What is Moodle?
Moodle is software that can be used to produce internet-based courses and web sites. It's an ongoing development project designed to support a social constructivist education.
The word Moodle was originally an acronym for Modular Object-Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment, which is mostly useful to programmers and education theorists. It's also a verb that describes the process of lazily meandering through something, doing things as it occurs to you to do them, an enjoyable tinkering that often leads to insight and creativity. As such it applies both to the way Moodle was developed, and to the way a student or teacher might approach studying or teaching an online course. Anyone who uses Moodle is a Moodler.
How do I get a Moodle account?
You don’t need to request a Moodle accounts. As long as you are a faculty member, student or staff member at Cal State Northridge your Moodle accounts will be automatically created the first time you log into CSUN's Moodle environment. After you log into Moodle you will see all the available courses.
How do I get a Moodle site for courses that I teach?
To request a course, you will need to fill out a course request form found in the myNorthridge portal. Once you log into the portal you will find a link for the course request form in the Student Administration pagelet.
How I log into Moodle?
You can login our CSUN's Moodle environment at http://moodle.csun.edu.
What do I need to use Moodle?
Moodle will work in any modern web browser, however, Moodle works best in a range of specific browser types (see below). Your browser should also have both cookies and javascript enabled. These are typically enabled by default, but if you think these settings might need enabling, check the documentation for your particular browser for how to do these.
To make best use of what Moodle has to offer, it is recommended that users choose a browser that supports Moodle's in-line HTML editor. This is a WYSIWYG (what-you-see-is-what-you-get) editor with an interface much like you would see in most word processing packages. Browsers that support the HTML editor:
Internet Explorer (v5.5 or later)
Firefox (all versions)
Netscape (v7 or later)
Browsers such as Opera, Safari and Camino may be used but do not support the in-line HTML editor.
What training is available at CSUN?
Moodle training classes are scheduled throughout the semester. Please check our Training Schedule for workshop information. If you would like to request specialized training for your department or group please contact the Faculty Technology Center at ftc@csun.edu.
CSUN has licensed the Lynda.com Moodle Training video tutorials for CSUN faculty, staff and students. This training consists of approximately 8 hours of video tutorials in Moodle Essential Training for Teachers and almost 2 hours of video tutorials in Moodle Essential Training for Students.
Where can I get help using Moodle?
All faculty teaching with Moodle are enrolled in the CSUN Moodle Community site in our CSUN Moodle environment. This is a place for CSUN faculty to share resources and ask questions. It is an excellent starting point for getting answers to common questions and collaborating with other CSUN faculty for best practices for using Moodle for teaching and learning.
The Faculty Technology Center in Oviatt 5 provides support for faculty using Moodle and other supported instructional technologies. Our student assistants are available to assist faculty in the Faculty Technology Lab in Oviatt 30 every afternoon from 12:30 to 5:00 PM. In addition, our Faculty Associates Moodle Office hours in the lab during the following hours:
Monday 1:00-2:00 (Deone Zell, Management)
Tuesday 2:00-3:00 (Cecile Bendavid, Computer Science)
Wednesday 2:00-3:00 (Chris Sales, Computer Science)
Thursday 2:00-3:00 (Talin Saroukhanian, Political Science and Online Instruction Coordinator S&BS)
Can I migrate my course from WebCT to Moodle?
We have a migration tool that will move course content from WebCT to Moodle. WebCT course content will be moved to Moodle. Academic Technology will move content from all WebCT course sites from Spring 2009 through Spring 2010 to Moodle. If you want WebCT content from a course taught prior to Spring 2009, please contact the LMS team at ftc@csun.edu to make arrangements for migration of this content.
This migration tools does a good job moving your content, but the resulting Moodle course may not be organized just as your WebCT was organized. Think of it as a careful moving company that treats your possessions with care, but doesn’t know where they belong in the new house. What you expected to be in the dining room, might end up in the bedroom or on the front lawn. Once the migration tool has done its work, you will need to review the new Moodle course and you may need to reorganize things. To help you with this and with general migration support we are holding special Moodle Migration Open Hours in the Faculty Technology Lab in Oviatt 30 on Thursdays and Fridays from 2:30 - 4:30.
I use WebCT. Do I have to move to Moodle for the Spring?
While we encourage you to start using Moodle, WebCT will still be available for use this Spring. However, WebCT will not be available for the Summer or next Fall.
Will other instructional applications I use, like Elluminate and TurnItIn, work with Moodle?
These work with Moodle just as they currently work with WebCT. In the future we will be developing a tighter integration Moodle for some of the instructional technologies that we support, including Elluminate, TurnItIn, Respondus, and TurningPoint response systems.
I’ve heard about other modules that can be added to Moodle. What do I need to do to request that a module be added to Moodle?
Due to budget constraints, we have limited resources to support additional Moodle modules this year. Our support is focused on supporting faculty with their WebCT course migration to Moodle. Please send requests for additional Moodle modules to ftc@csun.edu. Suggestions for additional modules will be reviewed based on need and the cost of implementation and support. Modules will typically be added to the production system during the breaks between semesters in August and January. If we are unable to add a module, we will work with the requestors to find alternatives that will meet the specified needs.
I’ve heard that we are hosting Moodle with a vendor. Are we planning to continue this arrangement?
We decided on a hosted solution for this initial year of implementation while we are supporting both Moodle and WebCT. Later this semester we will begin analyzing options for future hosting of Moodle. Possible options include using a CSU Private Cloud environment currently being considered along with other CSU Moodle campuses or collaborating with the CSU Moodle consortium which includes Monterey Bay, SFSU, and Humboldt campuses in addition to CSUN.
How else can I learn more about Moodle?
Moodle has an extensive built in help system. At the bottom of most pages there is a link to a Moodle Docs entry for that page. Next to most objects in Moodle you will find a Help Icon. Clicking on this will bring up contextual help and is very useful.
Moodle has a very large user community and a lot of online documentation. Some of these links require you to sign up for a free account at moodle.org.
Moodle Website – http://moodle.org
Moodle Documentation - http://docs.moodle.org/en/Main_Page
Moodle Teacher - http://docs.moodle.org/en/Teacher_documentation
Using Moodle Book - http://preview.tinyurl.com/5coqjs
Moodle Student FAQ - http://docs.moodle.org/en/Student_FAQ
How can I get more help?
If you have questions, please contact us at ftc@csun.eduor call the Faculty Technology Center at 818-677-3443.