Glossary of common terms
Completion requirements
This glossary defines a number of words you will see used often in discussions about Moodle - you'll find them highlighted throughout this course.
If you wish to import this glossary to your Moodle site, you can download this file of exported entries: glossary_of_common_terms_20101214.xml.
Please feel free to add new words here!
Browse the glossary using this index
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Currently sorted Last name ascending Sort by: Last name | First name
applet | ||
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Applets are small programs written in Java and embedded within web pages. Most recent browsers can run these small programs if you have Java installed on your computer. | ||
constructivism | ||
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This point of view maintains that people actively construct new knowledge as they interact with their environment. Everything you read, see, hear, feel, and touch is tested against your prior knowledge and if it is viable within your mental world, may form new knowledge you carry with you. Knowledge is strengthened if you can use it successfully in your wider environment. You are not just a memory bank passively absorbing information, nor can knowledge be "transmitted" to you just by reading something or listening to someone. This is not to say you can't learn anything from reading a web page or watching a lecture, obviously you can, it's just pointing out that there is more interpretation going on than a transfer of information from one brain to another. | ||
CSS | ||
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Abbreviation for "Cascading Style Sheets". CSS defines styles and colours and how they should be applied to a web page. | ||
CVS | ||
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database | ||
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An electronic collection of information, stored in tables of data. For example, Moodle contains a table of all users in a site. There are many brands of database software, but most people use MySQL. | ||
dataroot | ||
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The place where Moodle can save uploaded files. This directory should be readable and writeable by the web server user but it should not be accessible directly via the web. | ||
dirroot | ||
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The dirroot is the name for the directory in which you have installed Moodle. It's a setting in config.php that must be entered correctly. | ||
domain | ||
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A name given to a computer or a group of computers. eg moodle.org. You can buy new domain names from a domain name registrar, of which there are many. | ||
download | ||
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To move your files from a server "down" to your personal computer. Also see FTP and upload. You can download Moodle via the Moodle download page. | ||