Moodle Smarter: An Advanced Course on Using Moodle
Next course dates: 01 October 2008 - 11 November 2008
Term: 30 hours over 6 weeks
Fee: € 595

* We also offer face-to-face Moodle training workshops and Moodle hosting packages

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Future course dates:
09 January 2009 - 20 February 2009
01 May 2009 - 11 June 2009

CONTENT
The MOODLE SMARTER training course teaches you to use some of the more complex Moodle tools and functions, which are not covered in our Moodle Starter course. The course is hand-on and experiential – from the first week of the course itself you will be working in a Moodle installation which is either already hosted by your institution, or hosted by us for you (preferable). You will add new elements to your Moodle course as you learn about them each week, via tutor support, peer discussion, documentation, and a range of online videos. For the duration of the course you will be provided with your own webspace with your own Moodle installation if you do not already have one. At the end of this time you will be shown how to export your course so that it can be used in your own installation. We use the latest stable version of Moodle.

AUDIENCE
This course is aimed at teachers, trainers, tutors, facilitators, lecturers and mentors from any discipline and any level of education, who are interested in learning how to set up and use Moodle to offer online courses. The course is run entirely online, in Moodle itself.No previous experience of Moodle or of any other online learning environment is required for this course.

The Moodle Smarter (advanced) course is for you if :

1. you already have experience of Moodle as an administrator
2. you know how to work with the Moodle functions covered in the Moodle Starter course – see the Course Outline – or have done the Moodle Starter course with us in the past
3. you are using an older version of Moodle, and would like to update your skills to use the latest stable version
4. you already have a Moodle course that you can work on, or you are able to set up the basics of a course with no extra help, so as to work on advanced feature with us during the course
5. you would like to lean about some of the more complex Moodle functions such as Lesson, Workshop, IMS Packages, SCORM, LAMS and Databases, or how to customise Moodle themes*

*Please note that the Moodle Smarter course does NOT cover installing Moodle on a server – you either need to work on an existing Moodle installation on your institution’s server, or we will install the course for you on our own server (preferable).

TIMETABLE
Our online Moodle training course runs over 6 weeks from 01 October 2008, and participants are expected to spend approx. 5 hours per week on online individual and collaborative group work, including offline reading and reflection. Deadlines for task completion are weekly, and participants can log on at any point during the week to work on the course. There are no 'fixed' times to be online - apart from regular timetabled online chats - these are negotiated to suit everyone. You will receive a detailed study timetable to help you organise your workload effectively once you have enrolled on the course.

SKILLS
Experience of email and Web use is required. Some prior experience or knowledge of online tutoring would be useful. Prior experience of using Moodle, or having completed our Moodle Starter course, is necessary. Competence in written and spoken English, whether English is the applicants’ first, second or foreign language: applicants’ levels of competence in English must be of a standard sufficient to enable them to fully understand and complete the course work.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES
During the course, you will:

Review the basic functions covered in our Moodle Starter course

Learn how to use more advanced default Moodle features and activities (see COURSE OUTLINE below)

Learn how to customise headers and upload themes

Cover some html basics

Install and work with a number of Moodle plug-ins

Experience collaborative group work online

Work on a sample course for your own learners in Moodle

You will follow the course entirely online, working individually, in pairs, and in small collaborative online groups, and with constant and timely tutor support and feedback. There is a limit of 15 participants per course.

COURSE OUTLINE

Week 1: Moodle Basics Review

Week 2: Themes; Modules; HTML basics

Week 3: Workshop; Databases; Authentication and enrolment

Week 4: Lesson; Backup and recovery

Week 5: Plug ins

Week 6: Clinic and review

Project work finished (a sample Moodle course for your learners)

CERTIFICATION
The Consultants-E will issue you with a Certificate on successful completion of the course. Successful completion of the course is defined as completing 80% of the course work, and especially the final course project, where applicable.

WHAT YOU NEED
You will need a PC or Mac with an Internet connection, a web browser (Internet Explorer,Safari or Firefox) and an email program. A headset with microphone will be needed for any synchronous voice chats to be held during the course.Note that your webspace and Moodle installation are provided only for the duration of the course. However, full guidance will be given in exporting your materials to allow them to be used in another Moodle installation.

ENROLMENT/FEES
You can enrol online. The fee for the course is € 595 and covers all tutorials, ongoing tutor support, and feedback on your final project work (a sample course for your learners in Moodle)