Linky Thursday, December 8, 2011 - Interactive Science Models, Facebook tips, and Free Screencast Tools

If you’d like to gain more control over your Facebook usage, this article shares several useful tips.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/01/technology/personaltech/12-things-you-didnt-know-facebook-could-do.html?_r=2&pagewanted=all%3Fsrc%3Dtp&smid=fb-share

If you teach science, you can access some very nice free downloads of animated models. The  models are interactive and very well done.

http://www.concord.org/activities/grade-level/higher-education

If you’d like to be able to create screencasts (videos of action on your computer screen along with voice track) on your computer at low or no cost, there are two downloadable programs to consider. If you are interested in pursuing either of these options, please call us in IT at Extension 229 for training and assistance. Many higher education institutions are using student created screencasts for collaboration and assessment. Screencasts can also be valuable for teacher demonstrations.

Jing allows you to create screencasts and publish them on jing.com. The software is available as a free download. Jing screencasts are limited to 5 minutes in duration.

http://www.techsmith.com/jing-features.html

Screencast O Matic also allows you to create screencasts, but with the added ability to export them as mp4 files that can be hosted on our video server for use directly in Moodle. The free version allows up to 15 minutes of recording, but the mp4 will contain a screencastomatic watermark.  The paid version removes the watermark and adds many more options, and the good news is that it is only $12.00 per year.

http://www.screencast-o-matic.com/

Saving Forum Posts - Moodle Mondays.

Val Wittman shared an instructional paper she wrote on how to save forum posts in Moodle.   I'm passing along the knowledge.   Thanks Val!

https://docs.google.com/open?id=0Bw3E2pvm4iiDNGJiNmM4NGYtNjY4Yy00ZTA0LTg0N2YtNTYxNGNhZWJhNzE5

Linky Thursday, December 1st

It is linky Thursday once again and your IT staff is here to make your links interesting! Check out some of these great links!

http://www.blockposters.com/

This free tool allows you to enlarge an image to any size poster; great for classroom walls.

http://www.hackcollege.com/blog/2011/11/23/infographic-get-more-out-of-google.html

Want to show students more efficient ways to search for information online? This site will be useful to them!

http://utubersity.com/

 If you are looking for free video resources for your class, utubersity lists the best educational videos on youtube by subject area.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-20009738-1/kindle-vs-nook-vs-ipad-which-e-book-reader-should-you-buy/

Are you planning some holiday or personal shopping? Is an e-reader on your list? Check here for a great comparison of the major brands.

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/MadeInAmerica/made-america-gift-ideas/story?id=15041794

Just for fun, ABC News has put together this site featuring companies making their products in the USA.

Moodle Monday: New Features Add to QuickMail Usability

QuickMail is one of several communication tools in Moodle; it can be added to your course from the blocks menu.

 Using QuickMail, your messages are sent from Moodle to student Gmail accounts here at Sauk.  Since the recent update, QuickMail messages can be configured to show the Course Name in the subject line of the email you received.  Faculty who want to see all email messages in one place could create a label for each class and create a filter to sort the mail for each class into the appropriate label.  

Quick Mail allows users to add multiple attachments to the message, up to 10MB.

In order for students to use QuickMail to send mail to you or to classmates, the instructor must go to the QuickMail tool settings and choose “yes” for “allow students to use QuickMail.”  In addition, the “add course shortname to subject” setting must be enabled to insert the course name into all email sent from a Moodle course.

Moodle Monday: Batch Download of Assignment Files

Batch downloading of assignment files is now possible.  This function will allow Moodle Instructors to download all files students have uploaded to an assignment into one folder.   Files are saved with student username and an assigment identifier in the file name. 

Files can be downloaded by clicking the link "Download Files" on the assignment page. 

 








Alternatively, you can click on the 'Assignments'  link in the Course menu block.

There you will be able to download from each assignment you have created.

Linky Thursday

It's Linky Thursday...a day late.  Um, well, you know, better late than never.
Here are our fabulous selections for this week:

www.pinterest.com

Virtual bulletin board with social networking features. Great for personal use. If you think of an educational use, leave a comment on the blog! 

www.visual.ly.com 

Free source of graphic representations of data covering many subjects 

http://www.youtube.com/teachers  

Though aimed at K-12 teachers, this new youtube channel  allows teachers to create a playlist, and gives ideas for use of youtube instructional video in the classroom.

http://www.remind101.com/

Similar to broadtexter, this free service allows you to send text messages to students.

See a video here:  http://remind101.com/learn_more

Collaborative Mapping tool in Moodle

Mindmaps is a Moodle Activity that will allow you to create concept maps online.  They can also be setup for students to edit individually or collaboratively.

Mapping is a powerful instructional tool.  It requires many higher level thinking skills to sort, compare, contrast, and classify concepts.  Mapping can be used as an introductory brainstorming activity to activate learning, an activity during a lesson to organize concepts,  or as a review or summative activity.  Used in any of these modes Mindmaps increase learning as students interact with content.

Moodle's Mindmaps activity allows you to create maps that are editable by students.   This allows various learning opportunities such as:

• create multiple blank Mindmap activities for individual students or groups.  Then ask students to compare or evaluate each other's maps. 
• Create an incorrect or incomplete map and ask students to finish it or correct it. 
• summarize content after a lesson.  Individuals or groups could be ask to summarize a day as a graded assignment.  
• an optional activity for students who might benefit from visually organizing information. 
• Create a timeline of events
• organize a process/Cause-effect pattern
• Generalization/Principle Patterns

For more information about graphic organizers refer to page 69 on this document (acutally page 76 of the pdf) "What works in Classroom Instruction."

Also read "Focus on effectiveness, Research based strategies, Non-linguistic representations."  http://www.netc.org/focus/strategies/nonl.php


To create a Mindmaps activity.

1. Turn editing on.
2. choose Mindmaps (it's toward the bottom)
3. Name your Mindmap. 
4. Choose editable if you want students to be able to edit the Mindmap. 
5. If you are using groups, you have the option of separating the map by group. 
6. Save and Display to begin creating a Map. 
7. Use the toolbar to edit your map.  See the image below for control details.  Also read this page for directions. http://docs.moodle.org/20/en/Mindmap_module

Click the image to see full size. 

Linky Thursday

Linky Thursday – November 3, 2011

Hi all,

Every Thursday on the blog, Robin will share interesting links to resources or stories of interest to educators. Just click on a link to view a resource.

Pics4Learning    

A free image library for educational use by teachers and students.

http://www.pics4learning.com/

Microsoft Labs Math Worksheet Generator

Creates multiple practice problems after you insert one sample problem

http://www.educationlabs.com/projects/MathWorksheetGenerator/Pages/default.aspx

Tricider

Free online brainstorming tool for groups, allows the leader to ask a question, group members to propose solutions and vote on them.

http://tricider.com/en/t/

Top 5 Android Apps for Busy Teachers

Blog post featuring cool apps for your Android smart phone

http://www.edgalaxy.com/journal/2011/7/26/top-5-android-apps-for-busy-teachers.html

Embed a Youtube Video.

Want to embed a Youtube video into a Moodle webpage?   Follow these simple steps.

1. GET THE EMBED CODE - On the page of the Youtube video you want to embed click the share button found under the video, then click the Embed button, then copy the embed code.

2. INSERT CODE INTO MOODLE WEBPAGE -  In Moodle create a new webpage or begin editing an existing page.   Toggle your view to see the HTML code.  Paste the embed code into your page where you want the video to appear.  (if you have never done this before, it may be best to embed  a video before you start adding other text or content to the page).   Toggle back to normal view, make sure to save.

3.  That is it!


Step 1: Get the Embed Code.

Click image to view full size.

Step 2:  Insert embed code into Moodle Webpage.

Click image to view full size.

Final Page.

Click image to view full size.

You may also view a short instructional video on this process here.

Making Moodle Gradebook more Managable.

Navigating Moodle's gradebook can be challenging at times.  Especially if you have a class with a large number of students enrolled.  The interface lists all your students at once which forces you to  scroll up and down quite a bit.

You can adjust your preferences to only show you a few students at a time. Follow these steps to make the change.
1.  After entering your grade book, choose the "My preferences" Tab
2.  The very last option lets you choose how many "Students per page"  you want to view.   Enter 10.
3.   Save Changes and you will return to your gradebook.

Collapse Modules you are not using.

As the semester progresses and you begin working in modules further down the screen, it becomes cumbersome to continually scroll up and down as you edit and work with your Moodle course.   Clicking the small white box in the upper right of a Module will collapse all other modules expect that one you are working in, and the very first one.  

Clicking this box again returns you to the original view.  This does not effect what your students will see when they log in, only you.

View Student Activity

Occasionally you may need to view student activity.  Perhaps you need to see if a student has been active in a class, or perhaps you want to see participation as an assessment.   To see student activity on your Moodle site, begin by looking at Participants in the Course Menu Block.

This screen will show you who has accessed the class in order of most recent first.   From here you can choose several other view option.

 Here you can choose to see users by group or inactivity. 

You may also click on a participants name, then click on Activity Report tab to see what activities a participant has been active in.

Then:

The Outline report simply shows which activities a participant has accessed.  The Complete Report will show forum posts and responses as well as what activities the participant has viewed.

Gradebook - Hidden Grades

While individual assignments can be hidden in the gradebook, so can categories of grades.   If you haven't created categories, all of your grades will be in one category.  This can be hidden by closing the eyeball for "Grade Category". If students tell you that they cannot see their grades, look to see that this setting hasn't been checked and students grades are hidden. 

Moodle Lock Feature: create prerequisite locks for resources and activities

The Moodle Lock feature allows an instructor to lock out an activity or resource from a student until they have completed prerequisite activites.  Prerequisites can include achieving a set score on an assessment or assignment, or be as simple as opening a resource.

To lock an activity or resource, click on the lock icon at the end of the editing tools.  In this example I am clicking the Lock for Chapter 1 Quiz



On the webpage that opens you see a list of all activities and resources for your course.   Checking "User must access this activity" forces the student to open the activity before they can access whichever item you clicked the lock for.  You can also require prerequisite scores on an activities.  In this instance, I am requiring that students receive a 75 on their study questions.   Now students are not allowed to take Chapter 1 Quiz until they have passed the Study Questions activity with at least a grade of 75.

If you are familiar with Blackboard, this function was called 'Selective Release'.

Stop by the ITC if you want to learn more about this feature.

Moodle Inbox - managing your moodle student mail

Managing email from students in Moodle is made easy with Course Mails Inbox.

Step 1:  In your courses turn on your 'eMail List' block.
With editing turned on, choose 'eMail List' from the drop down menu in the 'Blocks' Block

Step 2:  Enter your Course Mails Inbox 
The 'eMail List' block will appear at the bottom of your right column.   It will show a notification if you have email from students for the course you are in.  (keep reading to find out how to easily see email from all your courses.)    Clicking on the 'Inbox' Link in this block will take you to your Course Mails Inbox.

Step 3: Switch betweeen courses. 
Once in your Course Mails Inbox you will see a Mailbox with a list of all your courses.  Clicking on individual courses will take you to the inbox for that course.   From here you can easily click through your courses to read your mail.

Step 4:  (Optional) Create a bookmark for the Course Mails page. 
While you are viewing your Course Mail create a bookmark.   Clicking the bookmark will prompt you to login (if you are not logged in already), but then take you straight to your Moodle Course Mails. Here is the link:
https://svcc.mrooms3.net/blocks/email_list/email/index.php?id=9

Typeit.org - adding characters for other languages

¿Have you ever wondered how to add characters from other languages while typing?


Typeit.org makes it easy.  Simply choose the language for which you need to type, then use the buttons above the text area to add those characters when you need.   When done, copy and paste into whatever document you want to use. 


It's that easy!
(as always, if you are typing a long docuement, make sure you save often - or in this case, copy and paste often.)


For a printable reference sheet click here. 

Screenshot from Typeit.org

First Day of School.

Today I found a great resource for “just in time” learning of Google Apps.  
Google Apps Learning Center - Your First Days

“Just in time” refers to learning as much as you need to “just in time” to do what you need to.   If you think you can sit down and learn everything about our Google Apps in order to go back to your office fully prepared for the semester, I’d like to know how you do it.   My brain functions under the philosophy, figure out what I need to know now.   If I use it a lot, I will start to remember it.  (I think it’s kind of how most of us function.)

So I hope you check it out.   There are many short videos to watch on separate topics.   You can sort through the videos by App, such as gmail, Calendar, Contacts, chat, Docs, and Sites.   If you haven’t used Google Docs I’d urge you to explore it.   You can create documents and share them with colleagues or within department.  They are always online, more than one person can edit a document at once (this saves you from worrying about who has the latest version of a document), and you can see the entire revision history of the document and revert back to an earlier version.  

FALL Moodle Boot Camp August 10 & 11th

 ITC is hosting a second Moodle Boot Camp August 10th and 11th from 10 AM until 3 PM. 

If you could not attend Moodle Boot Camp in May and are interested in using Moodle with your classes, this is another opportunity for you.  If you have not yet attended any training sessions for Moodle, or if you want to learn more about Moodle, this is the time for you.  

Boot camp attendees will learn: how to navigate in Moodle, how to create assignments, assessments, activities, discussion topics, and much more. There will also be lots of great discussion about Moodle best practices, promoting interactivity in online classes, and do's and don'ts from faculty who have used Moodle. 

Highlights of the camp include time to work on your Moodle Site with help from experts and opportunities to network with your fellow faculty during daily potluck lunches.

Again,the dates are August 10th and 11th.

RSVP by clicking here,

Chris Shelley, Robin Fisch, and Greg Noack

Sorting Students by Name in Moodle Gradebook.

Entering grades into a gradebook should be easy. Moodle helps you by allowing the user to sort students by name four different ways.

After clicking on "Grades" in the administration menu you will be taken to the "Grader Report". Here you need to focus your attention on the header, "First Name/ Last Name"

Clicking on "First Name" will sort your students by their first name in alphabetical order.

Click "First name" again and students will be sorted in reverse alphabetical order.

Click "Last name" and students will be sorted in alphabetical order by last name.

Finally, click "Last name" again and students will be sorted by their last names in reverse alphabetical order.