As UP’s Moodle administrator, I keep my eyes and ears open for new tools that might help our faculty leverage technology in engaging and educating students. When preparing Moodle software updates for this Spring term, I also installed several new plugins that I think have interesting or exciting possibilities for teaching. If you are interested in getting more out of Moodle or checking out the latest tools, read on:
Group self-selection
I believe Moodle is at its best when used as a social collaborative learning environment and Moodle groups are a key method to support that pedagogical approach. But sometimes groups can be a chore to set-up. This awesome ativity lets students opt into joining the groups of their choice or even provision their own groups. More learner agency and less work for instructors is a win-win.
Roster
Did you know that Moodle can help you learn the names and faces of students in a new course? With the Roster report, it can. The Roster report is enabled for you in all courses. Just click the link in the left-hand navigation to get started. The report includes a “learning mode” that hides names so you can quiz yourself and the ability to print off the report.
Lightbox gallery
If a picture is worth 1,000 words, how much is a beautiful gallery of web images worth? If your course can benefit from sharing pictures with your students, you can use the Lightbox gallery to add them in a convenient and attractive format. The gallery can house multiple images with captions inside your course. Optionally, you can enable comments, or even let students upload their own photos to the gallery.
