How to use the main script

How do we get from the main script to an online page like this?

Before we get to the point of developing a Moodle course online like the one you can see here, the design of this page is first worked out ‘on paper’. We do this in our Moodle main script.

The main script is a topic by topic representation of what we envisage will be on the Moodle page. Before we get into any detailed writing of content or media resources, the main script helps us to structure our page and consider the flow of supporting information our learners need, as well as where we will place our learning activities and any learning resources.

How the main script is structured

The first section tends to be our course title, introductory resources and a welcome to the course. Then this is followed by the course topics.

When I am working on a topic I will write in the information my learners need to read when they view the Moodle page - that is the text they will read to navigate themselves in the topic and know what to read, why and when. This text is written in the Moodle page using a Moodle ‘label’.

To indicate when text is written in a label I write ‘label’ in the left hand ‘format’ column then write in my text that will appear on the page in the main centre column of content.

From time to time I will need the learner to read some detailed activity instructions. If I put everything straight into labels on the Moodle page this would make a very long web page indeed! Instead I create pop-up web pages and put the activity instructions inside the web page.

On my main script I represent this web page by first creating a filename and I put this in the first column. I will actually script the text and write the instructions for this pop-up webpage in another document but remembering to call it the same filename I have put here so we can cross-reference this file when it comes to developing the course.

Next I indicate the file format. Is it going to be a html page?

Then I write in the name of the link to this web page which the learners will see on their Moodle page. We always make sure the link name is something meaningful and specific.

The main script will be built up by creating each topic. It‘s a good thing to stand back and re-read your main script after a short break so you get a good perspective of how a learner will work through your course. Its also a good idea to get someone else to read your script too.

Finally you will therefore have your main script ready to transfer straight into the course page, and all your documents ready with the associated scripts for resources linked from your page.

It‘s a good idea too to create a spreadsheet of all the resources you need to build with the filenames you have put into the main script. That way you can check that everything has been completed!