Let's start this section with me describing the course that I'm going to be converting to Moodle as we work together through this book. The course is called "Backyard Ballistics" and it's a science course that forms a part of an Applied Physics qualification. The course is all about the art of firing weird objects through the air with chemicals and equipment that you will find in your average domestic kitchen and garden shed.

There are certain aspects of this course that I can't convert to Moodle. I want my students to get an appreciation of energy and dynamics by "doing" (kinesthetic learning) the science using everyday items you'll find around your house. But there is a good deal of support material—handouts, diagrams, quizzes—that, currently, I try to distribute electronically using a "shared drive" on the college server. However, my students never seem to find the materials that I tell them to go and look for, in this shared...