Hot Question - an Activity Module for non-virtual or virtual classrooms

Hot Question - an Activity Module for non-virtual or virtual classrooms

by AL Rachels -
Number of replies: 10
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The old discussion forum for Hot Question has been locked, so this is the start of a new one.

Just released Hot Question v3.8.1 that included a few security fixes, as well as changing what the admin, manager, or teacher, sees when they click the Hot Question link in a course Activities block. I added a slashed eye to the name of hidden Hot Question activities, because showing hidden ones as "dimmed," was not very distinctive, with some of the many color combinations available in all the different themes.

Just today, I had a suggestion from user, b k, who would like to be able to change the table heading, "Questions," to something better suited to the way Hot Question is being used in each instance of the activity. e.g. When used as a suggestion box, "Suggestions" would be a better heading than Questions. My inclination is to also extend this to the other headings, Priority, Heat, Remove, and Approved, and do them as a site wide plugin setting, which can then be modified by any admin, manager, or teacher when editing a Hot Question activity.

While I am working on this, if anyone has any other suggestions for changes or improvements to Hot Question, please let me know.


Average of ratings: Useful (2)
In reply to AL Rachels

Re: Hot Question - an Activity Module for non-virtual or virtual classrooms

by AL Rachels -
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A few days ago I added a new release, Hot Question v3.8.2, in which there were a few, "under the hood," code enhancements, as well as changes to the first two rows of content of the csvdownload file. For teachers and managers, row one of the file contains the course short name and the name of the Hot Question activity. Row two for them, now uses whatever headings they have defined in the settings for the activity. Also, since the Hotquestion and Question columns are actually ID's, I changed them to Hotquestion ID and Question ID.

For an admin download, row one now contains a statement that the down load is all HQ Questions on a particular date and time for site: site URL. The column headings in row two use the default Hot Question names for the columns with the same changes to Hotquestion ID and Question ID, already noted. The reason for using the default headings all Hot Question activities is that I have not yet found a way in which Moodle will let me change the field names (column headings) after processing the first activity.

Also of note, a few days ago the question of limiting the number of, heat/votes, a user can make, came up. I have just got a beta candidate version 3.9.0 working, that includes heat_limits. If you would like to see/test it working, send me a PM for where how to try it out. I will push the beta code to github, in a few minutes.


Average of ratings: Useful (1)
In reply to AL Rachels

Re: Hot Question - an Activity Module for non-virtual or virtual classrooms

by AL Rachels -
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I still have a bit more testing for Hot Question 3.9.0, but it is looking good enough that I have already placed it on the demo site so anyone interested can go see it in use in the Site Suggestion Box or the Hot Question Demo course.
Average of ratings: Useful (1)
In reply to AL Rachels

Re: Hot Question - an Activity Module for non-virtual or virtual classrooms

by AL Rachels -
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Hot Question 3.9.0 has barely been released and I already have a 3.9.0+ that I am testing. It will add the ability for a user to remove a vote, if they have, "buyers remorse," and want to change their vote. Works fine for Moodle 3.8 and 3.9, but still have to test all the lower Moodle versions. Should be ready soon, but if you want to see it in use, the site at the Web URL link, already has it installed.
Average of ratings: Useful (1)
In reply to AL Rachels

Re: Hot Question - an Activity Module for non-virtual or virtual classrooms

by AL Rachels -
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I have just posted Hot Question 3.9.0+ (Build: 2020060603) over in the Moodle downloads page for Hot Question that implements Heat/Vote limits, plus the capability to, Remove my vote, from a question.

If the heat limit is set to zero, the Heat column is automatically hidden from view. Currently the maximum can be set to 10.

An indicator is added under the column label shown as Max/Remaining. e.g. If the limit is set to 3 and I have voted once, it will show as, 3/2. If a user removes a vote from a question, their Remaining votes goes back up by one. If the teacher starts a new round, their Remaining votes automatically goes back up to Max.

I have added this information to the documentation, but please feel free to update it, if it needs it.
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In reply to AL Rachels

Hot Question - an Activity Module for non-virtual or virtual classrooms

by Jason McGensy -
One request we get is the ability for the Hot Question to create a gradebook column [and not require a manual grade item if being used as a graded activity].
I personally think an actual grading interface would be clunky, but I could see value in a score for submission/participation, like the Questionnaire plugin?
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In reply to Jason McGensy

Re: Hot Question - an Activity Module for non-virtual or virtual classrooms

by AL Rachels -
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I have this on my TODO list, but there are other things I have to do first for other plugins I maintain.
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In reply to Jason McGensy

Re: Hot Question - an Activity Module for non-virtual or virtual classrooms

by AL Rachels -
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A Hot Question rating capability is getting closer on my TODO list, so maybe in the near future. Meanwhile, yesterday I released Hot Question v3.9.2, which display round information formatted as, X of N, that now appears between the round navigation icons.

Just out of curiosity, are there any Hot Question users who would be interested in being able to use a text editor instead of just a text area for questions? I have a sample version on my development server using the Atto editor, and it is nice to be able to format text, use emoj's, and even enter Generico filters.

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In reply to AL Rachels

Re: Hot Question - an Activity Module for non-virtual or virtual classrooms

by AL Rachels -
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Your attention is invited to go check out the Hot Question Demo course to see the latest enhancement I have started adding to the Hot Question plugin.

For a long time, I have wished that the textarea where users type their question/posts, could use the Atto or TinyMCE editor. Yesterday, I added the minimal amount of code that lets me start trying out the editor. No picture, file upload, or recording capability just yet, but most everything else is working just fine.
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In reply to AL Rachels

Re: Hot Question - an Activity Module for non-virtual or virtual classrooms

by Matthias Giger -
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Being able to use an HTML-editor in Hot Question suggestions would widen the use cases of Hot Questions. Just a few ideas: Students could write poems or maybe later on design a little poster and then rate each others work very easily. I think this could be a great additon to Hot Questions. I can also imagine using such a feature in a programming class where students post their approaches. Or what about using audio instead of only text?

Just recently I used Hot Question to know which questions from an exam paper students would like to discuss most urgently. You could use the same approach to find out which equations would like to discuss most.
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In reply to Matthias Giger

Re: Hot Question - an Activity Module for non-virtual or virtual classrooms

by AL Rachels -
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Hi Matthias,
Thanks for the excellent suggestions. I will try to add them as examples on my demo site. It might not be until next week though as this is a chemo week for my wife and I have to watch her closely to make sure she doesn't try to overdo things.
Note: Part of the possible delay is I am trying to get a couple of other items on my TODO list added into the next release of Hot Question.
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