Where do you put the "textbook"?

Where do you put the "textbook"?

by James Noxon -
Number of replies: 16

Hi I am new to Moodle, however I used many other LMS.

In a course, there would ordinarily be a textbook. Now in Moodle, you can write your own textbook - like material. So I don't understand where you put that? You know, the "meat" of the course. Where does it go? I have written a Course Name, a Short Name, set the category, the visibility, the dates, the number, written the summary, set the format, so many things, but where does the "course" go? You know where the student reads some stuff and looks at diagrams and learns stuff, and then I wrote a quiz too. Since I didn't understand, I put the "course material" in the summary, so now I have one very long page. I am using MoodleCloud right now.

Help - PJ

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In reply to James Noxon

Re: Where do you put the "textbook"?

by Mary Cooch -
Picture of Documentation writers Picture of Moodle HQ Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers Picture of Testers Picture of Translators

Hello again James. If you haven't already I advise you to join our Learn Moodle MOOC  - a free online course for complete beginners to Moodle - it starts on June 18 and is run by Moodle HQ

You seem to be working only in the course description, not in the actual course. Have a look at the videos below on creating and editing a course.

I am going to link to a playlist of videos (from our last Learn Moodle MOOC ) and I suggest you look through them to see which ones might give you some insight into using Moodle.   I think if you click the icon top left it shows the other videos.


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In reply to Mary Cooch

Re: Where do you put the "textbook"?

by James Noxon -

Hmm, go and watch 32 videos was not the kind of answer I was hoping for...


I am wondering is it possible that the administrator can't enter the course "textbook" but that it will be necessary to change roles back and forth from admin to teacher to student?


still puzzled - PJ

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In reply to James Noxon

Re: Where do you put the "textbook"?

by Don Hinkelman -
Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers Picture of Plugin developers

That's a good question, James, and I always put my "textbook" in the first section of the Moodle course--after I have done all the initial settings.  If you use a topic format or weekly date format, there is a blank area in the top center column which is sometimes referred to as "Section 0", which is then followed by Section 1 (labeled Topic 1 or the weekly course dates). 

The format of my textbook is usually a pdf document, but you could use Moodle activity modules or resource modules like "Book" to do it. To add a pdf document, I simply drag it from my desktop into the Section 0 area, after I "Turn editing on".  Of course you can also divide your textbook into smaller topics/chapters and drag those onto to the weekly sections or topic sections.

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In reply to Don Hinkelman

Re: Where do you put the "textbook"?

by James Noxon -

Thanks so much. I thought I was putting in the Topics, but it seems like I was only putting in the summary of the description of the title of the Topics. Or something like that.

I say that because I don't see the Section 0 right now. Maybe I need to change roles?

One of the 'language difficulties' I notice is that here in the land of the Yanks, a section is a group of students who are taking a course. You might teach a course "Australia's Convict Past" and one section might meet Mon-Wed-Fri while another section meets Tue-Thurs.

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In reply to James Noxon

Re: Where do you put the "textbook"?

by Mary Cooch -
Picture of Documentation writers Picture of Moodle HQ Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers Picture of Testers Picture of Translators
James - Section  0 is the top section which you might see as being called General.

If you don't like videos then the documentation is here https://docs.moodle.org/34/en/Main_page and in terms of terminology (smile )

here is a useful link to a page on Resources and a link to a page on Activities

Administrators can do and see anything in the site so you could set up your course as an administrator though it is usually better to use a different account with a teacher role to create course activities.



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In reply to Mary Cooch

Re: Where do you put the "textbook"?

by James Noxon -

Alright. I got something working by using a "Page" resource. When you copy from one place to another it messes up the images but you can just delete them and reload to fix it. On the 'main' page it shows the "Topics" in very large font, I wish I could make that same size as the resources.

Thanks for your help - prof James

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In reply to James Noxon

Re: Where do you put the "textbook"?

by James Noxon -

Results are acceptable at this point.

Thanks to all for the help.

Mark this closed.

- prof james

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In reply to James Noxon

Re: Where do you put the "textbook"?

by James Steerpike -

As a teacher, it has taken me a long time before I could start to use Moodle effectively. The most productive ways for me have been the interactive features including quizzes and forums which allow students to actively use the site.

A textbook is a good starting point but breaking the material down into units and creating feedback from students could be more effective. Creating a page in Moodle and adding material is a great start but does not use the full potential of learning management software.

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In reply to James Steerpike

Re: Where do you put the "textbook"?

by Colin Fraser -
Picture of Documentation writers Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers Picture of Testers

I would agree James, start with what you most need, or are most comfortable with. 

As for "text books" I find them useful as references but that is about it. I am finding an increasingly divergent perception between what the authors of the text are saying and the interpretations of students of the materials. I am also finding more and more that students need such material reinterpreted to suit their understandings. Given this article from The Atlantic, (April 13, 2018) I am not surprised.  

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In reply to Colin Fraser

Re: Where do you put the "textbook"?

by Visvanath Ratnaweera -
Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers Picture of Translators
The discussion "book" (PDF) or screen (HTML) is as old as the PC. Not all teachers on the screen do have a book. James should call himself lucky.

Now the simple question: If there is a book, what to do on-line, not to mention Moodle? (Remember, we are on "Teaching with Moodle".)
wink
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In reply to Colin Fraser

Re: Where do you put the "textbook"?

by William Stewart -

Although a bit late to the party, as an instructional designer, I would offer a similar advice/suggestion/caution as Colin that a courses does NOT equal a textbook. I know this a common condition in education unfortunately, but that doesn't necessarily make it the most ideal situation to be in. Rather, a "textbook" is simple one resource among many used to facilitate a course. What defines a course? Ideally you'll have clearly stated goals and objectives for students and then work backwards from there of how to get students to achieve that. We can very easily and logically divide a book into equal parts given the time span of a semester or quarter and plow through it beginning to end. It's logical and efficient, yes. Is it by proxy effective? Highly questionable. 

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In reply to William Stewart

Re: Where do you put the "textbook"?

by Visvanath Ratnaweera -
Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers Picture of Translators
Hi

When you say "instructional designer" you produce for the screen as opposed to print (PDF), correct?

I fully agree that the textbook is not the course. In Moodle way a course is "where teachers add learning materials and activities for their students" https://docs.moodle.org/en/Courses.

About "divide a book into equal parts given the time span of a semester or quarter and plow through it beginning to end" one can argue. I have a situation where the content is given by the official textbook. Obviously I follow it chapter-by-chapter with enhancements like tutorials, practicals, presentations, etc.


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In reply to Visvanath Ratnaweera

Re: Where do you put the "textbook"?

by William Stewart -

Visvanath,

I design curriculum in addition to materials to support that curriculum. Many of these are delivered digitally (we are on a Moodle forum after all), though I do also design materials for print- the print ones are often much quicker and easier to do for our faculty than web-based ones. Often for print ones, students and faculty don't bother to print them out though and simply access them on their devices.

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In reply to William Stewart

Re: Where do you put the "textbook"?

by Colin Fraser -
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Wow, a Curriculum in Korea? I thought they used a syllabus....mmmm interesting. smile

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In reply to Colin Fraser

Re: Where do you put the "textbook"?

by William Stewart -

Colin,

Well you aren't wrong there wink, sad to admit. But I don't work in the Korean education system (public or private), I've worked almost exclusively for western international schools or currently a Californian higher ed institution. Globalisation eh.

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In reply to William Stewart

Re: Where do you put the "textbook"?

by Visvanath Ratnaweera -
Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers Picture of Translators
Hi William

Thanks for the clarifications, which I can very well follow.

> the print ones are often much quicker and easier to do for our faculty than web-based ones

Of course. The teachers generation comes from the analog times where books meant print. The transition from hard books to soft books (PDFs) is quite smooth. The next step, "type setting" for the screen, is something entirely different.

> Often for print ones, students and faculty don't bother to print them out though and simply access them on their devices.

That is a big advantage of soft books: People have the choice to print or view on screen. In my classes, students have to view or work on three to four documents (windows) at the same time, which is a challenge. Having the book on print helps a lot.
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