Category: Classrooms

Allowing direct download of files in Moodle

Moodle 3.0 has been a welcome upgrade from our previous version and includes many security, bug fixes, and interface enhancements.  It also now smartly decides how file content should accessed by students based on the file-type and context the file is published in.

For example, after adding a document (such as a Word document, or PowerPoint file) to a course, Moodle automatically allows users to download the file.  When adding a video file, Moodle automatically brings up the embedded video player when the item is clicked on.

The behaviour for audio file is similar to video, in that the file is played in an embedded player within the browser.  This is great in most cases.  However, we have in the past, allowed users to download audio files so the files can be played offline such as in the car on a smartphone.

We can still allow users to accomplish this, but the setting will need be changed manually for audio files.  Here is how.

Allow downloading of audio files

  1. In the course page when adding an activity or resource, choose File from the Resources section of the Add an activity or resource menu.  Or, find the item, click the Edit drop-down and choose Edit settings.add-file-or-resourceedit-file
  2. In the Update: File screen look for the Appearance section.
  3. In the Appearance section, change the Display setting to either Open or Force download.  Details for each setting are below.edit-audio-file
  4. Click Save and Return to Course or Save and Display.
  5. The file can now be downloaded and saved offline.

Display settings explained

This setting, together with the file type and whether the browser allows embedding, determines how the file is displayed. Options may include:

  • Automatic – The best display option for the file type is selected automatically.  This is the default setting for content of type file.
  • Embed – The file is displayed within the page below the navigation bar together with the file description and any blocks.
  • Force download – The user is prompted to download the file.
  • Open – Only the file is displayed in the browser window.  This will allow users the best of both worlds.  To download the file, users will need to right-click on the link and select Save Link As… save-link-as
  • In pop-up – The file is displayed in a new browser window without menus or an address bar

Wowza GoCoder Setup for HeritageLive

Heritage Live uses the Wowza Streaming Engine on the back end to facilitate ingestion of external video and audio sources, transcoding of those sources, and publication to an external site.  To setup GoCoder as an ingestion source for the Wowza Streaming Engine hosted by Heritage College and Seminary, please use the following instructions and settings.

The Wowza GoCoder is supported on iOS and Android mobile devices.

  • Download the Wowza GoCoder app from the app store on your device (i.e. the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store).
  • Once the app is installed, launch it and it will show you a brief legend for each of the apps buttons.
  • Open the Server Info section.  The settings are as follows:
Host -> Server: streams.heritage-theo.edu
Host -> Port: 1935
Application -> Application: HeritageLive
Application -> Stream Name: can be anything that will identify your device in the system.  Use only letters with no spaces.
Login -> Use the Publisher Name and Password sent to you by the Heritage IT department.
  • In the Video Options section of the application you can change what is being sent with your stream, such as video & audio, video only, or audio only.  You can also change video encoding settings such as the size.  For primary video we will be starting with a 720p stream and re-encoding that using the streaming engine on the server.  For secondary source such as a secondary classroom, using a lower resolution such as 640×360 would be appropriate.  The key is to use a sufficient bit rate.  The bit rate setting can be found on the main screen in the lower left corner.
  • Once you’ve got all your setting made, try it.  Punch the big red button in the lower right corner.  If the app is successful in publishing the stream to the server the message will change from Connecting to Connected!

You’re done.  Congratulations!

We first used the Wowza Streaming Engine with an Introduction to the Bible course taught by Gord Oeste in the fall of 2015.