Application Note

Using MathType with Moodle

"Moodle is a free learning management system that enables you to create powerful, flexible, and engaging online learning experiences."¹ You've seen how much easier your life is with Moodle. What if I said you could take that quiz you wrote last year in Microsoft Word, and you can reuse the equations in Moodle without having to re-type them? Did you know you can use MathType equations in a Moodle forum or chat? What about the reverse? You can copy an equation from a colleague's Moodle course, paste it into MathType, and use it in PowerPoint. This article will show you how to do all of that, and more. Let's get started...

This AppNote addresses the following topics:

1. Using MathType with Moodle filters, plug-ins, and other add-ons
2. Using MathType equations in Moodle
3. Copying Moodle equations to use in MathType
4. Creating GIFs with MathType to use in Moodle
5. Uploading a MathPage document to Moodle

Getting started

This document assumes you already have a Moodle account. If you have an account but are new to Moodle, refer to the Moodle documentation for help in getting started, and for additional resources that may prove helpful.

Using MathType with Moodle filters, plug-ins, and other add-ons

If you're using MathType 5 or later (Windows or Macintosh), you can choose from 3 Moodle filters that will let you copy your MathType equation as either TeX or MathML, then paste it into Moodle. If you're using MathType 6 for Windows, you can choose from 4 filters that will let you or your students copy equations from your Moodle course and paste them into MathType to use as you would any other MathType equation. The following table summarizes the capabilities of five Moodle filters (links to more information about the filter will open in a new window):

Regardless of which filter you choose to use, it must be enabled by an administrator before following the steps in the next two sections. In this AppNote we'll be using the TeX filter. Procedures for using MathType with other filters will be similar, but may differ slightly. A little trial and error will normally be all you'll need, but if you still have trouble, refer to the filter's documentation or the Moodle Community for more help (login required).

Using MathType equations in Moodle

If you have MathType equations in existing documents or presentations and you'd like to use these in a Moodle course, or if you want to create a new equation to use in Moodle, follow these steps:

1. Open the equation in MathType, or create it if it doesn't already exist. If you're not familiar with opening MathType except from within Word or PowerPoint, it's a simple matter. In Windows, click Start > All Programs > MathType [#] > MathType. On Macintosh OS X, it's Applications > MathType [#] > MathType.
2. Choose an appropriate translator from Preferences > Translators. The "TeX -- LaTeX 2.09 and later" translator is probably the best choice. Click OK.

3. Select the entire equation by dragging the mouse across it or with the shortcut Ctrl+A (Macintosh: Command+A). If you want to use only part of the equation in the MathType workspace, select only the part you want.
4. If the equation is to be an "inline equation" (i.e., part of a sentence), make sure the Inline Equation flag is set in the Format menu. (In the Format menu, there should be a checkmark to the left of "Inline Equation".) If the equation is to be a "display equation" (i.e., in its own paragraph), make sure there is not a checkmark to the left of Inline Equation.

Note: If you're using Moodle's built-in TeX Filter, all of your equations must use the TeX display equation delimiters, so make sure there's not a checkmark next to "inline equation". Moodle's TeX Filter does not recognize the TeX delimiters for inline equations, but unless you physically place the equation in a paragraph of its own, it will appear as an inline equation.

5. Copy the equation or equation fragment with the Edit > Copy command or the shortcut Ctrl+C (Macintosh: Command+C). If there were no errors during translation, MathType will display a Status Bar message that looks like this:

In rare cases, you may get an error message to the effect that there is "No translation available for [name of symbol]". The most common instance of this error is after using one of the expanding integral templates, which you can create in MathType by depressing the Shift key as you choose any integral from the "Integral templates" palette. If you have used expanding integral templates, you'll need to replace them with non-expanding integrals before you translate the equations to LaTeX.

6. Click in the Moodle Resource or Activity where you want the equation to appear, then paste the equation (Windows: Right-click > Paste, or Ctrl+V. Macintosh: Ctrl-click > Paste, or Command+V). Note: If you're using the HTML Editor, it's important that you click on the "Toggle HTML Source" icon ⟨ ⟩, and paste the equation into the HTML source.

The "built-up" equation won't appear until you click the "Save changes" button, the "Post to forum" button, or other appropriate button in Moodle.

7. Note that this will not work with all Moodle math filters. Refer to the table above.

Copying Moodle equations to use in MathType

If you have an equation in your own course, or if you or your students find an equation in another course that you want to use in another document or presentation outside of Moodle, it's possible to do that by using MathType. Not all filters have this capability though, and not all versions of MathType. You must be using MathType 6 in order for this to work.

1. The key to making this work is for the equation image in Moodle to have what's known as "alt text", and for that alt text to be TeX or LaTeX. In some browsers, you can hover the mouse pointer over an equation, and the alt text will be visible in a pop-up display:

If you see that the alt text is present, the following steps will allow you to use the equation in MathType, just as you would any MathType equation. If you don't see the alt text though, it doesn't mean it isn't there. It might mean simply that your browser isn't showing it. It's still worth a try to see if these steps will work.

2. Select the equation by dragging the mouse pointer across it:

3. Copy the equation to the clipboard either with the Edit > Copy command, or with the Ctrl+C shortcut (Macintosh: Command+C). Don't use the right-click (Macintosh: Ctrl+click) contextual menu to choose the "Copy Image" or "Copy Picture" command, because doing so won't work. If the contextual menu for your browser has a "Copy" command, you can use this command if you want.
4. Open MathType and paste the equation into the MathType workspace, either with the Edit > Paste command or with the shortcut. The equation is now a MathType equation that you can edit and use just like any other MathType equation.

The procedures above aren't specific to Moodle. In fact, any time you find a web page that has TeX or LaTeX alt text in the equations, you can use the equations in MathType by following the steps above. We can't provide an exhaustive list of such websites here, but these websites will work: Wikipedia, PlanetMath, and some math blogs (such as The Unapologetic Mathematician, Terry Tao's Math Blog, and The Math Less Traveled).

Creating GIFs with MathType to use in Moodle

MathType allows you to save your equations in various graphics formats, but the most appropriate of these formats for web use is GIF. The process of actually creating GIFs from MathType equations is fairly straightforward. If you're unsure how to do this, refer to the MathType documentation. There are a few user-changeable options in MathType's "Web and GIF Preferences" dialog, accessible via the Preferences menu, but you should normally leave all of these settings at their default values. Two considerations are anti-aliasing and bitmap resolution.

Anti-aliasing

If you're using "normal-sized" equations, one setting you specifically should not change is the checkbox labeled "Smooth edges (anti-aliasing)". Turning on this setting will produce equation images that are fuzzier than they would be without anti-aliasing. The value of anti-aliasing is in using it with large font sizes, normally 18pt and above. Here you can see a comparison of normal- and large-sized equations with and without anti-aliasing:

	12pt	24pt
without anti-aliasing
with anti-aliasing

Bitmap resolution

This is another setting that's best left at the default setting under normal conditions. An exception would be if you're creating a Moodle resource or activity that you want your students to print for reference, to bring to class, to complete and turn in, etc. With the equations at the default setting of 96 or 72dpi, the print quality will be poor. You'll have better results by using a bitmap resolution of 300 or higher. The tradeoff is that the high-resolution images print better, but their display quality is much worse. Here you can see examples of 96 and 384dpi equations as they would appear on-screen; print them out and compare what they look like when printed:

96 dpi
384 dpi

Tip: If you use a resolution of 384 (Macintosh: 288), you'll be able to divide height and width by 4 to arrive at the correct size for the image. A convenient time to adjust the size is after you've uploaded the equation image and while Moodle's Insert Image dialog is still visible. Note in the Insert Image dialog below, there is LaTeX "alt text". This step isn't automatic. If you want to include the alt text, you need to insert it yourself. One of the reasons to use alt text is explained above, but using alt text is also important for sight-impaired individuals accessing the page with screen reading software. The screen reader will either read aloud whatever's in the alt text, or it will skip over the image.

To summarize: use the default resolution when print quality isn't important, and increase the resolution to 300 or above when print quality is important. In the event where both display quality and print quality are important, you should decide if one is more important and go with that. If they're equally important, you're probably better off leaving this setting at its default value. Note that it is possible to have it both ways. In other words, it's possible to include two separate GIFs -- one that will display on the student's monitor and one that will be used for printing. Using this technique will require using CSS, and will require two separate style sheets. Instructions in how to do this are beyond the scope of this article.

Inserting a GIF when not using the HTML editor

With Moodle items that provide only a text box, or if there are other reasons you're not using Moodle's HTML editor, you can still use a GIF if you want, but you'll need to insert the <IMG> tag yourself. This is really much more trouble than it's worth, and you're better off using the built-in TeX filter, pasting the TeX into the text box. For this reason, we don't provide instructions here in how to use GIFs with text boxes in Moodle.

Uploading a MathPage document to Moodle

MathType includes MathPage™ technology that easily converts Microsoft Word documents into web pages, properly handling mathematical symbols as well as MathType and Equation Editor equations. See the MathType documentation if you are unfamiliar with the process of creating a MathPage.

When you create your MathPage, you have a choice of whether to use GIF images or MathML to display the math. Although either of these methods will work with Moodle, we recommend the MathML option, and this is the option we'll cover here. If you are not familiar with MathML, refer to our article MathML for Math and Science Communication. Please note that your students' browsers are likely to be MathML-capable, but not all browsers are. Specifically, the Safari browser is not capable of displaying MathML. In addition, Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE) is not capable of displaying MathML on its own. In order to display MathML in IE 6 or later, you'll need a free Design Science product: MathPlayer. All Mozilla browsers are MathML-capable without special add-ons. This includes Firefox, Camino, and SeaMonkey.

There are just a few steps involved in creating a MathPage and uploading it to Moodle:

1. Create the document in Word and when it's complete, save it.
2. Click the Publish to MathPage icon in the Publish group on the MathType tab in Word 2007's Ribbon. In earlier versions of Word, the Publish to MathPage icon is near the far right of the MathType toolbar, as well as in Word's MathType menu.

3. In the Publish to MathPage dialog, you can leave most of the settings at their default values. The Title is optional, and is what will show in the title bar of the browser when the page is displayed. The File Name section is important, not so much because of the name itself, but because of the path. This is where the file will be saved on your computer, so it'll be important when it comes time to find the file and upload it to Moodle. Be sure not to change the file name extension. In the example below, the extension is xht, and yours should change to xht after the next step. The one default value you'll need to change is in the Equations section. The default is to use images, but you'll want to select MathML using, and make sure you choose the XHTML+MathML in the drop-down list. Verify the file name extension is xht, and click OK.

4. You can now upload the MathPage to Moodle, either as a Resource or as an Assignment.

Feedback

If you find this AppNote useful, and would like to see better integration between MathType and other applications, please send us your comments at feedback@dessci.com.

Reference

1. Rice, W. H. (2006). Moodle: E-Learning Course Development. Birmingham, UK: Packt Publishing.