Moodle® For Dummies®

Course Blocks

Blocks provide extra tools and features to your course. Moodle enables a number of blocks by default (refer to Figure 3-2) when the course is created, and these blocks appear in the left and right columns of the Moodle interface. Moodle enables you to add more functionality to your front page from the main blocks drop-down menu, which only appears when editing is turned on. (Refer to Figure 3-5.) You can relocate blocks or close them so that they aren't accessible. Read on for explanations of the blocks and how your learners can benefit from them.

Default blocks

The following blocks, by default, appear on the left:

• Activities: Lists all activities and resources you set up for your students. As soon as you set an activity, Moodle lists it in this block, and it becomes an active link to a table displaying quick access to these activities. The links include the generic titles such as quizzes, forums, chats, lessons, wikis, and resources. This block is a handy overview and a quick way to get to an activity. See the section “Resources and Activities,” later in the chapter, for even more details.
• Search Forums: A search text field enabling you and your learners to search all the course forums for a word or phrase. This block supports simple searching, such as typing words with spaces. For exact matching, use a plus sign (+). For an exact phrase, use quotation marks around the phrase “like this”. Click the Advanced Search link if you want to use a more sophisticated search. ...