Full disclosure, WizIQ (@wiziq)is a sponsor of Moodlenews (see the ad space to the right) providing financial support for our operating/hosting costs.  

Here’s an easy to digest list of good tools for Moodle that you might consider using.  Many are not standard activities/modules but each is available below as a list from the Moodle.org/plugins repository.  The whitepaper, “12 Moodle Tools to Interact with your Students Online” is published and available from WizIQ.  From the whitepaper,

Learning requires collaboration, and in the dispersed environments in which we operate, both online learning and classroom interaction are critical. In this paper, we will discuss how teachers can interact with students online using  the Moodle course management system. The various Moodle tools are discussed, informing teachers of how to facilitate effective interaction inside Moodle.

This is their list of activities (with links to the docs or to download if applicable):

1. Journal
2. Chats and Forums
3. Graded Quizzes
4. Lessons
5. Book
6. Wikis
7. Lightbox galleries (for Storyboarding)
8. Voicethread
9. Add Gadgets and RSS feeds using HTML
10. Use the Project Format
11. Collaborate in Realtime
12. Go virtual (but not just with WizIQ, there are also plugins for BigBlueButton, Amvonet, Adobe Connect, and more)

If you’re looking for ways to engage students online and interested in some plugins and modules you haven’t heard of, the short WizIQ white paper is an easy (and interesting) read.  For what it’s worth I didn’t even know the Journal Activity existed for Moodle 2.x!

Grab the free white paper here: http://www.wiziq.com/whitepaper/6-moodle-tool-guide-for-teachers-how-to-interact-with-students-online

Related posts:

1. Moodlenews Welcomes it’s newest sponsor, @WiZiQ
2. @WiZiQ Live Class Module now works for Moodle 2.0.2
3. Tomorrow (8/31) Free Moodle for Teachers Orientation/Workshop via @WizIQ
4. Dear Mr. Moodle: How do I hide myself from the online users block?
5. Mr. Moodle Answers: Why are inactive students appearing on the online users block?