In my last post I mentioned the new Moodle Porgramming Course you can enroll in for free (hosted on moodle.org). After posting I decided to enroll myself and see what it is all about. I was little hesitant to enroll because I was worried I wouldn’t have enough time to really get into the course but I enrolled and it looks great!

You can go at your own pace, communicate with other Moodlers and really grasp a variety of ideas surrounding Moodle. I am still on the first unit but I already like it so far. You go through the course just like any other online course. You do assignments, post in forums, talk with others and actually get feedback on your assignments.

More to come as I dig deeper into this course. Check out the Moodle Programming course if you have not already!

Latest announcement on Moodle.org

Are you interested in learning more about Moodle programming? – read more

Want to learn more about the development and programming of Moodle? Join the Moodle Programming course.

Course Description:

This course will provide an introduction to skills needed to create a Moodle block. Participants will examine accepted Moodle coding guidelines, including security and documentation issues. The course materials are designed for Moodle version 1.8.

This looks like a great course for programmers wanting to learn more about Moodle. It is hosted on Moodle.org. Take a look at the course syllabus.

I recently downloaded and installed Moodle 2.0 dev. I have not investigated every new feature and update but my early exploring left me quite happy. Moodle 2.0, in my opinion, is going to be much improved from earlier version upgrades.

A few things that I like in my early exploration:

• HTML editor 2.0 – The look of the editor is more pleasing to the eye. A few features are added like tables, layers, handling of Word documents, better for HTML code editing, better options for inserting images and media. Read more about the HTML editor 2.0.
• File API – The look and structure of file management  feels a lot different. A good different. When uploading an image (within the Editor) it opens a new window which a much better interface. I think users will fidn this new look easier to follow and understand. I had to add the “local files” repository and “show” it to be able to upload files within ‘site files’ then use it when in the Editor. I also had to “show” the “upload a file” to allow users to upload a file within the Editor. Looking at the documentation for the new File API there are a lot of improvements with file management and linking to files with the HTML editor. They may be still working out the kinks but I think this is going to be one of my new favorite upgrades.
• Repository API – Just looking at the repository possibilites excites me because it includes interaction with other software and sites like: YouTube, Alfresco, Flickr, Box.net, Picasa and more. Read more on the Repository API coming in Moodle 2.0.
• Portfolio API – Moodle 2.0 is going to be able to integrate with Mahara. It looks like it can also integrate with Picasa, Google Docs, Flickr, Box.net or you are able to do a file download (not sure how this works?). I have not worked with portfolios but I would think this will be a great resource for students. Read more on the Portfolio API documentation.

Those were the main areas of improvement I saw and that I think will be some of the best improvements. I only spent a day looking through Moodle 2.0 dev and it’s hard to know all the ins and outs of the new features and the new processes without having a real Moodle site to work on.

I have been expirementing on my Moodle Development site. I will continue to explore Moodle 2.0 Dev and review the above improvements (and more) on another blog post. This was just a rough review of my initial thoughts.

Check out the Moodle Docs Roadmap to Moodle 2.0 for further Moodle 2.0 information and updates.

Check out Moodle’s new look. Read what Martin Dougiamas wrote about the new look. Moodle 2.0 is set to come out sometime after the new year. Read about the upcoming features in Moodle 2.0

Welcome to Moodlerific. This page is under construction but it will consist of everything Moodle. Come back soon!