Moodle® For Dummies®

Managing Your Database

Making sure users enter quality information into the database is an important aspect of developing a collaborative tool that can be used as a valuable teaching resource. Be sure to educate your learners about entering quality data instead of just populating it willy-nilly. Structure is only one aspect of a database. Learners often enter information based on their knowledge and understanding of the purpose of the database and its goals. Don't be shy about going over organization, accuracy, and interpretation — grasping those elements can become a learning exercise. However much you introduce the concept, as the database grows, you need to track the information to ensure the information's consistency and accuracy.

Moodle has added a number of tools that help you manage the information and ensure the quality of the entries. (You can either set these options when you first create your database or go back later and enable them.)

• Comments: By adding comments, you can guide students, give them feedback, and let them know you're watching and reading what they've entered. I can hear what you're thinking: “How can I possibly find time to add comments to entries, especially if I have more than 90 students in my three Moodle courses!” You don't have to do this alone. Remember that you can set permission to specific student accounts, guest accounts, or create a new database monitor role. Why not get an assistant? You can ask a previous student, trainee, or a group leader ...