If your Moodle was available to your personal assistant (like Siri) what would you ask it?

Direct link to Dan Poltawski’s blog: http://blog.danpoltawski.co.uk/archives/2011-11-siri-interface-to-the-moodle-tracker.html (he’s even made the code available).

The video: http://youtu.be/iLB1sTMr0iM

1. Install the Slideshow app by Netcourse.org: http://moodlemodules.netcourse.org/
2. Next download the handy Moodle Slideshow app for iOS and then login (as a student or teacher).
3. Create slideshows from camera images and recorded audio straight from your iPhone.

Check out the video to see how it works (simple to use and the end result looks pretty nice).  Here’s a video that shows the process of making slideshows:

If you’re local Moodle hasn’t yet made the jump to supporting the official Moodle app (MyMoodle) then this is one of the only viable options (it requires no setup on the server).  For more information about MoodleTouch and it’s sibling products for Android, iPad, and Windows phones visit http://www.pragmasql.com/moodletouch/home.aspx.

For more information about Mobile Moodle apps visit http://www.moodlenews.com/mobile/

I haven’t yet tested the official app but included some links and quick notes gleaned from the development page (http://docs.moodle.org/dev/Mobile_app). If you’re not ready to update to Moodle 2.1 but want Mobile functionality check out the matrix, complete with reviews and testing notes.  My personal favorite for 1.9 is the free and very easy/useful MLE: http://www.moodlenews.com/2010/mobile-app-review-mle/.

Enjoy and chime in on the discussion at our Mobile page.

myMobile Alpha is a new theme created by John Stabinger (http://stabinger.us/) which allows for better mobile access of a Moodle 2 site.  The theme is not intended for allowing teachers and admins to manage their resources and content (or the site settings) but is intended to provide a cleaner, better end-user experience for Moodle access via mobile devices.

According to the site,

MyMobile is a new theme for Moodle 2.x. Built using the Jquery mobile UI, it is designed to bring a mobile-optimized interface to your moodle 2 install.

For more information on the myMobile Alpha theme:

• John’s introductory post at: http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=174104
• The theme entry: http://moodle.org/mod/data/view.php?d=26&rid=4757
• The official theme page: http://mymobile.stabinger.us/
• Watch a video of the theme in action: [link]

I’m excited.

Check out all their videos and subscribe at http://www.youtube.com/user/MoodleroomsVideo

Direct video link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBmKMXcT6Bo

Here’s a full list of what you can expect for changes if you upgrade to mTouch 2.0.1:

• 3G connectivity bug fixed
• Moodle 2 Support
• User interface improvements
• Stability bug fixes
• Open documents from other apps and send documents to other apps
• Take photos and upload to Moodle
• Upload saved photos to Moodle
• Download files from web and upload them to Moodle
• New theme named SmallerFont a variant of the default theme
• Login to Moodle from https and access content through http

The new photo/picture features seem promising and more in tune with the vision that Moodle HQ has put forth for their own official app.

For more information or to purchase/download visit

• mTouch
• mTouch+
• You may also be interested in mTouch-U, a universal app for Moodle which can be used on Android as well.

Please note that Moodlenews has not tested this newest release (but we have utilized mTouch and mTouch+ in the past both on iPad and iPod Touch).  Visit http://moodlenews.com/mobile for more information and reviews.

In addition, Ali and his team have been working to add additional functionality (some of which is pretty slick) to bring more utility and power to Moodle on a handheld.  A few of the new features and improvements include:

• Ability to access the camera while using mTouch (allowing direct upload of captured images to Assignments)
• Document sharing between mTouch and other apps
• and more!

A full list of the new features and some great information about the 2.0 compatibility is available at the newly themed Moodletouch.com [link to announcement].

Ryan Miller’s Michigan Learning Moodle Support podcast (21 episodes in all) are available through iTunes for free.  Covering every Moodle topic from course settings through Ajax through file management (and a preference for PDF) the podcast series is sure to be a great asset for Moodle learning (especially now that you can take it on the go with your iPod or iPhone.

For more information visit the official iTunes store page: http://itunes.apple.com/us/itunes-u/moodle-support/id394013044

This week I dived into reviewing as many “ready to deploy” apps as I could, including the first and only Native App (MTouch), a few hybrids (mBook and mPage), and an older (but far ahead of it’s time) web service (MLE).  Each has their positives and negatives and I encourage you to try them out to find the best fit as each might be useful to a certain organization or audience in it’s own way.

What’s clear is that the community only stands to benefit from these developments (and those to come) in Mobile learning via Moodle.  But most importantly I think is that proliferation and back swing of the “app culture”.  As the mobile market fractures, there will be no one winner in terms of Mobile OS, so to accommodate all students fairly I’m very much in favor of web services (rather than native apps) which can provide a more level playing field for adoption and usage.  Fandroids and Fanboys alike will benefit (and so will the developers and community).

Unfortunately, what’s not clear yet is how a web-service developer can capitalize on creating a quality mobile skin for Moodle; I’m sure they’d be open to suggestions for business plans.

In any event, as more apps are released I’ll get them reviewed here as soon as possible.

http://www.moodlenews.com/mobile/

¹It was once asked “why does Moodle need a Mobile app anyway?” (I think especially referring to the iPad app); for iPad, I tend to agree.  Moodle sites can look beautiful and almost zero functionality is lost.  But at least one app had a novel feature which was missed in transition from computer to iPad and that was the copy/paste buffer which was ultimately handy when moving between resources and web pages.  For mobile in general though, simpler, faster loading pages and courses make for a better experience so I definitely think there’s a place/need for additional development.