Are you using Moodle for teaching students in primary education? Primary education students like to play with colors and drawing while learning. If you are a primary education teacher, then you must be knowing about the pros and cons of using Moodle.
Today, I am going to show you a new Moodle plugin which can be used to add Microsoft Paint like drawing board in Moodle. The new Plugin – “Atto Sketch” is developed by Matthew Davidson is a sub plugin for Atto text editor. Sketch plugin will add a simple drawing canvas in your Moodle text area where the students can create anything with the help of basic shapes, tools and colors.
With the release of Sketch plugin for Atto, the total count of Atto sub plugins have reached to 41. Check out all other Atto sub-plugins here.
Installation:
You can download the Atto Sketch plugin from the Moodle plugins directory here. It is compatible with Moodle 3.0 version onwards. After downloading, you need to install it in your_moodle_site/lib/editor/atto/plugins/sketch directory and finish the installation process by visiting the Notifications page.
Adding sketch to Atto Toolbar:
To add the sketch icon in the atto toolbar, you need to visit Site Administration > Plugins > Text Editors > Atto HTML editor > Atto Toolbar settings. Then add Sketch in the Toolbar config area.
To use Sketch:
After adding sketch to Atto toolbar, the sketch icon will be available in all Moodle text areas. To create a new sketch, just click the Sketch icon and it will open the editor in full screen (However, during my testing, the editor was only limited to 900px by 369px so I informed the plugin developer). Now your students can use a stylus, mouse or finger to create or edit the image. Once done, just click the Insert Sketch to add the image in the text area.
Use Case:
You can use the Sketch plugin for teaching Primary students and let them show their creativity. For example – You can use the sketch activity in Moodle assignments.
What are the other plugins/ techniques to use Moodle in Primary education? Do share with us in the comments section below.
