Moodle 2 Administration

An administrator's guide to configuring, securing, customizing, and extending Moodle

• A complete guide for planning, installing, optimizing, customizing, and configuring Moodle
• Learn how to network and extend Moodle for your needs and integrate with other systems
• A complete reference of all Moodle system settings

In Detail

Moodle has evolved from an academic project to the world's most popular virtual learning environment. During this evolution, its complexity has risen dramatically and so have the skills that are required to administer the system.

Moodle 2 Administration is a complete, practical guide to administering Moodle sites. It covers how to set up Moodle in any learning environment, configuration and day-to-day admin tasks, as well as advanced options for customizing and extending Moodle.

The author, who has been administering systems for over 20 years, has adopted a problem-solution approach to bring the content in line with your day-to-day operations. The practical examples will help you to set up Moodle for large groups and small courses alike.

This is a one-stop reference for any task you will ever come across when administering a Moodle site of any shape and size.

What you will learn from this book

• Install and update Moodle on multiple platforms manually and using the CLI
• Manage courses, cohorts, users, and roles
• Get Moodle hooked up to repositories, portfolios, and plagiarism detection systems
• Configure Moodle for accessibility, localization, communication, and collaboration
• Generate comprehensive Moodle reports and statistics
• Guarantee backups, security, privacy, and performance
• Network Moodle with Mahara and extend it with third-party add-ons
• Configure Moodle web services to enable mobile learning and integration with other IT systems

Approach

Written in a clear, straightforward way with lots of screenshots and direct instructions, this book will equip you with all the tools you need to set up, optimize, extend, and maintain a Moodle system. A problem-solution approach has been taken when possible to bring the content more in line with your day-to-day operations.

Who this book is written for

This book is written for technicians and systems administrators, as well as academic staff. Essentially anyone who has to administer a Moodle system. Whether you are dealing with a small-scale local Moodle system or a large-scale multi-site Virtual Learning Environment, this book will assist you with any administrative tasks. Some basic Moodle knowledge is helpful, but not essential.

Alex Büchner

Alex Büchner is the co-founder and technical lead of the leading Moodle, Totara and Mahara partner, Synergy Learning. He has been involved in system and database administration for more than two decades and has been administering virtual learning environments of all shapes and sizes since their advent on the educational landscape.

Alex holds a PhD in Computer Science and an MSc in Software Engineering. He has authored over 50 international publications, including two books, and is a frequent speaker on Moodle, Totara and Mahara, and related open-source technologies. His first book on Moodle Administration by Packt Publishing has become the de facto standard on the topic.