Connect Moodle to OER repo and upload files in background

Connect Moodle to OER repo and upload files in background

by Oliver Smitkowski -
Number of replies: 6

I am looking for ways to connect Moodle to OER repositories. As a repo, I am somewhat familiar with edu-sharing, but not entirely happy with the connection to Moodle via the corresponding plug-ins:

  • The workflow is primarily designed to have OER already in a repo and to pull them into a (Moodle) course when needed.
  • In Moodle, the OER are recognizable as edu-sharing objects. Even images or media players embedded in text look different from other media.
  • My ideal solution is one in which teachers work exclusively with the Moodle interface and the files (as far as they are OER-compatible) are more or less automatically uploaded to the repository.

TU Graz has an interesting Moodle plugin. It adds a new view to each course that enables teachers to determine for each file whether to include it in the repo or not. The upload can then take place in the background. I don't know yet if a connection to edu-sharing is possible without extending the plugin. However, as a web developer with experience in PHP I am also interested in approaches that involve programming.

Are there any other approaches you know of? 


Average of ratings: -
In reply to Oliver Smitkowski

Re: Connect Moodle to OER repo and upload files in background

by Howard Miller -
Picture of Core developers Picture of Documentation writers Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers Picture of Peer reviewers Picture of Plugin developers
I'd never heard of OER or edu-sharing (or recall any other discussions). Is this a thing in a particular country?
Average of ratings: -
In reply to Howard Miller

Re: Connect Moodle to OER repo and upload files in background

by Oliver Smitkowski -
Sorry for not explaining this right away. In my current work environment (higher education system in Germany) there is a lot of talk about OER right now and I didn't give it a second thought.

OER stands for Open Educational Resources. Essentially, it's content (often files) created for teaching purposes and licensed so that it can be used by others.

An OER repo/repository is a tool (more precisely, a document management system) to manage OER. In some cases, there are ways to access files in a repo directly from a LMS such as Moodle, for example there are several Moodle plugins for edu-sharing. With an OER repository, it's possible to grant mutual access to their OER to a group of users. For example, one can set up edu-sharing for a university and enable all it's members to share their files. Furthermore, one can connect different OER repos and thus enable institutions from all over the world to access the OER in each of these repos.

edu-sharing is an OER repo developed by a German company, but is also used internationally.
Average of ratings: -
In reply to Oliver Smitkowski

Re: Connect Moodle to OER repo and upload files in background

by Howard Miller -
Picture of Core developers Picture of Documentation writers Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers Picture of Peer reviewers Picture of Plugin developers
Ah, ok. There was a version of this popular in the UK some years ago. It seemed to have limited application, unfortunately.

While sharing resources is great in theory and fills many seats at conferences, it turned out that most people where thinking it meant other people sharing stuff. They didn't want to share their own materials wink
Average of ratings: -
In reply to Howard Miller

Re: Connect Moodle to OER repo and upload files in background

by Oliver Smitkowski -
In my context, sharing is mandatory, but reuse is the exception: people prefer to create their courses from the ground up.

I like the OER idea, but I'd prefer a solution that focuses on the standard workflow (teachers using their own materials) instead of a reuse that might never happen.
Average of ratings:Useful (1)
In reply to Oliver Smitkowski

Re: Connect Moodle to OER repo and upload files in background

by Mary Cooch -
Picture of Documentation writers Picture of Moodle HQ Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers Picture of Testers Picture of Translators
Do you mean like MoodleNet (which you can either install as a standalone for your own organisation or you can connect to and share the global one?)
Average of ratings:Useful (1)
In reply to Mary Cooch

Re: Connect Moodle to OER repo and upload files in background

by Oliver Smitkowski -
As far as I can tell, MoodleNet is not (yet) what I’m looking for. It seems that uploading files from Moodle is not possible, while I hope to find a way for teachers to work exclusively with the Moodle interface.

As for the repo software itself, MoodleNet might simply be too new for us to use. Tools such as edu-sharing, which has been in development for 15+ years, have options to filter files (e.g., by file type, level, or topic) when browsing OER, to automatically log in Moodle users, to manage files in a folder structure, or to specify custom licenses or metadata.
Average of ratings: -