External Content in Moodle A Guide for Staff Version 1.0 (September 2014) Written by Manish Basyal 10/09/2014 V1.0
EXTERNAL CONTENT IN MOODLE Contents External Content in Moodle... 1 Overview of External Content... 3 IMS Content Packages... 3 SCORM Packages... 3 IMS Content Packages... 4 Adding an IMS Content Package... 4 Accessing and navigating an IMS Content Package... 5 SCORM Packages... 6 Adding a SCORM Package... 6 Accessing and Navigating a SCORM Package... 7 10/09/2014 2
OVERVIEW OF EXTERNAL CONTENT Moodle supports both the IMS content and SCORM package standards. This means that you can embed external content into your Moodle courses. Some external companies provide content in these formats so that it can be reused within an institution s VLE. Some textbook providers will provide content in these formats. If you have any IMS or SCORM packages they can be embedded in your Moodle course. IMS CONTENT PACKAGES IMS Content Packages allow you to add premade packages of content straight to your Moodle course. IMS packages are usually provided in a Zip file which contains resources split into pages. The pages in an IMS package can contain many different types of elements including text, images and videos. IMS packages are static within Moodle, i.e. they do not interact with the rest of Moodle s features such as the gradebook. More information about IMS content packages can be found by visiting: http://www.imsglobal.org/ SCORM PACKAGES A SCORM Package is similar to an IMS Package but allows for more advanced features such as gradable quizzes. SCORM packages can interact with Moodle features such as the gradebook meaning that a user s progress through a SCORM package can be logged and graded. IMS packages are resources and not interactive. A SCORM package is an activity and is interactive. More information about SCORM packages can be found by visiting: http://www.adlnet.org/scorm/ 10/09/2014 3
IMS CONTENT PACKAGES IMS Content Packages allow you to add premade packages of content straight to your Moodle course. IMS packages are usually provided in a Zip file which contains resources split into pages. The pages in an IMS package can contain many different types of elements including text, images and videos. IMS packages are static within Moodle, i.e. they do not interact with the rest of Moodle s features such as the gradebook. ADDING AN IMS CONTENT PACKAGE 1. Access your Moodle course 2. Click the Add an activity or resource button 3. Select the resource and click the Add button 4. Give the IMS content package a Name and Description 5. Click the Choose a file button and locate the IMS content package on your PC 6. Click the Save and display button Note: the IMS Content Package will only accept correctly formatted zip files. Adding any other file type will result in an error message. 10/09/2014 4
ACCESSING AND NAVIGATING AN IMS CONTENT PACKAGE Once an IMS Content Package has been added to your Moodle page, it can be accessed in the same way as any other resource. Simply navigate to the Moodle page, and click on the IMS content package. You will then be taken to a page displaying your content package. IMS packages split resources into separate pages. You can navigate these pages in two ways: 1. Click on the title of your chosen page in the list area 2. Use the arrow buttons below the list area. This can be more useful when you have a large number of pages as it is not be possible to see all your pages in the table of contents area without scrolling. 10/09/2014 5
SCORM PACKAGES A SCORM Package is similar to an IMS Package but allows for more advanced features such as gradable quizzes. SCORM packages can interact with Moodle features such as the gradebook meaning that a user s progress through a SCORM package can be logged and graded. IMS packages are resources and not interactive. A SCORM package is an activity and is interactive. ADDING A SCORM PACKAGE 1. Access your Moodle course 2. Click the Add an activity or resource button 3. Select the resource and click the Add button 1. Give your SCORM package a Name and Description 2. Click the Choose a file button and locate the SCORM package on your PC 3. Click the Save and display button Note: the SCORM package will only be accepted if you upload a correctly formatted zip file. Adding any other file type will result in an error message. 10/09/2014 6
ACCESSING AND NAVIGATING A SCORM PACKAGE Once a SCORM Content Package has been added to your Moodle page, it can be accessed in the same way as any other resource. Simply navigate to the Moodle page and click on the SCORM package. You will then be taken to a page displaying your SCORM package. The nature of a SCORM package means that each one will be navigated differently. However, there are some basics that will always be there. These are identical to that of the IMS, except the navigation buttons are in a popup window and as such you may move them around the screen. 10/09/2014 7
USEFUL LINKS Lancaster Answers Lancaster Answers contains a large number of step-by-step guides, which explain many features of Moodle and more http://lancasteranswers.lancs.ac.uk ISS Service Desk For further help and support, please contact the ISS Service Desk on: Phone: 01524-510987 Email: iss-service-desk@lancaster.ac.uk In person: Learning Zone in Alexandra Square 10/09/2014 8