Category: Moodle

Heritage Top Tasks 2016

The data below was collected during the Great Survey near the end of the 2015-2016 school year.  We had a sample size of 42 current students.

The methodology of focusing on Top Tasks was first introduced to me during an episode of The Web Ahead podcast.  Episode #106: Focusing on Customer Top Tasks with Gerry McGovern.

Also Gerry’s fantastic article on A List Apart called What Really Matters: Focusing on Top Tasks discussed the same topic with graphs and charts!  On to the Data.

HeritageCambridge.com Top Tasks

Task Votes % of Total Votes
Course/Program information 36 17%
Moodle course material access 26 12%
Emergency information (closures and cancellations) 23 11%
Upcoming events (chapels, conferences, on-campus tour) 21 10%
Register/Apply for a course or program 20 10%
Contact information for the school (address, phones number, email) 16 8%
Faculty and Staff (pictures and contact info) 13 6%
Student handbook 13 6%
Read the Clipboard 11 5%
Bookstore hours and info 5 2%
Download/Listen to Audio from conferences and campus events 5 2%
Student Counsel 4 2%
Download/Listen to Audio from chapel 4 2%
Cafeteria hours 4 2%
Aletheia 3 1%
History about Heritage College and Seminary 2 1%
Job application for on campus job 2 1%
Social media (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube) 2 1%
Video 0 0%
Donate for the benefit of future students 0 0%

Student Guide to Moodle

Introduction

Online and Multi-Modal learning allows the seminary to engage learners who live at a distance from Heritage.  A benefit to students is these modes of service delivery enable you to engage the material in ways that accommodate the demands of your lives.

At present, Moodle is the learning management system in use by Heritage College and Seminary.

Computer Requirements

  • Moodle is compatible with all current major browsers such as Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Apple Safari, Microsoft Internet Explorer.  Specific browser support can be found in the release notes.  It is always recommended to allow your browser of choice to update itself to the latest.  This will allow you to take advantage of current technologies.
  • You will also likely need a PDF reader if you do not already have one.  The two most popular are Adobe Reader and FoxIt Reader.

Contact Us for Support

If you have questions, or if you experience any difficulties, please contact the Registrar’s Office: 1-800-465-1961, ext. 228 tbeach@heritage-theo.edu

Courses

You will spend most of your time in Moodle within your courses.  Courses contain the following components.

  • Outline: This is the weekly schedule of classes.
  • Modules: These are the weekly, or biweekly, instructional units. Typically, each teaching module will consist of the following elements:
    1. recorded lectures
    2. class notes
    3. an online discussion forum (see below).
      Other elements that may be included in a module include: links to external websites, digital files with supplemental material, and on-line quizzes.
  • Assignments: Assignments can be submitted on the course page in Moodle or via email.
  • Marked assignments: Marked assignments may be emailed directly back to the students. Assignments to be returned to student mailboxes or requiring postage may be left with the Receptionist at Heritage College and Seminary to be mailed back to the student(s).
  • Quizzes: Moodle allows for secure online testing and anonymous surveying through the use of a Quiz/Survey Tool.
  • Exams: Professors may elect to have students in online or Multi-modal courses complete and exam. If it is not feasible for a student to write an exam on-campus, then the student must obtain a signed proctor agreement for each test or exam that is proctored.

Downloading Files to Your Computer

In some cases, you may wish to download media files for offline access.  An example of this is if you would like to listen to a lecture in the car on a smartphone.

  • Right-click the link you wish to download.
  • In the context menu choose ‘Save Target As…‘ or ‘Save Link As…‘.  The wording may be different for each browser.
  • Choose a location to download the file.

Online Discussions

Online discussion forums is one of the best ways to interact with your professor and other students.  You can discuss lectures, pose questions, seek clarification, and interact with each other.  The forum is in a very real sense your electronic classroom.

Best Practices in Online Learning

There is a course created in Moodle called Best Practices in Online Learning that hosts an example course outline and communicates best practices for engaging in the course material, with your instructor, and with other students.  Please have a look at this example course for further reading.

Your Profile

When you access Moodle for the first time, your user profile will essentially be empty.  It is recommended that you update your profile, adding a bit of personally so that it is more relational when people engage you in Moodle.

  • To update your profile, find your name in the upper right corner of the screen.  In the drop-down menu choose Profile.
  • Under the User Details section look for the link that reads ‘Edit profile‘.  This will allow you to update your profile picture and other information.
Originally written by Kelvin F. Mutter, D. Th.  Modified by Russ Shouldice

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