The team at Microsoft announced earlier this month an add-in for Microsoft Office that will allow Moodle administrators and teachers to easily upload their Office files directly into Moodle.
The new Moodle add-in will give you the ability to open any of your Office files located in your Moodle site, directly from Microsoft Office itself. No longer will you need to navigate and log into your Moodle Administration area, in order to locate and modify an Office file. Instead, simply install the add-in and find your Moodle Office documents by selecting "Open from Moodle" right in your Office program's main menu!
The Microsoft Office Moodle add-in will also add a "Save to Moodle" option to your Office main menu. This feature will allow you to save your Office files back into your Moodle website after opening them, without leaving Microsoft Office.
Here are a few screenshots of the Microsoft Office add-in for Moodle, from Office's blog:
The new Office Add-in is ideal for Moodle Administrators and Teachers who need to quickly access and modify Microsoft Office files which they have uploaded to their Moodle course. For example, a teacher that uses PowerPoint slides to teach students within Moodle may need to modify and access those slides on a frequent basis. With the new add-in, instead of logging in, searching for and re-uploading files each time within Moodle, the teacher can simply use Microsoft Office. The add-in cuts time and effort, by eliminating the need to switch interfaces and programs - now it can all be done from within Microsoft Office!
The new Microsoft Office add-in for Moodle is currently free for download from Microsoft's Education Labs website. It is compatible with Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint, versions 2003-2007. We haven't yet given it a try here at Lambda Solutions, but are excited to give it a try as soon as we can!
For more information about Moodle installation, customization, development, themes and add-ins, visit our Moodle Customization page.