The Student Technology Assistant Program at Trinity College

Moodle Chat

2010-10-21T19:50:03Z

The Chat tool in Moodle enables instant written communication between class participants. This tool is especially convenient for TA sessions or Q&A sessions right before exams or paper submission dates. Through this chat tool TAs can be available to the class participants for an extensive time, without actually sacrificing too much of their private time. Furthermore, TA efficiency will be improved because TAs will have the ability to explain one issue to different people at the same time. The chat tool is not only convenient to the TAs, but is also convenient to the students as well. Instead of having students walk across campus for a TA session, students can just log-in to Moodle and ask question there.

How to create a chat?
Make sure that the editing mode in Moodle has been turned on. Then, go to the "Add an activity" menu and select Chat.

1) You will be asked to give a name to the chat room as well as a brief explanation for the chat. For instance, you may choose to fill in the blanks with "Chat with the TA." Then, proceed to clicking the Save button at the bottom of the page.

2) Now that you have the chat room ready and available to students, you may tell them to go there and contact the TA.

What can you do in the chat room?
Except for posting simple text, below you can find some suggestions that come straight from the developers of Moodle Chat:

One of the best chat features is the Beeps. Beeps allow you to draw the attention of a person in the chat room. By beeping them, they will know that they should check the chat room for new posts.

We hope that this chat tool will be used by TAs and students. It is very convenient and effective, especially when it comes down to giving quick assistance.

Moodle: "Add a resource"

2010-10-07T19:06:59Z

In previous blog posts, we have introduced some of the features under the "Add a resource" menu. This blog post will expand your understanding of the menu and will provide some suggestions on potential uses of the options.

To begin with, make sure that editing mode in Moodle has been enabled. This will make sure that you will have the "Add a resource" menu visible.

Now, we will take a look at what each option has to offer.

1: Insert a label
The "Insert a label" option lets you insert a label. In other words, you will be able to put a title, under which you will be able to post other information. Labeling is good because it ensures easier comprehension and eliminates miscommunication. For instance, you can create labels for "Today in class", "Suggested readings", etc. and post links, files, etc. under them.

Here is an example of how you could organize a day/lesson in your Moodle class:

2: Add a lightbox gallery
This option has been covered in a previous blog-post. Please check the LINK for more information.

3: Compose a text page
The text page lets you post simple text (without formatting). If you think that you would like to use formatting options, you should probably consider the "compose a web page" option.

4: Compose a web page
The web page lets you post text with the options to format the text, include links, colors, emoticons, insert images, etc.

5: Link to a file or website
Deeming from the name, you could guess that this option will link a title to a file that you have on Moodle or to one that you have found online. When you go the option, you will see the field where you have to browse the destination of the file.

If it is just a link, all you have to do is plug in the link in the field and proceed to clicking on the Save button at the bottom of the page.

If you would like to make a link to a file that you have on Moodle, you should click on the "Choose or upload a file" button that will enable you to locate the file. In the new window that will open (you can see a sample below), click on the "Choose" button next to the file. After clicking on the "Choose" button, you will be automatically redirected back to the original page. Go to the bottom of the original page and save it.

If you would like to upload a file from your computer, you should click on the "Choose or upload a file" button. In the new window that will open (looks similar to the image above), you will see an "Upload a file" button in the bottom right corner. Click on it, locate the file, and upload the file. You will be redirected back to the original page. Scroll down to the bottom of it, and click on the Save button.

6: Display a directory
You could create folders in Moodle and have them displayed. For example, you can create a folder with all of the readings for the class and post it on the main page. Then you can tell students to go to the folder and find particular readings. You could also gather various materials and put them in a folder. The directory is just means of organization.
The "Display a directory" option lets you link a folder that you already have on the main page. If you do not have a folder and would like to make one, you could check THIS blog-post.

Moodle: Creating a Wiki in Moodle

2010-09-27T20:57:42Z

Suppose we have the following scenario: you are teaching a class and you would like to use the wiki feature in Moodle in a way that allows students to work in groups. The students in each group will only be able to see their own wiki from their corresponding group. Suppose that at some point after all the work is completed, you, the teacher, would like to enable each group to see the wikis belonging to other groups. All of this is possible with Moodle's wiki feature (to find out more about wiki pages, you can visit this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiki ).

Let's go ahead and create the situation explained above:

1. Log into your course where you would like to create the wiki

2. Create the student groups that are going to be creating their own wiki pages. In order to do this, you have to click on the Groups option in the Administration panel in your course. To create a new group, simply click on the Create group button, give it a name and a group description and click Save Changes.

To add/remove students to/from a particular group, select a group and click on the Add/Remove users button. To add a student, simply select the name and click on the Add button (the same goes for remove, by clicking on the Remove button).

3. Now that we have our groups created, let's add the wiki. Go to the course main page and Turn Editing on (the button on the top right of your screen):

Figure 1: Turn editing on button in Moodle

4. Click on the Add an activity drop-down menu and select Wiki (it should be the last option).

Figure 2: Adding a Wiki activity

5. In the Adding a new wiki window type in the name of the Wiki and a Summary related to the content that needs to be created in that wiki.

6. From the Group Mode submenu select Separate Groups. This means students will be able to work and see their own wiki.

Figure 3: Setting the Group Mode to Separate groups

7. Optionally, you can select a Grade Category if you want this activity to be graded.

8. Click on Save and return to course. You should now be able to see the wiki activity in your course.

9. At this point, students can go ahead and work on their wiki pages. Once all the work is done, you could allow the students to see the work of other groups. To do this, you need to turn editing on in your course and then going to the Update option that is right next to the wiki name along with other options such as Move, Delete or Hide etc.

10. In the Group Mode submenu select Visible Groups (this is the same menu as seen in Figure 3). This will allow students belonging to one group to see the work of other groups.

Note: You can always go back and forth between Visible Groups and Separate Groups without losing any information. The only drawback is that you have to do this manually; there is no option to change this option after a particular deadline.

This completes this tutorial on creating a wiki in Moodle. If you have any questions, feel free to send us an e-mail at help-sta@trincoll.edu or to call us at X2589.

Create a VoiceThread in Moodle

2010-09-22T19:11:45Z

VoiceThread is a convinient tool that can be accessed through Moodle. VoiceThread enables students and professors to post audio and video recordings, pictures, and documents online. The feature also gives the option to comment on each other's work which makes peer review very easy and interesting. VoiceThread is easy to work with and this blog will deepen your knowledge of this tool.

It is important to mention that a VoiceThread account will be automatically created for you with your first visit of the tool. However, if you would like to set up a group on VoiceThread (the equivalent of a course), you will have to contact the Manager of Blume Center at blume-center@trincoll.edu

Now, the way we navigate to VoiceThread is by logging-in to the course page in Moodle, and clicking on the VoiceThread link that can be seen towards the bottom in one of the panels on the right-hand side.

When you click on "Jump to VoiceThread!", a new window will open. There you will see your personal account on VoiceThread. You will be automatically logged in, and you will have the options to post materials on VoiceThread. When you go to "Create", you will see that you can upload files. As you can see in the image below, VoiceThread lets you upload images, docs and videos by using a few buttons.

VoiceThread lets you post online a webcam video with the option to include voice. However, VoiceThread does not support voice recording directly from your computer with the opportunity to post the recording afterwards. If you would like to post a voice recording, you will have to first use a voice recording tool, such as Audacity, and then upload the sound file online. Audacity is a software solution that is just as easy to work with. For more information, regarding Audacity, please see the blog post dedicated to it HERE. Once you have your recording done (with Audacity), you can quickly locate the sound file through clicking on "Upload from... My Computer" and get it up on VoiceThread.

VoiceThread lets you upload anything from video projects to quick homework responses. Once you have uploaded the files you need, it is your turn to make them available to the entire class. Remember that by just uploading the files on VoiceThread, you will not automatically make them available to others!

Under the "MyVoice" category, you will find out all of the files that you have ever uploaded. Once you see the files there, you will be able to drag and drop them in the corresponding groups (courses).

In the case presented above, two files have been uploaded. One is a webcam video and the other one is a voice recording. Also, in the image you can see that there is only one group that the user has been registered for - STA 101. However, if there are more than one groups available, you will be able to post materials to any of them. The way you make materials available for everybody in the group (class), is just by dragging and dropping a file onto the group name. For example, if you would like to make the "test video" available to everybody in STA 101, all you will have to do is drag the video and drop it on STA 101.

VoiceThread is an easy and fast way to share files, homework, term assignments, research or any interesting findings. It is a fun way for everyone in the classroom to stay engaged while still working on skills development. For questions regarding VoiceThread, please feel free to contact the STA office.

Scheduling Made Easy with Doodle.com

2010-09-15T17:37:20Z

As a professor, or even a Teaching Assistant, you probably had to set up meeting schedules at some point. You might have used Excel, for example, to cross out times that your students can not attend an extra session, and the "uncrossed" entries would be options for your meeting time.

You might have even wanted to schedule advising appointments before the end of the semester to help them decide their courses, but with their emails everything was all over the place!

Well Doodle.com is a free online answer to these scheduling issues, that keeps track of your scheduling online, and allows students/participants in meeting, etc, to choose their best available meeting times from among different choices that you set, in order to help you find a time [or even a place!] that is suitable for all!

To start off with your schedule, please visit Doodle.com.

Next choose "Schedule event":

On the next screen [shown below], you will be able to enter a title to your event (ex. FREN-232 Extra Weekly Session), your name, and optionally entering your email address to receive notifications when someone fills in their information. It is not necessary to fill in your email address as you can still check the results of the "poll" by accessing the link to it, which I will show you later. Once you are done click next.

Now you will see a calendar. You can use the navigation buttons next to the month to change months, and you can choose the dates you would like to use from the dates available under the month. This is useful for both a one time meeting AND a weekly meeting. For a weekly meeting, just choose the possible days of the week (ex. Monday-Friday) regardless of the dates associated with them, and treat them as just "days of the week".

For now, I will choose the dates Monday, Wednesday, and Friday:

Note that the dates I choose (20, 22, and 24) were highlighted in green in the calendar view. They were also listed on the right under "selected dates". If you chose a date by mistake, you can then click on the red "X" next to it on the right to delete it.

Once you are done, click next.

You will then be taken to a screen where you can input the time slots you need. By default, there will be 5 options available for each day, however you can always click on "add further time slots" to add some.

Fill in the time slots you would like (or even room numbers, etc). I will only use two slots for each day in this example:

I highlighted the "Add further time slots" button in red in case you need it. Note that for Friday, I used 24 hour time format to enter my options. Thats also a possibility. Note that if you only enter a date without AM/PM next to it, it will be considered as an input in 24-hour format.

You can also put in intervals instead of just one time, like "8:15am-9:45am".

Once you are done with your inputs, click next.

On the next screen you will get the option if you getting the link for the poll and manually sending it to participants, or you can have Doodle send the invitation. Since I usually prefer to send the invitations using my own email client where I have all my contacts set up, I will choose the first option.

If you would like to make this a one time scheduling event for one on one meetings (ex. advising meetings) here is what you can do: Click on "Options", and on the following screen check the box that says "Limit the number of participants per suggestions to:" and keep the number one in the next box. Of course you can change that number if need be.

For the purpose of this poll I will continue with that option unchecked.

Once you're done, click Finish:

You will get two links, the participation link, and the administration link. I boxed both in red.

Send the participation link to your students/colleagues, and save the administration link for your future use. Participants will be able to choose from the different options you gave them, and you will be able to do any future edits from the administration link.

My colleague Nick decided to participate in my event, and so this is the screen he arrived at when he clicked on the participation link:

Note that he clicked on the time slots in which he is available, and that he entered his name on the left. once he was done, he clicked "Save". Andy did the same thing, and here is the result you will see when you go to the participation link:

You can see from this screen that from the options they both chose, there is only one that works with us all, and that is the one that has a green "OK" for all participants, i.e. Mondays at 10:00 PM, and this will be our weekly meeting time! You can always return to this screen by clicking on "Access this poll with administrator rights" after you visit the "administration page" link

Now everything is set and you are ready to decide on an appointment/schedule!

Moodle: Creating picture gallery in Moodle using Lightbox

2010-09-14T16:04:29Z

Introduction

In this blog post we will go through the process of creating a picture gallery in Moodle using a resource called Lightbox gallery. This feature is useful for a variety of reasons; many courses depend on pictures to illustrate new concepts or reinforce old ones. For example an Art History class could use Lightbox gallery for displaying pictures of Ancient Rome, or a foreign language class can make use of Lightbox gallery to show pictures of objects which students have to learn etc.

Useful tips before going to Moodle

Before we go into Moodle and learn about creating a gallery in Lightbox, we first need to have a folder of pictures that we want to upload to our class in Moodle. For this purpose, you can create a folder on your desktop and paste all your pictures in that folder (or choose any other folder for that matter). After you have decided what pictures to use, you should consider creating a .zip archive of these pictures because it is easier to upload a single archive in Moodle rather than having to upload each individual picture to your course.

There are several ways to archive your pictures, but the easiest ways are the following:

On a MAC machine you can simply right click on a folder and select Compress.

On Windows you can right click, go to Send to and select Compressed (zipped) folder.

Creating the Lightbox Gallery in Moodle

After creating the .zip archive, log into your Moodle course and Turn Editing On by clicking the button with the same name on the top-right part of your screen.

Go to the Files link in the Administration tab. Click the Upload a file button, then the Choose File button. Navigate to your .zip archive containing your pictures and click Open and then click Upload this file. You should now see your archive in the list of uploaded files. You should see something similar to the following image:

The next step is to Unzip the archive so that we can tell Lightbox to use our pictures. To do this, you have to click on the Unzip button that's right next to your archive:

Click Ok in the following window. Your pictures will be located in a folder having the same name as the archive. You can later rename this folder if you want to.

The next step is to add a Lightbox picture gallery which students can have access to in your course. To add a Lightbox picture gallery, you need to click on the Add a resource ... drop-down menu and select Add a lightbox gallery. See the figure below for a visual aid:

The next step is to type all the relevant information in the Adding a new Lightbox Gallery window. Type the name of the gallery and its description and from the Image Directory drop down menu select the folder containing the pictures you just Unzipped. Click Save and return to Course. You should now be able to see a Picture Gallery appear in your course having the name you just gave it and containing the pictures you uploaded to Moodle. To start the picture gallery click on any picture and you will see it maximize. You can move to the next or previous picture by pressing the right/left keys on your keyboard. To exit the picture gallery simply click anywhere outside the borders of the image.

This completes the tutorial on how to create a picture gallery in Moodle using Lightbox. If you have any questions about this entry, feel free to call the Student Technology Assistant Program at Trinity College, x2589, or email us at sta-help@trincoll.edu.

Managing Files in Moodle

2010-09-13T16:15:42Z

One of the first things Blackboard users need to familiarize themselves with when using Moodle is the File management system. Users will find that they need to spend considerable time organizing, uploading and updating files into special folders or directories. When you add a directory as a resource you can easily select the particular directory (or folder) that contains all files related to that topic. Although File management might seem cumbersome at first, once the user is familiar with the system it will prove very helpful and intuitive.

You upload files to your moodle course in the following way:

Go to your course home page, and then click on File under the Administration box.
Next, click on upload a file and add the required files. You then have the option of creating new folders or 'directories.' Create separate folders for different topics like Assignments, Readings and Course Information to name just a few.

You can then send files to different folders in the following way:

Click on the checkbox next to the files you wish to move to a particular folder.
Then go to the dropdown menu ('with chosen files') and select 'move to another folder.'
Now, you will see a description above the menu that says 'x files selected for moving. Now go into the destination folder and press 'Move Files to Here' '
Click into the folder you wish to move the selected files to.
Then click on 'Move files to here.'

Your selected files will now appear in the designated folder.

Please be aware that your files will now be moved entirely into the designated folder. Your files will only appear in that particular folder from now onwards.

Create a NanoGong assignment in Moodle

2010-08-05T15:38:50Z

NanoGong is a module of Trinity's Moodle server which allows faculty and students to create audio recordings. NanoGong can be especially utilized in language classes. It is a great tool that will record and play speech.
The use of NanoGong is not complex at all. There are a few steps you have to take which will enable you to enjoy the feature.

1) Go to your Moodle course page and turn editing on.
2) From "Add an activity" drop-down menu, choose "NanoGong assignment." You will be redirected to a new page.
3) Fill out the blank spaces with appropriate information. It is mandatory that you provide a name and a description for the assignment. In the example, below the assignment name is "Introduce yourself" which is followed by a short description.

As you scroll down the page, you will find more options. You can enable resubmissions of a recording. Having this option on will make sure that even in the case of technical difficulties, students will have another try to record themselves. You can also enable email alerts that will notify you when work has been submitted. Once you are done with adjusting the options, go to the bottom of the page and click "Save"

4) The assignment will be now available to the students in the class. They can make their recordings. They will see a screen with a player, similar to the one below. They can record themself by clicking on the Record button. Before they submit the assignment, they can also save a copy on their hard drive, by clicking on the Save icon at the right side of the player.
5) Once your students have submitted recordings, you can go and listen to them. To do so, find the assignment in the Gradebook and click to open it. A new page will open that will look similar to the one below:

6) In the top right-hand corner, you can see the number of submitted assignments. If you click on the "View X submitted assignments" you will be taken to a page where you will be able to see who had submitted a recording as well as listen to their recording.
In the example below, there is just one person who submitted the assignment. You can click on the play button and listen to the recording. You can also decrease/increase the speed of the recording so that you can understand better. Lastly, you can add grades and comments.

If you have questions regarding the use of NanoGong, please do not hesitate to get in touch with the STA office. We are here to assist you!

Download Youtube Videos

2010-07-13T19:36:29Z

Online video hosting websites like Youtube.com and Metacafe.com are invaluable resources of videos on a wide range of topics. Many clips of hard to find but very important incidents, news reports or even rare interviews can be found online. It is hence, extremely understandable if you wish to download and use these videos in class. There might be instances when you want to gather several clips together and create an extended video that includes several different clips from several different sources. You might even want to record your own voiceover or commentary on the clip. This is when keepvid.com comes in very handy.

The website essentially helps you download any video from Youtube or Metacafe or a variety of other video hosting websites. Keepvid does this by locating sites from where the video is being hosted. Then, it just becomes a simple matter of downloading the video from the site/mirror location.

Open the video you wish to download in a separate window.
Now click and drag over the URL in the address bar, then right click, and select copy. The URL address bar is located at the top of the window. Make sure to select the entire URL address including http://

Open a new window (or tab) and then type in www.keepvid.com.
Right click in the blue URL box and paste the address for the Youtube video you copied. Then click download.

You will now be presented with a list of download links. These links differ in terms of the quality of the video as well as the video format as well. It is suggested that you use .mp4 video format due to its greater versatility and compatibility.

Now simply left click on the link you wish to download and then hit save. Make sure to download the video to an easy to locate site, like the desktop.

Now if you have downloaded a number of different videos, you might want to create a video that contains clips from all these videos. You might want to take a look at our blogs in the video section for Comprehensive Guides on Video Editing.

Features to look forward to in Office 2010 (Windows only)

2010-07-06T18:55:12Z

Every few years Microsoft releases a new version of its Office Suite of applications and services. The last release, Office 2007/2008 (initially for PC) was heralded as a massive improvement over Office 2004 and introduced groundbreaking features like the use of Open XML formats (allows seamless cross platform editing of files) as well as the 'Ribbon,' a useful set of tabs to gain quick access to related tools. Office 2010 is set to follow the trend and will add several hitherto unseen features.

Integrated Outlook
The new Outlook 2010 promises to provide greater integration with social networking sites (Facebook) and micro blogging phenomenon Twitter as well. You will be able to setup and customize the all new Outlook Social Connector that allows you to view pictures of contacts, keep track of conversations and attachments shared as well. Updates promise more comprehensive information about individual contacts and detailed records of interactions
with the contact over mediums other than just e-mail.

SkyDrive

Is a great online storage facility provided by Microsoft. The concept is simple, you get to save all your files and folders in the cloud via SkyDrive. You will be able easily access and edit all your Office files and folders via SkyDrive anywhere in the world with an internet connection. All you'll need is to login with a Windows Live ID (which you can create for free). Even if you are working on another computer without Office installed, complete online web applications are available to allow unrestriced editing of your files. The first 25 GB is absolutely free so there is no reason not to at least give the feature a shot.

Enhanced Ribbon
The navigational 'ribbon' tabs in Office have been greatly personalized and are now tailored to provide tab options based on the commands and functions you have been using. Users will also be able to create custom 'ribbons' with their favorite commands and tabs. Reports also suggest that 'ribbon' will provide greater cross program functionality by integrating features between different Office programs. According to CNET.com, "The tabs lining Office's navigational 'ribbon' are now contextual, so your tab options will change based on the commands you're using. A new feature enhancement called Quick Steps (shown in Outlook)
enables you to quickly take advantage of commonly used features in your workflow. This addition gives you access to more Office applications and features regardless of which Office program you're working with at the time." The ribbon introduced as a novelty feature in Office 2007 looks set to become a much more integral aspect of the Office experience.

Paste Preview
A simple but highly appreciated new feature is the ability to preview your 'paste' options. So essentially, you will be able to preview how a document will look like after you paste some content. The feature works across all programs in Office and displays different paste options when you mouse-over the paste button.

Image Editing
Stopping to open Photoshop in the middle of editing a Powerpoint presentation just to perform minor edits on an image is time consuming and disruptive to your workflow to say the least. Realizing this, Office 2010 now allows you to perform several edits on images including but not limited to cropping, adding effects, background removal and changing image size without closing the program you are using.The image editing options are available in the navigational 'ribbon' anytime you select any image.

Backstage View
One of the biggest and most obvious changes you will encounter the first time you run any Office 2010 program. Backstage View essentially functions as an enhanced File menu with new features and options. New graphical cues and visual guides will also make different Backstage View options clear and helpful to understand. Just like the enhanced 'ribbon,' backstage view brings several related tasks together to create a streamlined editing process.

Additional information about Office 2010 is available at:
http://www.trincoll.edu/depts/cc/documentation/Office/Office2010.pdf
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/support/getting-started-with-office-2010-fx101822272.aspx

Moodle: Creating quizzes in Hot Potatoes and importing them in Moodle

2010-07-02T16:47:14Z

In this blog post we will talk about creating quizzes in a freeware application called Hot Potatoes and then importing them in Moodle for the purpose of assessing students' knowledge.

Let's begin by first saying a few words about Hot Potatoes.

"The Hot Potatoes suite includes six applications, enabling you to create interactive multiple-choice, short-answer, jumbled-sentence, crossword, matching/ordering and gap-fill exercises for the World Wide Web. Hot Potatoes is freeware, and you may use it for any purpose or project you like. It is not open-source." For more information and for downloading Hot Potatoes visit the official website: http://hotpot.uvic.ca/

Creating a quiz in Hot Potatoes

1. Open Hot Potatoes. You should see the Hot Potatoes main window displaying 6 choices: JQuiz, JCloze, JCross, JMatch, JMix. For information on each of these types, consult the help menu within Hot Potatoes.

2. Select the JQuiz option. See Figure 1 below:

Figure 1: Selecting JQuiz from the Hot Potatoes interface

The interface of JQuiz is very intuitive. All you have to do is type the question, write the possible answers and check marking the one that is correct. For this example we are going to create a Multiple-choice question.

3. Type the question in the Question box. See Figure 2 below:

Figure 2: Typing the question in JQuiz

4. Type the answers to the Multiple-choice question and check mark the correct answer. See Figure 3:

Figure 3: Typing the answers and selecting the correct answer

Once you are done with the first question you can add more questions by clicking on the up arrow next to the question number. Once you press the up arrow, a blank form similar to the first question will appear. To go back to any questions previously created simply click the down arrow. See Figure 4:

Figure 4: Changing the question in JQuiz

5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 to add as many Multiple-choice questions as you need.

When you are done adding questions, go to File, click Save, type-in a name in the File name box and make sure the Save as Type is JQuiz files (*.jqz). Click Save.

Importing the Multiple-choice quiz in Moodle

1. Log-in to your Moodle course where you would like to add the quiz

2. Turn Editing On from the upper right-hand corner in Moodle.

Figure 5: Turning Editing on in Moodle

3. Go to the section of your course where you would like to add the quiz. For example, I added my quiz in the "19 July - 25 July" week. Click the Add an activity ... drop down menu and select Hot Potatoes Quiz.

4. Click Choose or Upload a file ...

5. Click Upload a File and from the following window click Choose File

6. Browse to the location on your hard drive of your quiz select it and click Open

7. To upload the selected file click on Upload this file. If everything went well, you should see your Hot Potatoes Quiz being uploaded to the server. You should expect to see something similar to Figure 6:

Figure 6: the Hot Potatoes quiz uploaded to Moodle

8. Click the Choose option right next to the Hot Potatoes quiz. You should see it in Figure 6.

9. You are now taken back to the main menu entitled Adding a new Hot Potatoes Quiz. Read through the other options that are available. For the purpose of this tutorial, we went with the default settings and clicked Save and return to course.

At this point you should see your quiz added to your course. Here is what ours looks like:

Figure 7: The quiz added to the Moodle course

If you would like to see how the quiz works, you can change your role to a student and then clicking on the quiz and answering the questions.

If you have any questions or comments, feel free to contact us at the STA Office, e-mail sta-help@trincoll.edu or by phone at x2589.

Create animated text

2010-07-02T16:09:09Z

Animated texts are often used in web pages as well as PowerPoint presentations. If you would like to make interesting titles or buttons, this blog post will teach you how. Animated texts serve the purpose to diversify a visual material and make it more appealing to the reader.

Step 1) Open http://textanim.com/

Step 2) In the "Text" box insert the text you want to animate.

Step 3) Select the font type and size. You can see the font by clicking on the "Preview" button next to "Font type"

Step 4) By default there is a translucent background color. By clicking on the little palette next to the background color code, you can select a different color. We would encourage you to leave the translucent background because this will give you more flexibility when you have to work with the text.

Step 5) Under "Direction", you can select the direction of the effects. You can play around with the given options.

Step 6) You can choose to have shadows or not. Usually text with shadows looks more interesting, so we would encourage you to leave the shadow option on.

Step 7) You can delay the movement of the effects. You can insert the timing in the "Delay" box. Usually, a slower pace is more preferable than a faster pace, because it allows the audience to focus on the presentation as a whole and not on the text only.

Step 8) You can select among the many different effects, by clicking on the button next to each of the small samples.

Step 9) Once you have adjusted all of the settings, click on the "Generate" button. Your text will appear at the very top of the page.

Step 10) To save the animated text, you will see a "Download" button right below the text. Click on it and save the text.

Here are a few examples of animated text:

Create an animated GIF image

2010-06-25T16:30:52Z

Many times animated images are appropriate when constructing a website or a Moodle page. You may want to include some animated images that are crucial to the class material and display them online. You may also use animated images in the classroom as a teaching tool. You can ask your students to make a story after the animated images and narrate it in a foreign language. The possible uses of GIF images are many and they quite often come handy. This blog post will tell you how you and your students can create animated images.

Step 1) Find the images you want to animate and download them to your hard drive.
Step 2) Open http://picasion.com/

Step 3) In each field next to "Image", browse the image you want to put in. The order of the images in the animation will be the same as the order you browse the images. If you need more fields than the given three, just click on "Add one more picture" and a new field will open. You can have up to 10 fields in each animation.

Step 4) Select the size of the image. By default, the size is set to 300px, but we would recommend using 400px for higher quality. You may also select a particular size, if you know what you want. To do that, under the" Size" drop-down menu, select "Advanced". You will be then given the option to choose the size of the animation. The maximum size cannot exceed 450px.

Step 5) Adjust the speed. You may try out the different speed settings and choose the one that would work best for your project. You can also go to "Advanced" at the very bottom of the menu, and put in a speed that is not the menu. The maximum length of each slide cannot exceed 10 seconds.

Step 6) Click on the "Create animation" button.

Step 7) Your animated GIF image is ready. Make a right click with the mouse over it, and select "Save picture as" to save the animated GIF image.

Here's an example of a three-picture animated GIF image. The size is 400px and the speed is set to slow.

We hope you enjoy this smart tool. If you have any questions, please let us know!

Freecorder 4 for Firefox: Recording sound directly from your sound card

2010-06-24T17:50:03Z

Introduction

In case you were wondering how to record sounds coming from your sound card and not from your microphone, here's a simple trick that will help you accomplish this goal. We are basically looking to record any sounds that are coming from the applications you have started on your computer and which you hear in the speakers. To do this, we only need Firefox or Internet Explorer to be installed and the Freecorder 4 plug-in by Applian.

Before proceeding with this tutorial, you need to keep in mind the copyright laws when recording anything!

Install Freecorder 4 by Applian

You can download the file from here: http://www.applian.com/sound-recorder/

To install, simply get the installation kit from the link above and follow the instructions. You will be presented with two options, to install the plug-in either in Firefox or in Internet Explorer. For this tutorial we installed the plug-in in Firefox.

Recording your first audio track

In order to record anything from your computer with Freecorder 4 you need to have Firefox or Internet Explorer open, depending on which browser you decided to have the plug-in installed in.

When you open your browser, you should see that there is a new toolbar installed. In that toolbar you will see the tools that we are going to use to create recordings. Figure 1 shows part of the toolbar:

Figure 1: Freecorder 4, The toolbar

To create a recording, click on the Record Audio button. You should see a window similar to the one in Figure 2 pop-up:

Figure 2: Freecorder 4, The recording window

Note that if there aren't any sounds playing in the background, the application will simply wait until there is something playing and then records it. When you are done recording, hover over the lower right corner of the window and a message will appear saying "stop recording". To playback your recording, simply click on the Play button from the toolbar in your browser and a folder will open containing all your recordings. Choose the file you want to play and open it

with your favorite mp3 player.

If you have any questions or comments, feel free to contact us at the STA Program, sta-help@trincoll.edu or at x2589.

Setting slide backgrounds in Powerpoint

2010-06-23T19:13:37Z

Powerpoint is a great presentation software since it allows the user a multitude of different options to clearly illustrate and present information. A very desirable feature is the ability to change and insert backgrounds of your choice for the slides. You can either assign a general background for all slides or even assign unique backgrounds for each individual slide.

Open Power Point.

Select the slide you wish to edit and right click on the slide. Now select Format Background. You will be presented with a menu that comprises of two main categories, Fill and Picture. You will primarily be using the Fill option to edit and change background settings.

Solid Fill:

This option allows you to change the color of the background as well as change the transparency of the color. Transparency basically functions as a tool to change the intensity of the color. Increase the transparency if you wish to set a lighter version of the color as the background.

Gradient Fill:

This option allows you to set a more attractive mixture of colors as the background instead of a single solid color. The effect is a rainbow like collage of gradually changing colors. There are several excellent preset colors that you can select from. You can also edit the type between lineraly changing colors to a radially changing effect to name a few. The available types of effects are:

linear: the gradient colors flow in lines which can be from preset angles or a precise angle on the slide
radial: colors flow in a circular fashion from your choice of five different directions
rectangular: colors flow in a rectangular fashion from your choice of five different directions
path: colors flow from the center out to form a rectangle
shade from title: colors flow from the the title out to form a rectangle

You can also make changes to the orientation and direction of these effects.

Picture or Texture Fill

This feature allows you to set different textures or even a custom picture for a texture. A texture works pretty much the same was as a solid gradient except that the design is more eye catching. Always make sure that the text is legible by ensuring suitable contrast between the texture color and text color. Powerpoint has several attractive textures available to be used. You can also insert new textures using the Insert From feature. Powerpoint stretches out any picture to fill in the entire background by default. You might want to click on the tile picture as texture feature so that a small image is used as a tile with multiple such images used to form a texture.

You can also utilize the additional offset feature to shift and move the background in any direction.

There are two more important features present in the menu:

Hide background graphics:

This option allows you to easily hide/view background graphics from your slideshow. You can use the feature to reduce use of valuable color ink while printing and then easily turn it back on while presenting.

Apply to all

You can also choose to apply the background to all slides by clicking on the Apply to All option. Not doing so will ensure that the background you created will only apply to the slide you initially right clicked on to get the background menu.