Updating “Saying Hi”

I’ve written before about “Saying Hi” in Moodle. One of the ways for students to say “Hi” is to use the Glossary module. This is an easy and effective way to get students using Moodle. More importantly, it is an easy way for them to write about themselves.

One of the participants of a Moodle training that I led took this concept to the next level. He added having students record a message. Since he works in middle school, the kids just said, literally, “Hello”. The kids had a blast with it. They got create with pronouncing hello in a variety of cadences and voices.

Well, I’m using this the next time I assign the Glossary module. With Moodle 3.5, the ability to record audio and video is built in. So I’ll have participants (whether they are students or adults), include a short audio or video as part of their introduction.

I’m really excited about the built-in ability for students to record audio and video easily. That is one powerful tool.

One of the Moodle Mooters (those who attended a Moodle Moot training session) and good friend shared how he is making some accommodations in Moodle. Not only that, but he shared this with some Special Education teachers who were blown away.

He has created a vocabulary quiz using Drag and Drop text. The quiz has the vocabulary words listed with Drag and Drop text options available for the students. There are ten or more words. He showed this during a training. The teachers thought that this was useful. However, he did next, well……

Next he duplicated the quiz . Then he went into Editing the quiz. He renamed the quiz by appending “Beta” to the quiz name. He grouped the responses by pairs (so that the responses and vocabulary words are grouped by color – i.e. there are two blue vocabulary words and two definitions which are blue, two tan vocabulary words and two tan definitions, etc.). (By the way, the Special Education teacher that he will be working with announced that he should “pair” those answers prior to him showing them paired. Looks like a good start to working together). He gave the students unlimited attempts. He added a restriction to limit which group would see this quiz.

All in all, it took a about one minute to accommodate the quiz. He now has two quizzes in his course. Students will only ever see the quiz that is appropriate for them. On one quiz, the students have one opportunity to take the quiz. They have ten definitions to match up to ten vocabulary words. They can drag one definition as many times as they want. In the second quiz, the students have some guidance to assist with which definitions go with which vocabulary words. Once they move a definition, it moves into that one spot, without being “left behind”. The second quiz can be taken as many times as necessary.

Again, the students will only ever see the quiz that is appropriate for them. (Yes, they will eventually figure out that there are two quizzes – kids talk, but they will only ever see the one that is appropriate for them).

Oh, and both quizzes will be automatically graded AND entered in his official school gradebook without him typing them in.

The Special Education teachers wanted to know how many teachers were using this magic. They want to be able to create accommodated versions of quizzes and assignments this easily.

If you’d like to know exactly how to do this, please let me know.