Hi everyone,
We are holding live classes (1 x a week for 6 weeks) and would like a place for people to put questions they'd like addressed in the live session. Rather not use a forum for this. Was thinking about an embedded google doc. Any other ideas?
Would like a way to do this in one doc so we don't have to have a new activity for every week. Thoughts? Appreciate it! Bonnie
I would suggest adding a URL resource to your course that links to a google form. You can automatically populate the responses from the google form in a google spreadsheet for faculty/instructor viewing... You can also automatically populate the form with some of a users data to automatically fill in things like their first name, sur/last name, email address, or anything else you want to pre-populate, to make the process more fluid and elegant. The URL resource in moodle has a section to add URL variables.
For info on how to get the URL parameters for your form: https://support.google.com/drive/answer/160000?hl=en
The parameters you get from the pre-filled google forums URL should look something like: entry.XXXXXXXXXX
You plug those into the URL parameter fields in the courses URL resource and then select the variable you want to populate that parameter (form field) from the drop-down menu...
Also, in the settings for the URL resource, under Appearance -> Display, you can select "Embed" as the method and the form will be presented to them from with-in Moodle itself to make the experience seamless... They never have to leave the course/moodle.
Hope that helps!
Rich
Thanks, Rich! I appreciate the additional customization so that fields are automatically populated. Smart!
What about using a Wiki? Essentially the same as a Google Doc and you don't have the hassle of linking outside the course.
-Floyd
Hi Floyd,
I was wondering about Wikipedia. But I haven't quite understood how it works from the docs. If I want everyone to add to this but without creating a new wiki page each time, is that possible? Maybe I just need to play around with the feature more.
Bonnie,
There should be a wiki activity already in Moodle. Perhaps it has been disabled? I often use the Moodle wiki for group documents. You can also create pages inside a wiki - perhaps a page for each week. I'll send you a temp password to a sample. Check your Moodle Messaging.
Floyd
Hi Visvanath - I agree, I would like to keep these things in moodle. Another thought I had was to use the Questionnaire and let everyone see everyone's responses. This would allow us to export the questions before the webinar and delete all the responses in moodle so we can keep using the same questionairre for the next webinars.
However, I've not been able to see the responses as a student, even though I set it up to show "always" in the questionnaire settings.
When you do this through Moodle, what do you use Visvanath? A wiki?
Hi Bonnie,
I used to use a module called Hot Question for doing this very thing. It is still listed in the plugins but I am not sure at the moment if it will work for any Moodle higher than 2.0. I am just leaving school now and will check to see when I have a moment after I get home if it works for 2.5.
The description says: "Inside or outside classroom, students post questions into Hot Question activity from notebook, netbook, android, iPhone, iPod and other gears which can access the moodle site. Students can also vote on others' questions, so that the hottest questions will be popped up. Teachers can make orally comments on selected questions in classroom."
Hope it works,
AL
Hi Al, sounds great! I'm on Moodle 2.4.3 so would love to know if you can tell if it would work for me. I hope to hear from you. Thanks so much!
Hi Bonnie,
I have just installed Hot Question and have it working in one of my Moodle 2.5 dev sites...but there are some gotchas. The version in Moodle plugins is for Moodle 2.0 and 2.1. It will work in 2.5 and probably 2.4, but has three or four things that need to be fixed by the developer.
One of the problems (addinstance) got fixed three weeks ago in the version that is available via github, which is still really for 2.0/2.1. (https://github.com/hit-moodle/moodle-mod_hotquestion) One problem, for everyone (admin, teacher, student) is that when you are in the module, clicks on Administration links do not seem to work. Have to click something in the Navigation block or something on the breadcrumb bar to get out of it.
If you try it, and you keep debug reporting set to Normal, your users should not see any problems report by debug...at least that is my experience on the development site I have it on.
As it is right now, I would not recommend using it on a production Moodle 2.4 site, UNLESS, you are running your own, small, Moodle site like I do, and do regular backups. That way, if I have a problem with it, I can readily dump it and its tables from the db, or restore to a backup, and then be back in business. I do not use the module right now as the way my courses are structured now, I don't need this type of capability.
If I get the chance to put in a bug report on all the problems I have found, in the next day or two, maybe the developer can get them fixed soon. (I am playing hooky right now...should be grading some essays)
If I haven't scared you off completely and you would like to try it on my dev site, let me know.
AL
PS: Just put the github version on my Moodle 2.4.3+ dev site. Works exactly the same as it does on my 2.5 dev site.
Hi Al,
I'm a little scared, but not enough to not try it on your dev site. And I'm very grateful to you for this very thorough feedback. I might get in touch with the developer as well - it sounds like a useful tool. Thanks again and good luck grading those essays!!
Best,
Bonnie
Hi Bonnie,
I sent you a Moodle message this morning that tells you how to access my dev sever that has Hot Question on it. The version I have there has had the three errors that show up in debugging, fixed. I have not had a chance to try and figure out why some of the links in the administration block do not work when I am in the Hot Question activity.
AL
Thanks, Al! I appreciate that and will check it soon (heading out of town). Best, Bonnie
Okay. I posted bug reports for the errors on github. Maybe they will get fixed soon. The version on my dev site has everything working correctly except the unresponsive links.
AL