Better the tools, better the productivity. The tools can be utilized at their best when we continuously learn the skill using them. On the other side; the tools can also be improved to increase productivity even more.

Moodle is one of the most widely adopted cloud based learning management systems, as it is an open source platform, it has attracted a large number of users. The Moodle was created as a basic LMS model, with such a large number of users, the needs of users got diversified; and to meet this novel and diverse needs; plugins came up as a solution.

Moodle plugins can surely help the users to make the platform serve their niche needs. Currently; there are around 1500 plugins available in the Moodle directory. It is advisable to leverage these plugins to deliver the course in a better way. This article describes the top moodle plugins which and will help you to start with the best available Moodle plugins.

Here are the top 5 Moodle plugins to start with-

1) Edwiser RemUI- The ultimate Moodle theme solution

Each and every brand has its own identity, this identity has a big role in building the ultimate brand. Brand theme and color is one of the most important attributes that one may consider as a first step towards building the brand identity.

With Edwiser RemUI, one can build, theme and customize the moodle page. Right from the login page to overall feel and experience, everything can be aligned with your brand elements. The features of this plugin extend to custom page building.

With its diverse and dynamic features, Edwiser RemUI scores the first place in our list of top moodle plugins

2) Eklavvya moodle (Online proctoring)- Secure proctored exams using Moodle

Online exams are a crucial part of the learning process, exams act as a checkpoint to assess the student’s knowledge from time to time. As a basic feature of Moodle, it is possible to conduct the quiz for enrolled students.

The exams which are conducted in the moodle are not secure and the chances of malpractice are high; which in turn questions the reliability of the exam process. This was an unsolved problem until the Eklavvya moodle (Online proctoring) plugin was introduced.

Eklavvya moodle (Online proctoring) plugin enables the instructor to conduct the proctored exams in moodle with few simple steps, the instructor can track the activity of the students using different mechanism of proctoring, which surely helps the instructor to conduct the examinations in a more reliable and malpractice free manner.

The different types of proctoring mechanisms can be implemented for preventing the malpractice, which includes-

Image Proctoring

The images of the candidates can be captured from time to time, the instructor can define the interval at which these images are captured. More the image capture frequency, more will be the strictness of examination.

Video Proctoring

The most advanced proctoring type by implementing which, the course instructor can see the live footage of students appearing the examination. Video proctoring can be integrated with AI technology for human free and 24×7 video proctoring.

Screen Proctoring

The instructor can monitor the screen of the students during the course of examination, the screen proctoring thus makes sure that the students will not access any soft copies of study material or other web resources for malpractice.

These proctoring mechanisms can be combined for a stricter, malpractice free and more reliable examination. The Eklavvya moodle plugin also supports a feature that restricts students from switching the browser window/tab during examination.

With the Eklavvya moodle (Online proctoring) plugin, the moodle exams are surely more reliable which can further extend the use of Moodle for delivering the courses with high stake, by virtue of all the exceptional features, Eklavvya moodle (Online proctoring) plugin holds the second position in our list of top moodle plugins

Here is a short demo of Eklavvya moodle (Online proctoring) plugin

3) Mindmap- A better way to organize and deliver the concepts

“Simple yet effective”

This precisely describes the Mindmap plugin, 

Although we, human beings, are highly intelligent, It is hard to remember anything unless it is noted somewhere.The same has led to “lecture notes” being normal and one of the essential parts of learning. These lecture notes can be prepared in a more structured manner using Mindmaps, certain studies suggest that the Mindmaps increases the retention power of students by 10-15%.

Mindmap plugin allows the course instructor and users to create and save the digital Mind Maps, these maps can be accessed anytime in Moodle.

4) Learning Plan- Makes interest based teaching possible at a larger scale

Personalized teaching is scientifically proven to be a better approach, but when you have thousands of students enrolled for a single course, it is practically not possible to deliver the personalized teaching that aligns the dynamic interests of each and every student.

Learning plan makes it possible to deliver the course to students in a more organized and structured way, the instructor can create different learning plans; which are basically designed to align the course content with the needs and interests of different groups of people.

A common road map of learning is set up for each of the learner’s groups, which is referred to as a learning plan. For example in a course of Fashion technology; if 100 students are enrolled, few of them, say 20, are interested only in fabric technology and not in any other modules. As an instructor, I can create a separate learning plan for these 20 students. This learning plan would be intended towards the interests of these 20 students and would not contain any other modules than the ones which are demanded by the students.

This module finds its place in the list of top Moodle plugins as it makes personalized teaching practically possible at a much larger scale.

5) CodeRunner- Makes it possible to grade the answers containing codes

For conducting the exams for coding/programming related subjects, it is necessary to include the coding based questions, the basic Moodle LMS does not support the exams with coding questions, which is surely a great limitation of the moodle.

CodeRunner turns out to be a great solution for those who want to conduct the coding based test in Moodle, The author can ask the coding/programming based question; which can be graded by running the answers codes. Students also get benefitted with this plugin, students can check if the code that they are submitting is correct and executable or not by simply clicking on the “check” button. If the answer code/program is wrong; students can correct and resubmit the answer; More the number of attempts; more will be the penalty of marks.

CodeRunner can not only help the course instructors to check the answers faster, but can also help students to practice the coding/programming skills

Although this plugin is specifically useful for those conducting the coding/programming tests, this feature finds its place in the top Moodle plugins as it serves a necessary and unserved need.

With these plugins, the instructor can make the Moodle a better platform in all aspects, the plugins Learning Plan and Mindmap improve the academic content delivery and learning,  CodeRunner and Eklavvya moodle (Online proctoring) can help to conduct exams in an efficient and reliable way. Parallelly to these all, Edwiser RemUI can help to make the overall learning experience even better.