime on the server at all, simply the .class or .java files in the appropriate locations.
Bet you wish you never asked.
I'm posting this from my Palm Zire 71,
Wow, that was interesting. Back on a real monitor now.
We're intrigued by the possibilities opened up by having hand-portable access to a CMS. Palmtops offer affordances that desktops or even notebooks don't, in particular the ability to access the CMS from a regular classroom rather than a "lab". Also there's the potential to use the CMS from other public spaces (museums, etc.). Imagine writing and handing in your field trip report while you were still on the field trip (and having the full power of the web to look things up while you were still on the spot).
We're intrigued by the possibilities opened up by having hand-portable access to a CMS. Palmtops offer affordances that desktops or even notebooks don't, in particular the ability to access the CMS from a regular classroom rather than a "lab". Also there's the potential to use the CMS from other public spaces (museums, etc.). Imagine writing and handing in your field trip report while you were still on the field trip (and having the full power of the web to look things up while you were still on the spot).
Tony,
I just saw this posting. I am also very interested being able to do this. As part of our smaller communities grant we are interested in requireing all freshman in our school to have a PDA. We are at the very early stages of planning, but a key requirement would be that they would have access to our CMS (moodle).
Is moodle moving to a template engine any time soon? I would think having a PDA complient CSS would be a start?
I just saw this posting. I am also very interested being able to do this. As part of our smaller communities grant we are interested in requireing all freshman in our school to have a PDA. We are at the very early stages of planning, but a key requirement would be that they would have access to our CMS (moodle).
Is moodle moving to a template engine any time soon? I would think having a PDA complient CSS would be a start?
Great! We're quite keen to do some research in this area, John. Will your PDAs have wireless cards (or built-in wireless)?
Feel free to contact me off-forum to discuss this!
Feel free to contact me off-forum to discuss this!
Hi;
Just spotted this thread. Last year we looked at the possibilities of using PDAs with Moodle, and it worked successfully in that the functionality allowed the PDA AND Moodle to be used as intended. However, the pupils found the PDAs too fiddly for lengthy note-taking and got frustrated/tired of using them. Now I use a tablet and this is sheer bliss compared to a pda. Yup, anywhere in the house and most of the garden (looking forward to the summer) is available to me over wifi, and I have the funtionality of a "proper" pc with handwriting recog. I would recommend a tablet - it takes away one of the barriers to learning whereas our kids found a pda starts to add frustration once the novelty value's worn off.
I'm looking to do some research on pda vs tablet use next year, so I'll be following this thread closely.
Dale Jones
Just spotted this thread. Last year we looked at the possibilities of using PDAs with Moodle, and it worked successfully in that the functionality allowed the PDA AND Moodle to be used as intended. However, the pupils found the PDAs too fiddly for lengthy note-taking and got frustrated/tired of using them. Now I use a tablet and this is sheer bliss compared to a pda. Yup, anywhere in the house and most of the garden (looking forward to the summer) is available to me over wifi, and I have the funtionality of a "proper" pc with handwriting recog. I would recommend a tablet - it takes away one of the barriers to learning whereas our kids found a pda starts to add frustration once the novelty value's worn off.
I'm looking to do some research on pda vs tablet use next year, so I'll be following this thread closely.
Dale Jones
Dale,
I just spotted this thread also in my daily "scan" of messages. This has been an on/off discussion on the forums of another major CMS. Your comment "the pupils found the PDAs to fiddly..." brings up what I find is an ongoing "misuse" or "inappropriate use" of PDAs with course management systems. PDAs should not be considered replacements for the desktop (notebook, table) computer but "adjuncts" to the desktop computer.
Instead of full browsing capability, what we should pursue is better integration with the features that PDAs are best at: reading mails, discussion notification and synchronizing calendars. They may also work okay with quizzes, depending on the quiz. But for general Moodle access (and all other CMSs), it's best to stay with a deskop (notebook, tablet) computer.
At least Moodle is one step ahead of many of the major CMSs in that discussion postings can be pushed out to email which should be readable by most PDAs. When the course mail feature is implemented, I assume it will also have mail notification. But we now need the ability to compile calendar postings in a format that can be imported into a PDA calendar. Ideally it would be nice to have a PDA conduit that would support calendar synchronization but for now I would settle for the ability to export the calendar that I can import into Outlook or the Palm desktop which can then handle the synchronization with my Palm.
It's the adage "use the right tool for the task at hand". PDAs are okay for occasional access but not a replacement for the desktop.
Cheers,
Bob
There was some discussion, and even some funding for making moodle accessable from Imode phones, among the Japanese users of moodle. But recently I have not heard any more about it.
Tim
Tim
Yes, I'm lying here too. A blessing for the net-addicts to be lyberated from a desk 
.
Since our school is way to small and we don't have enough room for another computer classroom, we access moodle with 24 laptops at the time trough a wireless connection in the refectory (since that's the only empty room during classes). Clientside Moodle is realy light (if you are not too generous with MM content)
.
Since our school is way to small and we don't have enough room for another computer classroom, we access moodle with 24 laptops at the time trough a wireless connection in the refectory (since that's the only empty room during classes). Clientside Moodle is realy light (if you are not too generous with MM content)
There's an accessability fix/hack that will place the sideblock content below the central column when linearized by small screen displays or text browsers that might help here.
At the moment the main page code has this (paraphrased for clarity):
<tr>
<td>*the left column*</td>
<td>*the central column*</td>
<td>*the right column*</td>
<tr>
You can change this to:
<tr>
<td>*an empty cell*</td>
<td rowspan="2">*the central column*</td>
<td>*another empty cell*</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>*the left column*</td>
<td>*the right column*</td>
</tr>
You can go to the WAVE site checker http://www.wave.webaim.org/index.jsp and compare moodle.org with http://guide.gla.ac.uk/moodle/cvs/ with particular attention to the arrowed numbers which show how a table will be linearized in browsers such as lynx.
Thanks for the tip, David. Putting the blocks below the main content as you suggest would work fine.
Maybe there could be some way of toggling between a "baroque" view and a "minimalist" view, depending on what browser you happened to be using (analogous to the way Moodle lets you hide course sections).
Maybe there could be some way of toggling between a "baroque" view and a "minimalist" view, depending on what browser you happened to be using (analogous to the way Moodle lets you hide course sections).
Thanks for the link to the wave web checker david, excellent!
I am not sure if this thread is still active, but...
I have been testing Moodle with a Palm Tungsten C and a Dell Axim x50v for the past few months. I have used several browsers on both platforms. I access via my wi-fi DSL connection. Most functions work great.
The project I am working on is going to be my Master's capstone project (Educational Technology) at California State University, Bakersfield. I teach at a continuation high school in Torrance, CA. Continuation high schools are drop-out prevention schools that primarily use individual instruction. Moodle will be the primary interface between students and my course content.
I will be using Moodle on my classroom Intranet starting in September. I have spent the last year developing a new technology elective. I will have five PalmOne Tungsten T5's with wi-fi access. I have also written a grant to buy four Dell Axim x50v's, but have not heard about funding yet.
The handheld computers will not be the only access to the content I keep on the Moodle server, but in many ways they are envisioned as general student workstations. If I had a wish list of features for handheld devices, it would include:
Rob
I have been testing Moodle with a Palm Tungsten C and a Dell Axim x50v for the past few months. I have used several browsers on both platforms. I access via my wi-fi DSL connection. Most functions work great.
The project I am working on is going to be my Master's capstone project (Educational Technology) at California State University, Bakersfield. I teach at a continuation high school in Torrance, CA. Continuation high schools are drop-out prevention schools that primarily use individual instruction. Moodle will be the primary interface between students and my course content.
I will be using Moodle on my classroom Intranet starting in September. I have spent the last year developing a new technology elective. I will have five PalmOne Tungsten T5's with wi-fi access. I have also written a grant to buy four Dell Axim x50v's, but have not heard about funding yet.
The handheld computers will not be the only access to the content I keep on the Moodle server, but in many ways they are envisioned as general student workstations. If I had a wish list of features for handheld devices, it would include:
- The ability to upload files in the Assignment module.
- The toolbar is not present when writing in Journal and elsewhere.
- This is likely asking a lot, but it would be great if Moodle would convert Word documents to Pocket Word, or Word to Go formats when downloaded by the PDA, and then reconvert upon upload.
Rob
I've accessed our moodle using my HP Ipaq through Wi-Fi. It works well and actually has a great impact on learning when modelling to the students because you're not doing it for them.
In fact the PDA, and Bluetooth in particular could make quickly adding generated content such as voice recordings, video and images via students mobile phones a workable possibility.
edit: a further thought...is it possible to have two installation of moodle running from the same database? (apologies if this is a stupid question) Then you could have one optimised for PDA access in terms of layout with mirrored content from the 'main' installation.
In fact the PDA, and Bluetooth in particular could make quickly adding generated content such as voice recordings, video and images via students mobile phones a workable possibility.
edit: a further thought...is it possible to have two installation of moodle running from the same database? (apologies if this is a stupid question) Then you could have one optimised for PDA access in terms of layout with mirrored content from the 'main' installation.
Not sure if the conversation has died....but....
I have been asked by a medical company to see if it is feasable to use Moodle through an IPAQ. From what has been discussed it would seem possible.
Question: Would there need to be some "module" to pipe the normal information into a mini Browser to make it easily readable. The type of information that would be accessed by our client would be a knowledge base (glossary) type app.
I don't think using Moodle from a PDA, even with Windows CE and IE, is realistic. Laptops are so inexpensive these days -- I've seen low-end ones at Fry's for $499 -- that I'd recommend not attempting it on a PDA.
There *are* ways of storing simple things like glossaries, help files, etc., directly on a PDA.
There *are* ways of storing simple things like glossaries, help files, etc., directly on a PDA.
Actually, it worked pretty well (see earlier posts in this thread).
The research project here never really got off the ground, though; the faculty member who was interested hasn't mentioned it to me for a while.
For some more recent (and significant) work along the same lines, see this thread. They're doing some amazingly cool stuff using Moodle on cell phones.
Personally, I'd prefer carrying a Palm or a phone to even the lightest laptop.
The research project here never really got off the ground, though; the faculty member who was interested hasn't mentioned it to me for a while.
For some more recent (and significant) work along the same lines, see this thread. They're doing some amazingly cool stuff using Moodle on cell phones.
Personally, I'd prefer carrying a Palm or a phone to even the lightest laptop.
Thanks for the great thread...indeed things are happening on the cell, pda front....I'll ask my developer to keep an eye on this and see how it pans out.
Well, I don´t think that cost is the main factor (my pda cost more than a cheap labtop) -- but I have my pda with me everywhere and it would be interesting to access Moodle from it (catch up on forums while sitting in a coffeehouse!). A mobile interface would definitely be nice...
I've tried to get the Moodle forums through RSS feeds into my PDA but I haven't been successful. I use an application called Mobipocket. I can get RSS feeds from everywhere (Wired, NYT, O'Reilly Open Source, etc. etc.) but with the Moodle RSS I can only view what appears to be the source code for the page:
Does anybody know what the problem could be? As I said, I have no problems with RSS from any other sites on my PDA. I can view the Moodle forums RSS with Thunderbird on my PC without any problems, though.
Has anybody been successful in viewing Moodle forums via RSS in their PDAs?
Josep M.
Does anybody know what the problem could be? As I said, I have no problems with RSS from any other sites on my PDA. I can view the Moodle forums RSS with Thunderbird on my PC without any problems, though.
Has anybody been successful in viewing Moodle forums via RSS in their PDAs?
Josep M.