Moodle muddle

Moodle muddle

by sab sh -
Number of replies: 8

Hi I’m a tech ignoramus so I’ll try my best to explain my issue smile How customizable is the look and feel of the course in moodle? I wanted to add graphics and a customized look n feel. (Adding pics to show how I designed course. )

-background: I designed an app for my client which includes a few online courses that the users can complete from the app. We want to use moodle in the back as the LMS. 

-**Ideally we don’t want them to log into moodle again (just into the app and have the course expose in the app)**

Any help will be super super appreciated as I am unable to solve this issue!!


 

Attachment Course page 1.jpeg
Attachment Course pic 2.jpeg
Attachment Pic 3.jpeg
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In reply to sab sh

Re: Moodle muddle

by Mark Sharp -
Picture of Core developers Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers Picture of Plugin developers
Moodle provides a web service API for allowing apps to retrieve data. You should find the documentation helpful to get started, however, it is VERY technical. You say your a tech ignoramus, if that's true, perhaps it's worth contacting a Moodle Partner (https://moodle.com/partners/) to see if they can meet your requirements.

* Slideshow on getting started with Web services: https://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=406674
* Web services documentation: https://docs.moodle.org/dev/Web_services
* List of core functions: https://docs.moodle.org/dev/Web_service_API_functions

Good luck
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In reply to Mark Sharp

Re: Moodle muddle

by sab sh -
Thanks Mark for sharing the links! I understand the API part, but how will the data “expose” - can I get that to show beyond a boring block of text. Wanted to customize how it looks to make the information beautiful and consumable. That’s the issue. Does that make sense? I hope smile

Will be hiring a moodle person, making the decision on LmS first, learndash vs moodle (based on look and feel customization answer)
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In reply to sab sh

Re: Moodle muddle

by Beatriz Rojo -
Hello,
if I understood you right, you want Moodle as a simple container of the courses you created and maybe as a way to track progress, participation, etc. I would then design the Moodle course as simple and minimalist as possible, including or considering the following features:
  • try out the different Course format settings (Course>Edit course settings>Course format)
  • choose a theme if you don't like the standard themes
  • if you want to use the standard themes, you can add icons to each section to make the structure more organised and appealing
  • I'd delete from the menu everything which is not necessary for your scenario: grades, private files, content bank, ...
  • I guess you would need to include your courses as a link or as a SCORM package.
  • It can be interesting to add some blocks, but only if it adds value to your scenario
  • If you want to make the course even less "Moodle-like", you could configure stealth activities and create a single label where the courses to be completed are linked and not listed as Moodle resources or activities.
  • You might also consider using the Moodle app if your courses are mobile-friendly or mobile-oriented and you want to keep this modality.
Cheers,
Beatriz
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In reply to Beatriz Rojo

Re: Moodle muddle

by sab sh -
Thanks Beatriz. You got it, it’s supposed to be a container, progress tracker and to help create a record of who did what course. I can’t find any resources or videos on the internet that address this, the design aspect. I will go through the links you have shared, because I am not familiar with ScRom and the stealth activities part. As for mobile, yes I do want the courses to be seamless betweenweb app and mobile app. Thank you again so much for taking the time to respond!
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In reply to sab sh

Re: Moodle muddle

by Beatriz Rojo -
Hi,
glad that it helps. I don't know any guidelines or designing tips for Moodle, but for sure there is something on the internet. What I do is just using the topic section to visually customize the structure of a course, adding pictures, texts, videorecordings or whatever your creativity is:


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In reply to Beatriz Rojo

Re: Moodle muddle

by Nancy Gleaton -

I think I'm looking at the same concept. Create a Moodle course and add lessons, each of which is a SCORM package that can also function as a standalone course. Here's my scenario:

I have Moodle courses A, B, C, D, and E, which each contain one lesson that is a SCORM package. That package already contains all the content including quizzes.

I then create another Moodle course (course X) that is composed of multiple lessons, each one being one of the standalone SCORM courses, say, courses A, C, and E.

Two questions:

1) If I make a change to course A, regenerate the SCORM package, and replace it in course A, will that change cascade down to the courses where I used course A?

2) If someone completes course A and then subsequently enrolls in course X, will it show course A (which is lesson 1 in course X), has been completed?


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In reply to Nancy Gleaton

Re: Moodle muddle

by Beatriz Rojo -
Hi Nancy,
just to have a common nomenclature, a lesson in Moodle is a type of activity similar to a branching scenario. What you call "lesson" is called in Moodle topics (i.e. sections of a course) smile.
To your questions:
1) No with the standard settings, because the SCORM is a file that you should upload to each of the courses or topics you want it to appear, as a PDF file. A basic workaround is to include in that course X an URL to, for example, course A. But this is a very simple solution and if you want to escalate or to monitor, it's not a recommended method.
2) No, because of 1.
The concept of metacourses  our subcourses might be what you need - I've never used them in my scenarios but it can help you implement what you need. There is a recent thread discussing a similar scenario to yours.
You could also somehow achieve what you want in terms of monitoring completion of a course with different blocks and reports. You can read the following resources to start with:
Badges are also a practical way to monitor completion of courses or activities.

Have fun!
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In reply to Beatriz Rojo

Re: Moodle muddle

by Nancy Gleaton -
My nomenclature is a little rusty.. it's been a few years since I did anything from the admin side in Moodle. Thanks for the refresher!

Meta courses looked promising but from reading about it, it seems to work backwards from what I need as far as enrollments are concerned. I need students to be able to self-enroll in the meta course (course x), not the individual courses (courses A, C, and E). They won't know which courses comprise the meta course, so they wouldn't know what to enroll in to complete the requirements of course X. 

And although you say your scenario (1) in your answer isn't recommended, it might be the simplest solution. I also looked at the subcourse plugin, but from what I could tell it only brings grades over from others courses.

Sounds like I need to play around and see what I can come up with.

Thanks!

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