So Moodle does not support image-maps?
Given the absence of a response to my recent posting
https://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=232551
Mike
Hi Mike, plz don't cross post your same question again and again by changing the topic name. Wait for some time
Hi Sakshi
I havnt posted my question 'again and again' - just again
And I did so as it seems to be raising quite a fundamental issue about moodles useability as a learning development application which seem to be posing a challenge for the community.
By the way do you any suggestions for a way forward?
Metta
Mike
I have produced an image map in Captivate and installed it in Moodle as a .swf file and it works.
Does anyone know of any way to do it in Moodle?
Seems an essential element for any learning development software.
Mike
I have been reading everything I possible I can about learning software and writing educational software for well over 10 years and image maps have very rarely been mentioned. A search in the moodle forums on the string "image maps" returns 32 results.
With Marcus, hardly ever hear about imagemaps in learning technology tools.
In reply to Bob Puffer
hardly ever hear about imagemaps in learning technology tools
by Mike hargaden -
Hardly ever hear about imagemaps in learning technology tools?
A picture is worth a thousand words.
On the internet Image Maps are a common way of providing interaction - the users click on an image (or part of one) and something happens.
Interaction with subject matter through images is at the heart of the constuctivist approach to multimedia leaning.
For example I used image maps widely in a corporate intranet (using Lotus Domino) to link employees from a map of a business process to a range of learning resource (computer simulations etc) so they learnt how to implement a particular task at the right stage in the process.
See Design for Multimedia Learning - Tom Boyle ISBN 0-13-242215-8
In reply to Mike hargaden
Re: hardly ever hear about imagemaps in learning technology tools
by Marcus Green -
Mike, I wasn't giving an opinion that Image maps would not be potentially useful in learning technology tools, just that they are discussed as a specific learning technology tool on vanishingly rare occasions, i.e. 32 times in well over 10 years worth of discussion consisting of many tens of thousands of conversations.
Having said that many Moodle courses look like they were created by designers of steam powered agricultural equipment* so anything you can do to encourage the use of more visually engaging tools,designs, metaphors and even tropes, would be a Very Good Thing (TM).
It's not an example of Image Map usage but the Grid layout is an interesting use of images to show the structure of a course.
https://moodle.org/plugins/view.php?plugin=format_grid
(*including many of mine)
In reply to Marcus Green
Re: hardly ever hear about imagemaps in learning technology tools
by Christian Herman -
Image maps are pretty old, in terms of web development. In my mind their spirit persists in other forms, such as Flash applets with hot spots and touchscreen device interfaces. Thus I wouldn't expect the topic to arise on these forums much, since they are contained within learning objects that are uploaded to Moodle as resources and activities.
Image maps present certain challenges for dynamically generated web pages because static HTML code must accompany the image. Moodle avoids static code whereever possible, especially static URLs. It's a bit easier in a wiki context where you have a file structure enclosed within a greater architecture. Moodle doesn't operate that way.
You may want to consider using a URL resource to link to your image map on an outside website where you can dictate the file structure.
Mike,
Unless I don't fully understand your question, I would say that image maps are an html function and Moodle displays html pages, therefore Moodle supports image maps. All Moodle pages are html (xml) pages with an associated URL.
I presume you are talking about code such as:
<img src="somemap.gif" width="200" height="300" alt="UK Map" usemap="#somemap">
<map name="somemap">
<area shape="rect" coords="0,0,200,100" href="scotland.htm" alt="Scotland">
<area shape="circle" coords="50,100,200,300" href="england.htm" alt="England">
<area shape="circle" coords="0, 150,60,160" href="wales.htm" alt="Wales">
</map>
This does work in Moodle - I've done it previously. I've also helped folks who had trouble with it, and the problem usually lies first in the link addresses, and second in the coordinates. I'm not fully clear on what you want to do, but you might think about having the image map in the header section (topic 0); the various content in separate topic sections; setting the number of displayed topics to zero; having the map links go the the various topic addresses.
-Floyd
Hi Floyd
Thanks for your suggestion for a 'work around' which I seem to have got working Once it is finished I will post the steps I have taken.
Mike
Mike
I'd like to add my nickels worth here.
1) There is a TinyMCE plugin available that will add image mapping capability to Moodle. Here is a Moodle link where it is discussed: http://docs.moodle.org/dev/TinyMCE_plugins. Not too difficult to use. You probably should have at least Moodle 2.4 to make it work. In essence it is a nice, visual, editor for adding image maps of various shapes to an image and generating code not dissimilar to what Floyd has suggested. But the visual aspect of the plug-in really helps speed layout.
2) You can also add other image map options, including rollovers, hovers, drop down boxes, links and so on by creating and adding your own .css style sheet to your theme. Here is a rough approximation of how to do it. Go into your theme/style folder and create a new .css file, such as mycss.css. Next go into the theme's config.php file and locate this line (usually first declarations): $THEME->sheets = array( Add the name of your mycss.css to this array. Now you can add any .css styling you want into the mycss.css file and just call it by name in the TinyMCE HTML editor like you would using style sheets in Dreamweaver, for example. Just remember to clear your cache each time you add new .css to the style sheet, otherwise it won't be returned to you.
3) You can also dump the .css you want to use for imagemapping into the front end theme administrator box available in the setup area on many of the themes, such as Afterburner, Clean, Essential, and others. One advantage here is no need to clear cache after making an update.
4) Also, I think it is worth mentioning add on question types ddmarker and ddimageortext. Both of these question types make use of image maps that allow for wonderful quizzes where student's must drag markers, images, or words onto the appropriate location of an image.
Personally, I like the ability to create image maps. They often enable visualization and interactivity that sometimes cannot be created in any other way. The fact they are not often discussed in the Moodle forum doesn't mean they shouldn't be. For me, they are just one more tool to help with the job of building effective learning environments.
Regards,
Rod
Rod,
Thanks for your reply. I was not aware of the Tiny MCE plugin. That's very helpful.
There are also some free online tools, but I like the idea of a plugin better.
Floyd