Golden Bytes

This is my very first blog post, I know things are bare around here, but I wanted to get started since I finally have something really great to blog about.

In a nutshell. Yesterday I wanted to share a PowerPoint  for students who had been absent or who had fallen behind so they could catch up on their own projects. I didn’t want to put the PPT file on the server because I thought the students would get confused with two PPT files open at the same time. (these are 5th and 6th graders in their third week of my class, the week after break, they are still newbies) It is also something I had been meaning to try for a while. So I uploaded the PowerPoint to Gdocs, I had intended to just share the published page, but I noticed they give you an embed code like a YouTube video. So I copied and pasted that into a Moodle webpage and it worked wonderfully. The students had no problem multi-tasking between the two windows, and they now have access to it at home as well. Later in the day I needed to update the Gdoc PPT for a few typos, and I wondered what would happen to the file in Moodle. As you would guess, it updated too. WOW, I immediately saw the implications. If I can embed all my documents, I can update them in Gdocs and never have to upload a file to Moodle again ( which I consider a huge pain).

Today, I had a chance to try to embed a Gdoc (word file). No luck. Google doesn’t give you an embed code, only a link to a webpage. I wasn’t happy with this  as I want everything inside the security of Moodle. So, I tried Zoho.com, and they DO provide an embed code, not only for their writer, but also their spreadsheets (they may do this for other types,  I haven’t tried it out yet). My co-teacher was really excited about the spreadsheet because when you embed the spreadsheet in a Moodle web page, students can enter data right there online, and there is a link to download to excel right there.

Looking around Zoho, I noticed they have a MS Office plugin. I tried it out and… it was like fireworks going off in my head. I can create a file in Microsoft Word. With Zoho’s plugin I now have a toolbar that lets me upload the file(or save any changes) to Zoho right from word. If I already have the file embedded in Moodle the changes take place immediatly without ever having to log-in to Zoho or Moodle.

So with a little upfront work of embedding code into Moodle web pages, I can now create documents in word and keep them updated without ever having to upload files to Moodle.

It is my personal goal to have all my lesson plans, files, videos, and slideshows online and available to students next year. This is my first year with Moodle and I have been experimenting with it all year. I think I have finally found a way to share files, publish my work, and keep files up-to-date with a reasonable amount of effort and time.

Pros: saves time, easy to update, links to MS Office,

Cons: initial setup work (I don’t feel this set up work is much different than uploading a file and linking it in Moodle)