Can I use Macro to creat moodle course?

Can I use Macro to creat moodle course?

by chong wang -
Number of replies: 8

HI, I have posted this question in social forum, seems not suitable place, and now I post it here.

I find course creation is very tedious. Is there a Macro or batch way.

For example, I have a lot of activity resources, is there a way for me to write a simple? Macro/batch code that will create a nice moodle course, instead of interactively keeping adding one resource after another in moodle? Also the grade book?

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In reply to chong wang

Re: Can I use Macro to creat moodle course?

by Glenys Hanson -
Hi Chong,

I'm not sure the "Lesson Module" is the right place for this question either, but never mind, if it's not, one of the moderators will move it to the right place.

To answer your question : I'm not sure what you mean by "resources", but if you mean Word, Excel, PDF, mp3, flv, etc. documents, you can put them all in one folder, zip them, upload them all together and then unzip them.

Does that help?

Glenys
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In reply to Glenys Hanson

回复: Re: Can I use Macro to creat moodle course?

by chong wang -

Hi Glenys, thank you, very helpful.

Yes, the resources mean Word, Excel, flv, etc. It is a good idea to upload them all together in a zip file, but after that you have to assign them to blocks.

I'm seeking a way to create a simple courses just by Macro(or batch code) that can create a course automatically by using the resources.


Chong

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In reply to chong wang

Re: 回复: Re: Can I use Macro to creat moodle course?

by Glenys Hanson -
Hi Chong,

Yes, to make your resources available to your students, you have to make links in the Sections (the central part of a main Moodle course page, "blocks" are on the side) to the resources so that students know in which order to do them. (I'm simplifying here - there are various ways of making resources available to students.) It's usual to add instructions so that students know what to do and forums and other activities so that they can interact with each other and the teacher.

Having set up one course, you can use it as a template for other courses by using the Import function.

Cheers,
Glenys


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In reply to Glenys Hanson

回复: Re: 回复: Re: Can I use Macro to creat moodle course?

by chong wang -

Hi Glenys,

Thank you. Your answer is very helpful to make couser creation easier.

I want something that goes further extreme.  I am looking a way to assume the teacher to be a dummy role. That is: the course can be automatically created by just inputing or executing a file, include activities, blocks, grade books, and ready to be use.

And I want the course can be dynamically created from resources, such as ppt, AICC/Scorm, webpages, etc. This is the reason that I am asking if there is a Macro or Batch way to create a course.

I know in a lot of softwares, such as MS office, you can record Macros, which is the whole interaction (command issued by the user) process. The Macros can be executed to repeat the interaction process.

Macors can be served as an template of a document creation. The Macros can also be modified by using an text editor, so that you can get a modified interaction process that will creat a different document based on the template. It seems that Moodle does not support Macros yet.

Cheers,

Chong

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In reply to chong wang

Re: 回复: Re: 回复: Re: Can I use Macro to creat moodle course?

by Glenys Hanson -
Hi Chong,

I've used macros within a single application such as Word, but I don't think it is possible to create a very complex web site such as a Moodle course in that way. Maybe a very clever computer programmer could do it but I've never seen anything like it mentioned on these forums. Personnally, each of my courses is tailor-made for each group of participants. This doesn't mean I don't "borrow" resources and activities from one course to another - I frequently do.

Cheers,
Glenys
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In reply to Glenys Hanson

回复: Re: 回复: Re: 回复: Re: Can I use Macro to creat moodle course?

by chong wang -

Hi Glenys,

Thank you. General Moodle course is complex, but I am trying to deal with a very simple course, which only havs a few blocks and eache blocks contain a few activities which can do auto-grading. The grade book is also needed to be defined by macros.

微笑I'm a clumsy programmer. If nobody did it yet, I will try to微笑. Chris says PHP 微笑 is a macro language for Moodle. I will try it.

I'm new to Moodle.  Thanks for patient discussion.

Cheers,

Chong

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In reply to chong wang

Re: Can I use Macro to creat moodle course?

by Chris Collman -
Picture of Documentation writers
Hi,
Yes the Lesson forum is not the right place for a question about building courses smile.

However, Moodle does not have macro that records keystrokes or operations. It is open source and its macro language is called PHPsmile Have you tried a 3rd party windows macro program?`

I have noticed that people get stuck in the way they want Moodle to present (this is the way I have always done it) rather than thinking about the outcomes (here is what I want students to get).

I do not list individual resource links in a topic. Instead I create a link to a student accessible folder called course resources, which has subfolders for each week. I zip on my computer, all the resources I want for the week, upload it into the right folder and unpack it. I create a link to the course resources. I use an HTML block to tell students if I have uploaded or changed uploaded files. I am lazy and my students have to pay attention and I trust most of them to read materials that supplements my Lesson modules smile My students like to download my resources, so I even leave my zip file for them as a friendly option.

I use the import from another course content feature to duplicate similar courses (or from a blank master course) without having to recreate the basic content. For me this acts just like a macro.

Sometimes I think I spend more time thinking about how to be lazy than just doing it.

I may move this thread in a couple of days to "general problems" forum.

Best Chris


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In reply to Chris Collman

回复: Re: Can I use Macro to creat moodle course?

by chong wang -

Hi Chris,

Thanks. Thanks for suggesting PHP微笑, it seems it is the only solution.

I think a third party Macro will not work, since moodle pages is subject to change with different version and with different operation system or even different browser. Stability is a big problem if use 3rd party macro.

微笑 It seems you just use Moodle as an upload and download tool, but by doing this you will lost the control to your student, and the periodical gradding will be difficult. 微笑If just transfer materials to students, email or ftp may be enough.

Idea of Lazy (or simple) is good. Moodle is a lazy software whoes purpose is to make teacher could give education to a very large group of student without the tedious work of facing them one by one.

What I'm seeking is even lazy, I want teachers to be dummy微笑 -- they load the macro and then go to sleep to wait for the grading summarized.

I'm thinking doing this by PHP, do you know a place where I can discuss this with Moodle PHP folks?

Please feel free to move this thread to the suitable forum.

Cheers,

Chong

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