• Penworks Online Learning

    communist worker training posterWelcome to Penworks Online Learning, a Moodle instance on a self hosted server. This is a test site, single instance of Moodle that exists to demonstrate various aspects of what Moodle can do, for prospective lecturers and teachers to consider. 

    This Moodle is a test sandbox instance to demonstrate course builds, user permissions and ways of structuring categories of courses, how to manage users and groups, how to think about discussion and the best kinds of digital content to use for different kinds of subjects and topics.

    None of the courses are real, they are test courses to demonstrate ways of developing a course in Moodle. They show different types of content, courses structures, ways of using quizzes and forums, and other aspects of functionality. Because site administration is available, new user academic staff can see what is possible, what goes on behind the scenes and how to think about further features they might be able to use. 

    Some courses have been developed from scratch, others have been imported from the Open Educational Resources Moodle.net course repository, available here: https://archive.moodle.net/mod/glossary/view.php?id=33



    This site has been developed and maintained by Pen Lister.
    Current build versions listed below:

    • Moodle v4.3.3 as of [26-03-2024], using PhP 8.2 and Mysql 8.
    • Moodle v4.0.1 as of [08-08-23]. Moodle v 4.2.1 is next but will need further server config changes.
    • Moodle v3.6.5, with a view to updating to Moodle v4 soon.


    • Page icon
      My background for context of expertise and experience
      Generative Art Mandala

      The Academic & Technical Background page exists to outline why I can advise on learning and teaching online using digital apps and platforms to build effective learning experiences and rewarding teaching experiences. I list my technical background including main skills and areas of work, and my academic background to indicate lecturing experience as well as publications. My CV is available on request, this lists qualifications, professional memberships, teaching experience in more detail, plus conferences and guest speaker invitations.

      Academic & Technical Background page (link)

Available courses

Teaching online with Moodle and other technology to create student centred learning activities, mainly focused on distance learning 

THIS COURSE IS AVAILABLE AS READ ONLY VIA GUEST ACCESS


FLO logo

Facilitators: [names go here]

This workshop will help you enhance skills needed to confidently and effectively facilitate online learning. You will: 

  • experience being in the online learners’ shoes; 
  • think about, practice and develop your online facilitation skills with other new and experienced online facilitators; and 
  • deepen your learning as you synthesize your observations, reading and online activities in your journal.

THIS COURSE IS AVAILABLE AS READ ONLY VIA GUEST ACCESS

(MAR2017-OER)

A book on all key functions of Moodle by Jaswinder Singh, a well known Moodle developer. His book is available open source via the github pages repo, and can be read online via the LeanPub websitre https://leanpub.com/how-to-use-moodle-27/read It can also be purchased in various formats from Leanpub for an amount you choose to pay https://leanpub.com/how-to-use-moodle-27

Here, we have created a Moodle book of his work, that can be linked chapter by chapter to tasks and activities or other commentary in the course. There are 19 chapters, with a short summary chapter at the end.

THIS COURSE IS AVAILABLE AS READ ONLY VIA GUEST ACCESS

After completing this course you will be able to plan an e-learning course together with exercises and elements of online teaching strategy, using a variety of tools and teaching methods selected specifically to meet your goals. This is a VET context for e-learning.

THIS COURSE IS AVAILABLE AS READ ONLY VIA GUEST ACCESS

NB THIS COURSE IS CURRENTLY BEING PUT TOGETHER BUT GUEST USERS CAN VIEW CURRENT PROGRESS.

Developing your Online Course covers various sources of advice for how to approach either building your online course from scratch or converting an existing face to face course into an online course. Resources covered are:

  • Harvard Advice
    • [text here]
  • Open University Advice
    • [text here]
  • Imperial advice on remote teaching including Lab Tasks
    • [text here]
  • Elearning Video Primers
    • Content is also supplemented by 27 videos on e-learning topics by Professor Curt Bonk from 2016. This takes the form of a Moodle book with 27 chapters. These chapters are linked to separate topics and suggested tasks in related stages of a Moodle course build and management. This takes the learner through the whole process of developing their online course stage by stage, guided by a leading academic in the field.

    THIS COURSE IS AVAILABLE AS READ ONLY VIA GUEST ACCESS

An introduction to the terms, technologies, trends, and best practices of the interactive design industry. Students design, develop, and upload a simple web site using HTML and basic CSS. The importance of writing valid and semantic code is emphasized. Basic web side production stages and requirements such as naming conventions, file organization, project development life cycle, and image optimization are also covered. Prerequisites: None

Setting the scene: Types of project; Types of web teams; Business case - convincing the client; The biggest; The cheapest; The best suited to their needs...; how to scope the project in realistic ways; feasibility and stages of iteration; feedback; keeping clients in the loop.



Preprocessors?

Build tools?

Frameworks?

This course is designed to improve students' conversation skills in a scientific- or engineering-oriented setting. Grammar, writing styles and speaking skills specific to students' scientific and engineering areas of interest will be the focus of this course and will be accomplished through discussions of various authentic technical-based texts.