I have created a number of Generico filter templates to support students navigating to and enrolling on courses. To use them, I added a “Course enrolment details” page to the top of every course page which uses the templates to present information to students. The idea is that lecturers can display the page at the start of the first class in a new semester, as a supplement or alternative to any verbal instructions. Students for whom the language of instruction is not their first language may find it particularly useful.
The page contains information on different ways students can navigate to the current course in order to enrol on it, as listed below.
- The path through the course hierarchy to reach the course, so that students can navigate to it easily: School, Department, Programme, Semester.
- A 4-digit number that students can use to search for the course using the search field on the home page, e.g. 0542.
- The course enrolment key.
- The full URL to the course page, e.g. https://localhost/course/view.php?id=542.
- A QR code that students can scan using their mobile phone, which also contains the course URL. Most phones will now recognise the code, and offer to open a browser app on that page, simplifying navigation.
The templates for the Generico plugin are attached in a Zip file, and need to be unzipped and imported into templates after installing and configuring Generico. The table below contains sample content you can paste into a page on your Moodle site, and a generated sample HTML page is attached too.
|
Path: |
{GENERICO:type=coursepath} |
|---|---|
|
Quick code: |
{GENERICO:type=courseid} |
|
URL: |
{GENERICO:type=courseurl} |
|
Key: |
{GENERICO:type=enrolmentkey} |
|
QR Code: |
{GENERICO:type=courseqrcode} |
Some implementation details: most of the filters use simple SQL queries to extract and format data, and may require adjustment for your site.
- The courseid filter assumes 4-digit course id numbers, but your site might have passed 10,000 courses, so you can adjust the zero-padding to suit.
- The use of the zero-padded course ID works as a quick code for search purposes only if you include the ID as part of the course ID number field. In our case, by convention we include a module code and the course ID in the course ID number field, for example "FLUI H2003 (0542)".
- The coursepath filter assumes a maximum of 6 levels of course hierarchy, so you would need to alter the SQL query if your site goes deeper. You can also replace the " > " separator with something else if you prefer.
- The enrolmentkey filter just reads the enrolment key, the lecturer must still set a key in the self-enrolment method. If the method is not enabled, a suitable message is displayed.
- The courseqrcode filter makes use of an external web service API to dynamically generate a QR code from a URL. Nowadays, the built-in camera on mobile phones (e.g. iPhone iOS 9.x) automatically recognise QR codes and if it contains a URL, offer to open a browser app on the page.