Layout, navigation and Images

Examples from staff in Schools around the University

View PDF:

Layout and images PDF.pdf

How to achieve this

 
From staff in Schools around the University

Background

The aim is not only to make Moodle look interesting, but to:

• improve navigation for students,
• increase engagement
• provide alternative ways to present information
• improve the student experience of Moodle.

All Schools have templates which were created in consultation with staff in each School. These aim to:

• keep modules across a School consistent
• provide a better experience for the students when trying to find items such as assignments.
• make it easier for staff – it’s a usable starting point
• be flexible to suit your needs – for example, you can add more sections (topics) – BUT bear in mind the principle of consistency.

Image Added

What did staff do?

By adding the block Module Navigation Moodle shows a “table of contents” automatically picked up from the Section name.

NOTE In the current Moodle (from July 2015) a table of contents appears automatically in the NAVIGATION block in every module.

You can also add images, a Wordle¹ or a Prezi², even using images for navigation.

Image Added

What did students think?

• Students overwhelmingly request clear navigation
• They would prefer consistency across their modules. 
• They like important items easy to locate
• Staff may need to provide ways to navigate when students are new to the module and want a lot of introductory information and help with navigation
  AND
  support for students after they have become familiar with the module and just need to get quickly to the important places

Tips and recommendations

•  
• Start simple
• Don’t make the images too big or overdo it with too many
• Keep graphics discreet and useful to students – should fit with the overall University / Moodle design
• If students have to scroll every time they visit the page, they will get frustrated!
• Use the blocks available such as Module Navigation
• Keep any embedded items such as Prezi or video to a minimum
• Put just a few graphic items on the front page or it will take too long to load…

More information:

• Presentation about this case study

Moodle Help

• How to add an image to a Moodle label box, page or other text area
• How to get images ready for Moodle

How to achieve this

• Creating a word cloud using tagxedo.com [blog post]

¹Wordle – a way to create visual word maps of a piece of text or important concepts  (wordle.net or tagxedo.com

²Prezi is an alternative to Powerpoint  with unusual zooms and transitions Wiki Markup[Creating a word cloud using tagxedo.com|http://comms.nottingham.ac.uk/learningtechnology/2013/07/10/creating-word-clouds-using-tagxedo-com/] \[blog post\]