Communication

Communication is a key feature in Moodle as it enhances the learning experience of all users involved. Moodle supports synchronous and asynchronous communication, which have to be configured by the administrator.

Synchronous communication

We cover two types of synchronous communication in Moodle: instant messaging and video conferencing, both of which are discussed in the following sections.

Instant messaging

Moodle's on-board facility for instant messaging is the Chat activity that is used in courses or the front page. The module works out of the box, without configuration, using the Ajax method (default) or Normal method. However, it creates significant load on the server on large installations or when chat rooms are used intensively.

To rectify this, the activity supports a chat server daemon, which has to be configured. The setting up of the daemon takes place in Plugins | Activity modules | Chat.

To make use of a chat server daemon, you will have to change the Chat method...