Using most recent version, I think.
Three problems.
1. How can I figure out who DIDN'T post? I can get the list of kids who posted but not those who didn't.
2. How do I GRADE the posts? I seem to have failed to set up a means for doing that.
3. How do I reopen posting opportunity after it has closed.
Aaarrrggghhhh. Moodle is soooo not intuitive and I am sooooo TECHNOPHOBIC. If you post an answer can you kindly write in VERY SIMPLE VERY BASIC ENGLISH? Thanks so much.
Ellen
Hi Ellen,
Moodle is very flexible and has a lot of options. As you use it more, it will be more intuitive.
For #1, set activity completion in the forum. If you expect 1 discussion and 2 replies, set that for activity completion and you can run a report . This does not measure quality. You need to read for that. The Course participation report will show you a total number of posts, but it does not differentiate between discussions and replies.
#2. - You can set ratings in the forum settings.
#3. - You can adjust dates in the forum settings.
For point 1: I think I did that but all I am getting is who DID post not who DIDN'T. For my purposes I need an easy way to determine who DIDN'T post. If I am not reading your answer correctly can you explain it differently?
For point 2: I just can't decode the ratings. I don't understand what they mean. And I STILL don't understand how I go back in, read the post and assign a grade. There just doesn't seem to be any field for the grade that I can see. Again, I need MUCH for specific instructions of the step by step nature.
Pro point 3: Is this different, then from the system used with quizzes? If it is I am tempted to ask "why" but I won't because I am sure any explanation is way beyond my limited abilities. But I guess I am asking if, unlike a quiz, simply changing the dates of the post, in edit mode, is enough.
Ellen, You mentioned you were a technophobe, I just wondered if you knew the significance of using capitals in emails and forum posts. See http://netiquette.wikia.com/wiki/Rule_number_2_-_Do_not_use_all_caps
Point 1. I'm not sure there is an easy way to find out who didn't post just looking at things.
This may be possible:
Point 3: If you want to setup/alter something, first, always look for "Edit Settings" for any given item. Quiz. Forum. Assignment. Etc. It's all the same.
I may have a more helpful suggestion later.
Are you able to get a plugin installed or is your Moodle just as it comes?
Also, If you are using a special distribution of Moodle (eg Torara, Joule, ELIS etc) or some of the bigger universities (eg UMass) or if you have some appropriate plugins, there will be an easy way to do this.
Cheers, and Good Luck
-Derek
Apologies. The caps were meant to stress just those words. I will certainly not do it again.
1. I still don't see how to set up grades. I have been all over the edit settings but I simply don't understand the vocab or how to do it. I cannot find anything in the instructions that explains it in a way I can understand. Ergo I cannot do any grading. And what I am trying to do is find an alternative to manually checking 25 or 30 names against my roster of 35 to figure out who is missing. After all, Moodle is supposed to make me a more efficient teacher not a less efficient teacher. IMO at any rate.
3. I practically live in "edit settings." See my points under #1. I don't know what a plug in is, what it would do, how to choose one or where to find one. Technology, as I think I pointed out, is not my strong suit. The Moodle I use is the Moodle provided to my by college, Maryland Institute College of Art. And in this context, I have no idea what is meant by "distribution."
So I am back to where I started. Is there any way to get a clear and intelligible set of instructions for Moodle, and specifically for forums? I need to figure out how to grade posts. I need to figure out who hasn't posted.
My feeling is that I am just to stupid to do this.
Hi Ellen,
Determining who did not post is easy using the Course participation report. This is found in the admin block > Course administration > Reports > Course participation.
Ellen - you are NOT too stupid to do this (note my use of capital letters ) You are absolutely doing the right thing by coming on these forums and asking all your questions and please continue to do so. I agree with Rob's explanation about using the Course participation report. If you watch this Youtube video from 1 min 42 (it should start there below) Note on that video we say 'learners' where your report will probably say 'students' but it is the same.
Bless you Mary for the encouragement. But it's going to be a while before I feel like someone other than a blithering idiot on Moodle. Rob's directions worked flawlessly. Watching your video first made a big difference--and I particularly appreciated that you cued to to the relevant point and I didn't have to watch the whole thing. Frankly I hate videos. I am not that kind of learner. I need the step-by-step flow chart where I can have the written instructions in front of me, do step one, refer to directions, do step two, refer to directions and so on.
Thanks for all your help. I think I mean THANKS!
Ellen
No problem Ellen. Between you and me, I am also a "step 1, step 2" learner with written instructions I'll remember that for if you come back with another question another day.
If you really want to grade the posts, I can give you instructions here, but it's not as straightforward as, say grading assignments out of 8/20 or 9/10 because the grade (Moodle calls it a "rating" )varies according to how many posts a student makes and how often you grade/rate individual posts. And you can decide to aggregate your ratings in different ways, such as the average (which I think is probably best). You can also rate forum posts with words (such as we have here, 'useful' or numbers. Here are the instructions for numbers:
Anyway...
1) In your course, with the editing turned on, click on the forum you want to add grading to.
2) You will see a block to the side Forum administration. Click the link "Edit settings"
3) Scroll down to the Ratings link and click to open up the options.
4) For Aggregate type, choose what you want (The question mark icon gives extra help) for example Average.
5) This will then let you change the Scale. Make it say Points and then type in the maximum number you want to grade out of, for example 20
6) Scroll down and click Save and Display.
Now when students post in your forum, you will see a box like here on Moodle.org and you can choose a number up to (say) 20 that you can grade the student with.
Almost there. A big problem is that when I have hit "edit" to go in, I just don't think to look left to "Admin" and hit "edit" again...
I did all that. What I am not seeing is a "box like here on Moodle,org." Where is the box? How do I find it to fill it?
Sigh...
E.
If you do the set up I explained previously with your forum, and set the points max to 20, then that 'Rate' box, when you click the arrow by it ,will display the numbers 1 to 20 for you to choose one to grade them with.
Still being thick...
Part of it is that the little question marks offer definitions that mean more or less nothing to me.
I went to the form. I clicked "Edit settings" under Admin. I went to Ratings and opened it. For "Aggregate" I chose "sum" because I thought that if a student made more than the one required post I could reward it.
I went to Grade and went to Scale. I chose Points. I chose a maximum number of 4 points. I saved and displayed.
I see the little rating place (I attached a screen shot). But it has no numbers and there seems to be no way I can choose a number.
So what am I doing wrong?
So frustrated. I want to use all caps. Or swear.
Ellen
Let's try rephrasing the question. How do I "submit a rating"?
Moodle seems to want that phrasing. I set up a forum. I want students to accumulate points for their posts. How the heck to I assign those points?
Sorry, sorry, sorry...
E.
Bless you Rob. I followed your directions step by step and watched the video Mary sent, too. It worked. It gave me exactly what I needed to know.
And I could *never* have figured that out on my own. I appreciate that eventually the logic of Moodle may seep into my very aged and decrepit brain, but it definitely hasn't happened yet.
Now if I can figure out how to grade the posts...
Ellen
Ellen, it appears that you have made progress. I am not sure exactly where you are, but I am going to provide a screen shot of how I set up my Forum ratings. Maybe a few examples will help.
In my case, I am "summing" ratings (student make more than one post for their assignment), my max points in this example is 3, and students must post by Sept 29. After this cut-off date, students can still post but these posts cannot be rated.
There is some work going on in Moodle Tracker to improve various dates in forums. Look at MDL-31355 and vote for it if you agree to these improvements.
Incidentally, once you get used to Moodle's forums, you might find as I did that it is the best of all LMSs.
Rick, it was helpful to see what you did. It doesn't really look all that different from what I did. (screenshot below)
But it still isn't working. Where or where can I put the grade/points??? I found the place where it says "sum of ratings" below left of the post the student made. But there is not way to put a point or a rating in there.
Thank you for saying I am making progress. I feel like I am sinking further and further into the 7th circle of Moodle h***.
Ellen
As students start making posts, and then you begin to read them, you give them points as you read them. My screen shot shows this. (In these moodle.org discussion, you should notice that you can "rate" posts as useful. This is a simple scale with no points.)
I refer to this grading method as "grading in context," which is realistically the only way that I can think of how one reads and grades posts. Some folks will say that the instructor does not need to read posts, but I am one who feels that if a student is going to say something, then I should read it. By grading in context, you will know which posts are new and require grading.
I always tell my students that I will be reading and grading their posts regularly. When they get 8 points, they earn an "A".
Eventually, you probably want to have grade categories, don't you?
Also eventually, you might decide to set your forum's email preferences to "digest". I like getting a lot of emails from students' posts, so I don't do this.
Moodle's forum grading methods has a pretty lot of flexibility and power to it. But it does that a while to get used to it.
If you are the administrator, consider adding an experimental student, log in as this student, make a couple posts, then log in as the instructor, click on the forum, then read and grade.
You say, As students start making posts, and then you begin to read them, you give them points as you read them. My screen shot shows this.
I get this. This is precisely what I want to do. I keep saying this is what I want to do, but I guess I am saying it wrong. There is no place on my forum where I can give them points. Those boxes your red arrows point to? I don't have those boxes. I don't know how to make those boxes.
I desperately want someone to explain what I need to do within grades and rating to get those boxes.
In these moodle.org discussion, you should notice that you can "rate" posts as useful. I don't want to rate the posts as "useful." I want to assign them points. My class is underway. I have worked up my grading system and communicated it to students. I don't want to change my grading system in this class this semester. I just want to move forward with what I am doing.
I refer to this grading method as "grading in context," which is realistically the only way that I can think of how one reads and grades posts. I read all the posts. And I (want to) grade them. This isn't really a question of pedagogical method.
When they get 8 points, they earn an "A". Which brings me back to rating. How do I set the editing mechanisms to get the box so I can assign them points so that somewhere down the line I can give them grades?Eventually, you probably want to have grade categories, don't you? I have no idea what you mean by "grade categories." This is get another thing about Moodle I have not been able to figure out.
Also
eventually, you might decide to set your forum's email preferences to
"digest". I like getting a lot of emails from students' posts, so I
don't do this. This is kinda beside the point for me. I get the emails. I read them. I'm not entirely clear what a digest is or why that would be better for anyone--including me.
Moodle's forum grading methods has a pretty lot of flexibility and power to it. I am absolutely sure it does. But first of all, before anything else, I have to be able to make the grading methods work. Right now I am doing something wrong and they are not working for me. I am trying to fix what I am doing wrong.
In this class, I have alternating assignments each week, either a Moodle quiz (mostly multiple choice) or a Moodle forum post responding to a prompt that engages with the readings. It is not one big forum that runs the whole semester. Each forum is its own unit. The points accumulated across the forums will add up to a percentage of the final grade. Grades for quizzes, posts, essays and presentations are all marked in points. At the end of the semester, the numbers are crunched and a grade is assigned.
If you are the administrator, consider adding an experimental student, log in as this student, make a couple posts, then log in as the instructor, click on the forum, then read and grade. This would be a great idea if I could grade. But I can't grade. For the reasons cited above.
I am sounding crazed and more than a little stupid even to myself. But I feel that I am failing to communicated the one question I desperately need answered. The question is: what precise settings do I need under ratings and grades in order to get that little box that allows me to rate (allocate points) for each post? I cannot find directions in any of the Moodle manuals no matter what I do. I am hoping beyond hope that one of you who knows how to do this will be able to grasp my question and answer it with step-by-step instructions.
Ellen
Rick and Mary,
I finally figured out the problem. But I really wish someone could have directed me toward this issue. Once again, there is something horribly non-intuitive and yet utterly indispensable thing you need to do but there seems to be no workable instructions.
You don't get that little box for grading unless you have a specific category. And adding a Category is not easy. I kept staring at Rick's example and trying to figure out why it was different from mine, which indeed it obviously was in some critical way. The category thing finally attracted my attention. But the dropdown didn't offer me anything. I finally found a instructions from UMass on how to add a category. It skipped a key step which was going from admin>grades>setup. When I found setup I found add a category. So I added a category called "forum posts".
Now I have that little box on the posts that have been done.
My question is, can I use that same category on each forum (their are 6) or do I have to make a separate category for each?
I am definitely in the 7th circle of Moodle h***. Me and the rest of the irredeemable Moodle Morons.
Ellen
You can certainly use the same category - but I'm surprised you found you had to use a specific category as I didn't, and Rick's screenshot also showed he didn't. (Maybe your Moodle site has some extra bit above the standard issue?) Anyway, good that it is sorted. And please don't keep putting yourself down
Also, in your screenshot where you didn't have the boxes, I noticed you were posting yourself. You'd need to see a post of a student to be able to see the ratings box - you can't rate yourself.
I just get so discouraged. This is the only thing in my life that seems to be beyond my capacities and moodle (and frankly nearly everything having to do with computers) makes me feel stupid and incompetent in a way that nothing else does. I mean, I am perfectly happy to read directions. But when I can't make the directions make sense, and everyone else seems to think that whatever the process is is simply self-evident, it leaves me in a state.
But there is no question but that my version of moodle--or whatever MICA has done to it--requires that category to get the box. And it took me ultimately several hours to figure that out.
The part I still don't understand is the number of points assigned to the rating. There seems to be no way to understand how that works as an aggregation in my class, only how it works in the imagination of whoever designed it.
Thanks for staying with me on this.
Well, between you and me, I also find the aggregation types confusing. (Here is the documentation on ratings aggregation) It is admittedly partly because you are trying to grade a forum that could have several posts and that has an effect on grades. If for example, you just gave one student one grade despite the number of forum posts they had made, ie, if you just rated them once, then it might be clearer.
On a slightly separate note, have you ever used the assignment activity? That is where a student would type an essay (or something you wanted them to do) and only you would see it, and you can give them just the one grade of your choice. It makes more sense to me (I am not very good with numbers ) than forum aggregations.
I never grade with forums because I always see them as an opportunity for students to voice their opinions and I want them to speak freely, not be concerned about what grade they will get (My students were aged 11 - 16 mostly) When they did need a grade, I used a Moodle activity such as an assignment where they knew they were being graded (and it was private between us) But perhaps your course involves being rewarded for discussions, so perhaps you do need forums to be graded.
I do use assignments. In fact, that was the first moodle feature I ever used. My students submit their essays as assignments. It's easier on me because I use electronic editing to grade them. (Originally they had to email essays to me. Now I download the essay to my computer, attach a rubric form to it, correct the paper, break out the points on the rubric and send them whole thing back via moodle.) Then the grade goes automatically into the gradebook.
My next adventure was quizzes. That was an uphill battle, but I have it pretty well under control now. Knock on wood. Knock on my head.
Forums had not worked well for me because (my college) students simply did not take them seriously. They require a strong stick as well as the juicy carrot. The only effective stick is a grade.
This semester is a bit of an experiment. I have eliminated all in-class exams and replace those assessments with short quizzes and forum posts that focus on the readings. The quizzes are all multiple choice/matching questions. Generally about 6 questions. And the posts respond to a prompt that refers to the readings and/or connects the readings to their personal experience, especially as young artists. (I teach at Maryland Institute College of Art.)
My problem over the years had been that students simply didn't do the homework, depending on my lectures to simply regurgitate the material. This way I am hoping personal effort and involvement will get more of the material to stick with the students--and stick in a more meaningful way.
Oh, and they also have one semester-long group project. In modernism, it is a 10-minute PowerPoint (or similar format) presentation on "What is Modern about Modern Art." I make use of Padlet walls there so I can track their progress.
Among my colleagues, I am one of the more active and committed users of moodle. If you can believe it. I can see why it should be a tremendous asset. But searching for answers to questions is incredibly difficult because searching is a rarified skill and moodle has all kinds of eccentricities about what it has decided that words mean. Use the wrong words and you get wrong answers. Or no answers at all.
But ending up in tears of frustration at midnight because I can't make it work and can't find directions I can understand about how to make it work? That's not what I want.
Goodness me, Ellen, you are neither a technophobe nor a beginner Moodler - you're an advanced user of technology and experienced Moodle teacher You already use more activities (forum, quiz, assignment) than many teachers do and on top of that you use outside technology such as Padlet! I can only say - please continue to post and help us make the Moodle terms, the documentation and the searching much more efficient for everyone including committed teachers like you.
Well, I dunno about that. I took a faculty class in "hybrid and online learning" last year, a sort of pilot project. It was mostly a horrible experience because I felt like the only person in the class simply flummoxed by the technology. There was a lot of crying then, too. And one thing I learned is that the technology world hates a linear, step-one, step-two learner like me. I felt not just 63 but 163. The second half, which was basically a matter of working on a project that could have immediate application to both my own teaching and departmental resources went slightly better. That's when I learned how to use padlet (although I am running into all manner of headaches with it) and produced a series of six very primitive, very inelegant videos on "How to Write a Critical Analysis." Screencast-o-Matic joined padlet in my technology arsenal. But no, don't love it, don't find it fun in any way.
And in fact I can barely use my smartphone (which is immeasurably smarter than I). I am amazed that after 3 years I can finally make calls, receive calls, use the calendar and check FB.
Ellen, I know that you don't like videos, but it was faster for me to show you some things than to type.
Ellen, it's Derek here. This (below) is sort of a longer post than I meant. If you don't want to read it all, just go to the last question.
I've been travelling and away from home for a couple of days. I did send a post via email two days ago but it has either been moderated off the forum or it did not reach Moodle.org.
This is a small quote from the post:
"Usually if you are using a Moodle provided by an institution it is accompanied by a bit of written help and even people to work with. Usually a small Moodle workshop sometimes, or a conversation at a smoko room"
I take your point about wanting step by step instructions and not any video, but a third way may be to ask around in the place you work.
There are docs for Moodle: on forums and grading they are here: https://docs.moodle.org/29/en/Using_Forum#Grading_forums Have you read these?
These are maintained by volenteers. I'll have a look at the docs over the weekend to see if there is a way we can improve them on this particular subject. I'd be interested in your feedback.
Mary has said:
"If you really want to grade the posts, I can give you instructions here, but it's not as straightforward as, say grading assignments out of 8/20 or 9/10 because the grade (Moodle calls it a "rating" )varies according to how many posts a student makes and how often you grade/rate individual posts."
She is right. I do exactly what you do: set posts that are for credit. But my marking system is different. I use a paper tracking sheet. I just call up each post and read it. Then I may or may not respond in the forum. Then I record by hand a grade on my sheet. I don't have many people in a class, rarely more than 45. (I know, so very untekky)
You must understand: this is a controversial view. Some people view technology as a wonderful thing.
Some people replace the word tiggers with technology.
I think for smaller classes this grading approach is
There are a lot of tips (some good and some terrible) on how to make forum discussions work.
One of the keys for existing as a technophobe is to decide what technology you use and what you don't. I fact it is the secret to those who are not technophobes to success. As Mary said, the Moodle systems in this regard are not straightforward.Regarding terminology: you commented
"Moodle seems to want that phrasing."
Plus there are other comments you have made.
Moodle does have jargon. It may help if you worked with this a little, As a teacher you don't let your students say for instance "I don't like the term critical analysis, I'm going to use the term 'compassionate analysis' ". (well, maybe you do, but I hope you take my point)
Fixing the docs: Be that as it may, where you find terms used in the Moodle docs that are not used well, clarified, not linked to a definition etc - let us know. We can fix it. Some of us have put time into trying to get this better, but as I said we are volenteers.
(ie to repeat what others have said) This is not a matter of stupid. I think you have done well, but I know this will not help you.
Are there really no people around you in your school you can ask? Collaboration in learning face to face is great.
Regards
-Derek
Derek, you are extraordinarily kind to help me this way. Your video is quite something. I would also like to learn how to make such a video myself. I might be a skill I could apply in my teaching.
I'll try to be efficient. Yes, my institution (Maryland Institute College of Art) does have a staff person assigned to work with us on this. There is one of her, though, and a lot of us. It is very hard to find time to meet with her and I am only on campus once a week for face2face. I far prefer face2face to all other forms of learning but I am an adjunct prof and the structure is designed for full-timers and doesn't work so well for adjuncts.
I have tried to read the docs. Every now and then I find the part of them I need. I have not yet figured out an efficient way of working with the manuals. I have bookmarked that link and will try to find some time to familiarize myself with the instructions. What I have found so far is that they instructions seem to skip steps. The assumption is often that the user is already familiar with the basics or is approaching new material with a solid foundation. In my case this is never true. Folks like me get dumped into a platform. Very little training is available. Using the platform is a matter of by guess and by golly and rarely is there time (and time is definitely money for adjuncts) to simply spend time learning. And I figure my problems with moodle this semester have already set me back a few hundred dollars in time.
Mary has been fantastically helpful and supportive. I see that the moodle-masters feel that forums are somehow a questionable place for grading. I find that tasks I give my students that are not graded are unlikely to get done. So grading is my stick (I hope there are also plenty of carrots.) What I don't get about the ratings thing is the aggregation. I think the concept of aggregation needs much more clarification. Then each form of aggregation needs clarification.
I am really trying to keep all my grades in one place. It seemed that moodle was ideal for that so I really don't want to do hand grading for forums and then transfer the grade into the grade book. My whole goal is to reduce labor so I can focus on teaching. Yes, I think Tiggers are indeed wonderful; I would like technology to be wonderful. It isn't yet.
You and I seem to have different ideas as to what a "small" class is. Mine run 30-35 and are writing intensive. For art history, that is quite a largish group.
My forums right now are not really discussions because there isn't any back and forth. I am using them as a mechanism (along with moodle quizzes) to force students to do more of the reading more thoroughly. I don't yet have any vision of how a forum could be a true discussion for my classes. Maybe later I'll have an epiphany. For right now, if I can get the thing to work at all, I'm ahead of the game.
Now speaking of making the forms work. There was one specific problem which I was trying to communicate (and clearly failing miserably). I could replicate all the steps I had been given. I even understood the steps. What I was not getting however was the little box with the dropdown with the points. Whatever MICA did to our moodle, following the instructions you and Mary gave me did not work because it did not produce that box. After about 2 1/2 hours of struggle, I went in and added a category (and please don't ask me what it was or how I did it or what I think the purpose is). I then used that category instead of the default one (whatever it is) and suddenly that box appeared. So something funky was going on. Mary says she doesn't need to set a category. Your video did not seem to demand a category. My version of moodle didn't work until I added one.
Jargon. Well, yeah. I require students to use the language of the discipline. However I hammer them into the ground and deduct all kinds of points when they get jargony in their writing or in class discussion. We use simple words correctly according to Mr. Webster and we write with careful syntax. We use art history words, absolutely, but we do so carefully, defining in context where need be. I am slowly learning the right moodle words to use. But when the instructions are all in highly technical language (correct but technical and therefore a real problem for people like me with weak vocab) then it's an issue. For me. And it's even more of an issue when I am pressed for time.
I understand that it's not a matter of stupid. But Stupid is where I am and until I get competent enough to manage my class without wasting hours upon hours, I not going to feel pretty much anything but stupid. But thanks for trying to make me feel better.
"Are there really no people around you in your school you can ask? Collaboration in learning face to face is great." Nope. There really aren't. And I simply can't afford to drive the hour into campus for meetings with our tech person then an hour home. I just don't have the time. I just don't have the money.
Thanks.Ellen
Ellen, I can appreciate what you are dealing with. In my case, I teach at two different universities (one as an adjunct), and I have absolutely no support at all because neither school uses Moodle.
To put this into perspective, let's assume that you had 30-35 students who genuinely wanted to learn "art history," but you school decided not to hire you or any other instructor to teach this topic. What would you tell your students?
Derek is a very capable fellow who can do all sorts of things. However, if you are referring to the video posted a little above I think you got Derek confused with me. Derek is the good looking fellow, young, and energetic. But if you are referring to my video, then I can tell you that I used Camtasia to produce it. Well, Camtasia is another "technology." I really like Camtasia because I can respond to questions as if I am (almost) right next to the student.
Back to your question about drop-down rating boxes. In my video, I had a fresh install of moodle and a fresh/new course. In other words, a pretty standard install of Moodle 2.9. I wanted to show you that the ratings box is there. If yours is not, it really could be that your moodle administrator has a modified version of moodle. Do you know what version of moodle you are using? What theme is being used? Maybe show your administrator my video and ask why your ratings drop-down is not working.
Derek and Rick, my apologies to you both. When I was fooling around with forums, I should have been posting a quiz and a student wrote to tell me she couldn't access the quiz and, well, I was completely scattered.
Rick, I tried to use Camtasia and I couldn't figure it out at all. And the more useful version is just too expensive to contemplate. Again, I can use it on campus, but that means spending two hours on the road and trying to figure out when the tech person might be available. But maybe one day.
I believe MICA uses 2.9 but I don't know. And I will forward your video to her, to Pam, and see what she says. I have already raised a number of issues about the current incarnation of Moodle (hosting changed over the summer). The fonts have disappeared on favor of headings (small, med, lge) and paragraph). The color palette has reduced to the basic crayola box.
But yes, it would help a lot if I knew what version we had for sure and whether it had been modified. Then maybe I could work more effectively with you nice folks on the forum.
Goodnight. I'm not going to stay up tinkering with moodle tonight.
E.
Ellen, as a suggestion, you can always create an account on the MoodleCloud system, and then experiment with it. If there is a difference between it and your school's moodle, you could at least show your school the features that should be working. Just a suggestion, but don't do this tonight.
(Actually, for your 30-35 student, MoodleCloud might be fine for you. But you really need to get your support people helping you with these issues.)
Very good ideas. I don't know how much time I have to fooling around with Moodle Cloud. But you are right, the support people--well Pam--needs to help me. I'm just discouraged about the time/money that using moodle--as required by my insitution--is costing me. But thanks for the suggestions.
E.
Ellen - I believe your site is using Moodle 2.9. Also - when you talk about the text editor- I think you might be seeing the latest text editor called "Atto" and you are used to the older text editor called "Tiny MCE". You should be able to change it back to the old one (with the colours and so on) if you click top right where your name is, on the little arrow, and then click the Preferences link. You'll see a link to change your text editor and then you can select Tiny MCE. When you've saved it and you go back to editing somewhere you should see the older version.
I got soooo excited there for a minute, but it turns out that Atto appears to be my only choice other than "default" (which appears to be Atto) or "plain text" which I am pretty sure I don't want. I do know from our tech person that the staff who did some things made changes and that not all the changes have been happy ones for us users. But I am going to forward Rick's video to Pam (tech person) and the content of your comment here, too.
Thanks so much. E.
Here are a few more ideas for today.
1) You do not need to forward my video to Pam. Just give her this link: Re: who posted and who didn't.
2) I have said for many years that teaching with technology takes more time. Yes, it might make one more efficient during "class time", but there is a learning curve associated with all of the various technologies outside of the class room. At my school, I have been promoting an extra "technology" stipend. Well, you know how budgets go.
3) One reason why I like to run my own Moodle is that I am the administrator, and therefore I do not need to worry (or be surprised) by someone else making changes to Moodle that affect my abilities (like disabling TinyMCE editor, or doing something that affects ratings. ) Having MoodleCloud provides everyone the ability to try (and use) Moodle in its simplest of forms. And it works. Everyone really needs at least one extra moodle for experimentation. (I like MAMP on my Mac.)
