FLM

A design concept for a mobile Moodle application

Hans de Zwart and I write a monthly series titled: Parallax. We both agree on a title for the post and on some other arbitrary restrictions to induce our creative process. For this post we agreed to create a design concept for a mobile Moodle application. The concept should include screen mockups. You can read Hans’ post with the same title here.
This month we are delighted to have two guest writers writing about the same topic. Marcel de Leeuwe (read his post here) and Job Bilsen (his post can be found here).

Creating a design concept for an e-learning platform like Moodle is not easy.  Whenever I find myself at a difficult task, the first thing I do is make it easier by defining and possibly narrowing the universe of discourse. Here we go.

Instructors and participants

The first condition I set is that the app is an addition to a normal Moodle install. Therefore I decided that administrative tasks like user management, installing blocks and modules, course design or quiz authoring are not the focus of the app. Those tasks should be done in the normal web interface. The mobile application focuses on two particular roles: participants (students) and instructors (teachers, facilitators).

Activities

Second, I think that Moodle is not a course based, user based or content based platform. Moodle is activity based. The heart of Moodle is a multitude of learning activities enabling users to interact with the system or each other. The focus of my design is on activities.

Mobile

Third, it is an application for mobile devices. Giving that some thought made me realise that there is an ambiguous relationship between Moodle and a mobile device. On the one hand a mobile device puts constraints on the design of the application (mainly screen size). On the other hand a mobile device provides new opportunities for Moodle as an e-learning platform. Being mobile makes learning becoming more independent of time and space. You don’t have to be physically behind a computer or in a class room anymore to learn (space). And you can decide to do learning activities whenever you feel like it or when it’s most comfortable for you to do so (time). Moreover, most smartphones being equipped with GPS, there is a whole new world of possibilities and opportunities for new location based activities.

Screen mockups

Here are three simple mockups I created with balsamiq. The first mockup shows the home screen displaying a scrollable list of recent and  / or upcoming activities. Like when someone replied to your forum post, a link to the post will show up high. Or when there is an assignment dead line coming, that assignment will get higher on the list when the dead line is nearing. Furthermore, there is a calendar button for planning and overview and a grade button. The second mockup shows an example forum activity. I modeled the forum to microblogging (Facebooks Wall, Twitter, Elgg’s Wire). On each activity page there are two additional buttons: calendar and resources. The resources button links to informational content like text documents, scorm packages, web pages, databases etc. The third mockup is a simple example of a location based quiz.

Note that the screens are course independent. You might want to show a small course indicator on the activity buttons.

Synopsis

My design concept for a mobile Moodle application can be summarised as follows: keep it simple. The app is activity centered and focuses on participant and instructor roles. Being a mobile app, the often heard adage ‘learning anyplace, adage,anywhere’ is getting one step closer.

Disclaimer

I realise that in this design I did not take into account accessibility. Knowing that the Moodle web application puts a lot of emphasis on accessibility I apologise for that shortcoming. Besides that I didn’t include any ‘helper’ navigational elements like a home button or help icons.