1. Moodle as Help Desk
Mary M Rydesky
Anchorage, Alaska, USA
iMoot 2015
2. Covered in this presentation…
What’s a Help Desk?
Features of the Moodle structure
Suggestions for organizing categories
Templates for standardization
Guidelines for content
Search-ability of content
3. What’s the value?
Moodle manages content that is requested at different times
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
In-depth orientation & training potential
Visual, textual, audible, interactive features
Enhances communication efficiently
4. What’s a Help Desk?
Source of information to end frustration and enable full
functioning of task with little time wasted
A ‘learning moment’
5. Help Desk Features
FAQs for self help
Live interaction when needed
Ways to capture use statistics
What questions are most frequent?
Can we change this?
Gateway to additional help
Google or company-specific
Statistics to determine interest
6. RequestTypes
Set up a schema for types of requests
Question - an inquiry rather than a problem that needs to be
solved
Problem - an issue with your product or service that is likely to
be experienced by more than one user/customer
Incident - occurrences of a problem that affects more than one
user
Incident tickets are linked to a problem ticket
when the problem ticket is solved all related incidents of that
problem are solved automatically
Task - used to assign the ticket as a task to a specific tech
Includes a target date of completion
7. Request Priority
Low
Normal
High
Burner (Urgent)
Can be based on user profileOR passage of time since request
was submitted
8. Recurring Issues
Moodle Perfect!
Pre-written instruction or answer to an inquiry that is asked
frequently
Example: My password isn’t working….
9. Example: ATech Portal & A User Portal
Company wants two resources, one for the employed techs,
one for the end users/customers, dreams of a third one for
guests (sees promotional value)
These would be parallel in terms of subjects
Content varies by role
Tech is expected to have higher levels of familiarity
End users require clarity and specificity
Guests are end users with limited levels of access + follow-up by
staff
10. Example: How do I open a spreadsheet?
Through SEARCH, find your Moodle category for using Excel
or Numbers or other software of choice
Include a lesson or unit indexed to opening or creating a
spreadsheet
Short video
Short step-by-step words
Short step-by-step audio
Offer chat/message for personal support
Add links to other tools that might help if more is needed
Include rating/feedback method to determine satisfaction
11. Example: How To Use this Service
HowTo Use this Service
When the Help Desk GuideYou Best
When to and How to Submit aTicket
When to Call theTechs for Live Help
Email Basics
From Sending Mail to Archiving Mail
Security
Do ItYourselfTrouble-shooting
12. Communication Entry Points
Users/customers/staff communicate by…
Sending email
Completing a support request form on your web site/Moodle
Telephone call
Catching you in the hallway
Text chat
Tweeting
Posting on Face Book page
Moodle chat
Think of these as ‘channels’ feeding in for ‘Help”
13. What Content Categories?
Create a plan in outline form, including
Every major component offered such as software programs
supported or online student learner services provided
Divisions for various user groups (techs, clients, guests)
Policy for create versus link to – what MUST be built internally?
Relate to the audience for whom material is offered
Consider an outline that can be expanded over time, and
remain manageable
15. Moodle Structure
Topical course structure
Social course structure?
Standard tools/resources
Header block with topic, key words, date of last update
Forum/discussion groups
Chat
Messaging
Create html blocks
Most frequent question
Featured courses/live-sessions
16. Templates
Standardize by creating templates for
FAQs
Orientation sessions
In-depth courses
Other, per your situation
Create flowchart(s) of the process(es) you will follow for
providing responses
Creating new documentation
Reviewing statistics
17. The BIGWin
Documentation
In IT, in Project Management, in Grants Management,
documentation is key….but not uniformly well done
Cost of personnel
Time
Effort
Moodle can become the tool of choice for your organization
18. The BIGGESTWIN
Users can become self-sufficient, learning at a point of need
Better user skill means fewer support requests that require
live intervention on repetitive or recurring questions
Providing a “knowledge base and a community platform”
help users find solutions to problems independently
That’s your Moodle!
