Problem – My students are using Moodle but not for what I intended. In addition to using the discussion forums to discuss their assigned readings, they are also using the built-in Messaging in Moodle to talk about everything under the sun–including how weird their teacher is! Help!
Solution: A two-pronged approach
The challenge, as I see it, can best be met by taking advantage of inappropriate messaging as a teachable moment. What a great opportunity to discuss the value of digital citizenship and how anyone can read what you write online, even when you think the conversation is private.
Consider this discussion of digital citizenship:
Digital Citizenship is a concept which helps teachers, technology leaders and parents to understand what students/children/technology users should know to use technology appropriately. Digital Citizenship is more than just a teaching tool; it is a way to prepare students/technology users for a society full of technology. Too often we are seeing students as well as adults misusing and abusing technology but not sure what to do. The issue is more than what the users do not know but what is considered appropriate technology usage.
Source: Digital Citizenship
One of the nine elements of Dr. Ribble’s Digital Citizenship is digital communication. In that section, Mike writes the following:
The expanding digital communication options have changed everything because people are able to keep in constant communication with anyone else. Now everyone has the opportunity to communicate and collaborate with anyone from anywhere and anytime.
Source: Nine Elements, Digital Citizenship
I’m afraid that many teachers would rather NOT have this conversation with their students. As such, instead of taking a digital citizenship approach, the knee-jerk reaction is to take the easy way out and TURN OFF MESSAGING in Moodle.
TURNING OFF MOODLE MESSAGING
To turn off messaging in Moodle, you will need to know how to access your Moodle database using a popular tools like one of the following (all free):
- phpMyAdmin – This is a web-based tool that you can install on your web server by placing it in a folder accessible via the web and editing the config file to reflect your server’s settings.
- SQLYog Community Edition – This is a Windows program–also works via WINE on UbuntuLinux–that you can use to query the Moodle database.
- Navicat Lite – This is a program available for Linux, Windows and Macintosh computers that allows you to interact with the Moodle database directly, just like the previous two programs.
Using one of these programs, you can run a SQL command below…note that this command is for Moodle 1.9.5+:
UPDATE `mdl_config` SET `value` = ‘0’ WHERE `id` = 66
where…
- “mdl_config” is the name of the table in the Moodle database
- “value” represents whether this feature is ON (1) or OFF (0)
- “id=66” represents Messaging feature in Moodle
There many other features you can turn off in the “mdl_config” table, however, be careful to investigate the potential consequences of doing so.
To turn Messaging back on, change the 0 to 1 for the value.
Please share how you’ve dealt with inappropriate messaging in Moodle! Did you take advantage of the teachable moment or did you take the “easy way” out?
;->
Subscribe to Around the Corner-MGuhlin.org
Everything posted on Miguel Guhlin’s blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure
Discover more from Another Think Coming
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Another Think Coming 
I use moodle and really like the messaging system. IT allows the students to contact me without giving away personal info.When they use the messaging system inapprpriately, my colleagues and I simply print out the conversation and show mom and dad. We treat it as if they stood up in the middle of the room and shouted what they typed. The APs discipline accordingly if needed. So long as you're upfront and they know you're watching, the silliness really declines
I use moodle and really like the messaging system. IT allows the students to contact me without giving away personal info.When they use the messaging system inapprpriately, my colleagues and I simply print out the conversation and show mom and dad. We treat it as if they stood up in the middle of the room and shouted what they typed. The APs discipline accordingly if needed. So long as you're upfront and they know you're watching, the silliness really declines
Thanks for this. We are wrestling with this topic now. Mike, how do you view student messages?I ran across this mysql command to view messages, but it requires that I be within our LAN to use phpmyadmin. selectfrom_unixtime(timecreated) as time,concat(sender.firstname,' ',sender.lastname) as sender,concat(recipient.firstname,' ',recipient.lastname) as recipient,mdl_message.messagefrommdl_message left join mdl_user as sender on mdl_message.useridfrom=sender.idleft join mdl_user as recipient on mdl_message.useridto=recipient.idPerhaps there is a better way?Also, there is a nice write-up in Moodle Docs: http://docs.moodle.org/en/Messaging_FAQMiguel: Does this mysql command achieve different results than turning off messaging in the site configuration?Miguel, thanks for pointing out concisely the opportunity for teaching. I agree that many times, teachers and admins are too quick to "pull the plug" rather than teach and enforce appropriate use.Jeff
Thanks for this. We are wrestling with this topic now. Mike, how do you view student messages?I ran across this mysql command to view messages, but it requires that I be within our LAN to use phpmyadmin. selectfrom_unixtime(timecreated) as time,concat(sender.firstname,' ',sender.lastname) as sender,concat(recipient.firstname,' ',recipient.lastname) as recipient,mdl_message.messagefrommdl_message left join mdl_user as sender on mdl_message.useridfrom=sender.idleft join mdl_user as recipient on mdl_message.useridto=recipient.idPerhaps there is a better way?Also, there is a nice write-up in Moodle Docs: http://docs.moodle.org/en/Messaging_FAQMiguel: Does this mysql command achieve different results than turning off messaging in the site configuration?Miguel, thanks for pointing out concisely the opportunity for teaching. I agree that many times, teachers and admins are too quick to “pull the plug” rather than teach and enforce appropriate use.Jeff
Hi Miguel,I totally agree with the "use-as-a-teaching-opportunity" approach as opposed to the "pull-the-plug" approach.However, if someone really needs to pull the plug, instead of doing it directly in the database, you can easily do it in the administration interface (see Administration > Security > Site policies).There is also a nice possibility to turn off messaging for selected users only (i.e. those who misuse the system) – see here: http://docs.moodle.org/en/Messaging_FAQ#How_can_messaging_be_restricted.3FGreetings from a fan of your blog,Przemek
Hi Miguel,I totally agree with the “use-as-a-teaching-opportunity” approach as opposed to the “pull-the-plug” approach.However, if someone really needs to pull the plug, instead of doing it directly in the database, you can easily do it in the administration interface (see Administration > Security > Site policies).There is also a nice possibility to turn off messaging for selected users only (i.e. those who misuse the system) – see here: http://docs.moodle.org/en/Messaging_FAQ#How_can_messaging_be_restricted.3FGreetings from a fan of your blog,Przemek
I love the messaging system in Moodle, and with the help of the Message Log Report for 1.9+ downloaded from moodle.org, we were able to have an authentic lesson on digital citizenship.Sixty, 6th graders 'discovered' messaging all by themselves, and managed to generate 1,000 messages in one week's time! Not one message had anything to do with classwork, and many of them were sent during class!I generated, hid the usernames, and printed the message log report. Then I showed up in their classrooms, and explained appropriate ways to use this feature. You should have seen how big their eyes got when they realized administrators can see what they write within this school resource. I explained that their 'free-play' with messaging was over, and they were now expected to use this feature for class business only. Since then, not one inappropriate message has been sent.
I love the messaging system in Moodle, and with the help of the Message Log Report for 1.9+ downloaded from moodle.org, we were able to have an authentic lesson on digital citizenship.Sixty, 6th graders 'discovered' messaging all by themselves, and managed to generate 1,000 messages in one week's time! Not one message had anything to do with classwork, and many of them were sent during class!I generated, hid the usernames, and printed the message log report. Then I showed up in their classrooms, and explained appropriate ways to use this feature. You should have seen how big their eyes got when they realized administrators can see what they write within this school resource. I explained that their 'free-play' with messaging was over, and they were now expected to use this feature for class business only. Since then, not one inappropriate message has been sent.