NanoGong in Moodle

Moodle is a free, open source learning management system. Right now it is one of the most widely used learning management systems. For more information on Moodle you can visit the Moodle homepage.

NanoGong provides a very simple and transparent voice support for Moodle. Using a NanoGong activity and a NanoGong filter NanoGong provides two different types of voice support for Moodle.

• An extended HTML editor which supports voice-enriched content
• A NanoGong activity which allows students to submit voice messages to their teachers

Extended HTML Editor

The Moodle installation comes with an HTML editor which can be used to create HTML text almost everywhere in Moodle. Using NanoGong this HTML editor is extended so that it is extremely easy to add audio objects within the text. That means you can create audio-enriched content almost everywhere in Moodle.

The picture on the left below shows the button which is used to create an audio object, in the HTML editor. Clicking on the button brings up a separate window containing a NanoGong recorder as shown in the picture on the right. A voice message can then be recorded and added into the text.

The Toolbar Button for Creating Audio Object in the HTML Editor

The NanoGong Recorder in the Insert Sound Window

The audio-enriched text is displayed just like any other HTML text except a 'speaker' icon is used as a placeholder for a voice message as shown below. A text caption can also be added by the side of the icon optionally. To listen to the voice message simply click on the 'speaker' icon to bring up a NanoGong player and then click on the NanoGong play button to play it back.

Using the extended HTML editor audio content can be created in forums, assignments, quizzes and many more places.

NanoGong Activity

The NanoGong activity is an exercise that can be put on a course. Every student in the course can submit several voice recordings together with optional text messages using the activity. Teachers in the course can then examine these submissions, give comments and assign a score to each of them.

Submission with a Voice Recorder
and an HTML Editor

For Students Using Moodle

Students can submit their voice and/or text message using a NanoGong recorder and the HTML editor as shown on the right. Once the message is submitted it can be changed or deleted later, provided that the message has not been locked by a teacher or an administrator.

A locked message means it cannot be changed or deleted by the student. The NanoGong activity only allows teachers and administrators to lock a message. For example a teacher may not want the student to change his/her message after the message is graded. Students can revisit the activity to check their grade and comments anytime.

The Message List of the Current Submissions
from Students

For Teachers Using Moodle

In the teacher's view a list of messages is displayed when a teacher enters the activity. The list contains all currently submitted voice messages of all students sorted by their submission date as shown on the left. The teacher can choose to lock messages, change the content of the messages, give comments or give a score to the messages.

Scores given to the submissions are linked to the gradebook (Moodle pre-1.9) and therefore the exercise can be part of the course grading. By default the maximum grade is 100 but it can be changed in the activity settings.

You can try our NanoGong in Moodle example by clicking on the link below. You can use the extended HTML editor, for example, by posting a message on any of the forums. And you can try to submit a voice message using the NanoGong activity. In both cases you are required to create an account in our Moodle site.

Proceed to try out our NanoGong in Moodle example »

The installation of NanoGong in Moodle involves the setup of a NanoGong filter, a NanoGong activity and modifying the HTML editor. For details please go to the NanoGong and Moodle installation instructions page.