Lambda is officially going to become a one-stop shop for all your Moodle reporting needs as Lambda Analytika™ for Moodle is on the way! Earlier this year, Lambda launched their new reporting and analytics solution, Lambda Analytika™ for Totara LMS. The response in the short time since its release has been tremendously positive. Lambda Analytika has relieved a number of our Totara clients of their reporting pains and problems, and it has really filled the gap in the LMS market.

Moodle reporting is likely one of the most requested of Moodle’s extended features, because LMS reports are an essential component of the eLearning process; both for learners and managers. Learning analytics provide teachers with learning trends to provide better education, and general reporting allows managers to report on overarching progress like completion, compliance and competencies. Moodle has standard reporting functions which we outline below.

One of the greatest benefits of eLearning, is the ability to incorporate multimedia. Moodle’s multimedia capabilities are available through plugins. By enabling your Multimedia plugins filter in Moodle, multimedia will be transformed from a link that points to a multimedia resource, to the appropriate multimedia player. An example of this is if a teacher places a video file as a resource in a course, or includes a URL link to an external video file. When the multimedia plugin is turned on, students will then be able to play video files from a screen within their Moodle interface.

A steady stream of communication is essential for learner engagement. There are a few common tools available for communication in Moodle: Forum modules, blogs, messaging, and attendance. 

Mobile Moodle learning can refer to two things - mobility of learning (i.e. learning on the go), and learning directly from your mobile device. Not surprisingly, the two definitions are interdependently related. Learning on your mobile phone allows increased collaboration, and it acts as an extra channel for communication in a course. Mobile Moodle learning is best when used as a supplementary method to eLearning environments, or even face-to-face classes.

Gamification in Moodle is one of the most effective ways to engage and motivate learners, by using game mechanics and games. Let us quickly clarify the difference between the two. Game mechanics are common gaming tactics used to ignite competition and the desire for learners to ‘win’. Games on the other hand, are the tangible games themselves, such as hangman, or crosswords. The Moodle Games Plugin allows you to utilize glossaries, short answer questions, multiple choice questions, and true/false questions to quiz learners with the following available games:

The Harvard Business Review named elearning badges as one of the most innovative trends to watch in 2013, and two years later, lms badge functionalities have only gotten better. A digital Moodle badge is essentially an online recognition of your achievements and skills. If a user has a number of certifications, for example, they can receive and display lms badges online to recognize their achievement or competency. Moodle badges can be given out based on a number of different achievements or criteria. With the ability to track a recipient’s communities of online interaction, a Moodle badge will show the work completed, and the outcomes learned to achieve said badge.

Moodle’s Feedback module is not the same as its Survey module. With Moodle’s Feedback module, you can create your own questions, to conduct surveys. This is in contrast with Moodle’s Survey tool, where you have to choose from a list of pre-written questions (similar to Moodle Quiz). Moodle Feedback Activities are also ideal for course, trainer, or teacher evaluations, as you have the option of creating non-graded questions.

Lambda is heading down south to Las Vegas at the end of the month, to attend the DevLearn 2015 Conference and Expo! DevLearn is focused on showcasing new learning technologies, making it the ideal conference for the movers and shakers in the eLearning industry. With the recent development of Lambda Analytika™ under our belt, Lambda is excited to meet and connect with fellow thought leaders, and innovators.  

With the instant access to information that the wonderful world wide web offers us, plagiarism has been a serious byproduct. There are a number of plagiarism prevention tools used by schools and education institutes, and Moodle is now one of them. There are a few different plagiarism plugins for Moodle that are available to Moodle users. Here are the top Moodle plugins for plagiarism prevention in Moodle.