00 step-by-step instructions · september 2011 these instructions are for staff using the moodle 2...

September 2011

These instructions are for staff using the Moodle 2 learning management system (LMS) at the

University of New South Wales.

The Getting started topics help you familiarise yourself with Moodle 2, whether you’re new

to Moodle or have been using Moodle 1.9.

Creating course content presents the essential steps for setting up your basic Moodle

course.

The section Creating resources helps you create all types of non‐interactive Moodle content.

Creating activities tells you how to begin incorporating interactive elements into your

course.

Using assessment tools gives instruction on including all Moodle’s different types of

assessable activities items, and on using the Gradebook.

Online Moodle resources contains a list of useful sources of information about Moodle.

Moodle 2Staff step-by-step instructions

Contents

Getting started .............................................................................................................................. 1

What is Moodle 2? .............................................................................................................................. 2

Re‐orientation for Moodle 1.9 users .................................................................................................. 3

File repositories .......................................................................................................................... 3

Workshop activity ...................................................................................................................... 3

Wiki activity ................................................................................................................................ 4

Course completion and activity completion ............................................................................... 4

Conditional activities (selective release) .................................................................................... 4

Roles and permissions ................................................................................................................ 5

Private files (new feature) .......................................................................................................... 5

Navigation .................................................................................................................................. 5

Comments .................................................................................................................................. 5

New blocks ................................................................................................................................. 6

Log in, access a course, time out, log out ........................................................................................... 7

What’s on the My home page? ........................................................................................................... 8

What’s on a course home page?......................................................................................................... 9

What tools are available in Moodle? ................................................................................................ 11

Course materials and copyright ........................................................................................................ 14

Using other people's work in your course ................................................................................ 14

Library online resources—link to them correctly ..................................................................... 14

Copyright guidelines................................................................................................................. 14

Creating course content ................................................................................................................ 15

Edit course home page settings ........................................................................................................ 15

Turn editing on .................................................................................................................................. 16

Copy text from Word into Moodle ................................................................................................... 17

Add content to the course home page ............................................................................................. 20

Create a resource .............................................................................................................................. 21

Create an activity .............................................................................................................................. 23

Use legacy course files (recommended) ........................................................................................... 25

Why you should use legacy course files ................................................................................... 25

Switch legacy course files facility on ........................................................................................ 26

Upload a resource to legacy course files .................................................................................. 27

Insert a file or image from legacy course files into a course .................................................... 28

Delete a file from legacy course files ....................................................................................... 29

Manage files during course rollover ........................................................................................ 29

Embed an image ............................................................................................................................... 30

Embed UNSWTV/YouTube video ...................................................................................................... 32

Incorporate Lectopia ......................................................................................................................... 35

Hide a resource or activity from students ........................................................................................ 36

Restrict access to a resource or activity ............................................................................................ 37

Set up activity completion ................................................................................................................ 39

Creating resources ........................................................................................................................ 40

Book .................................................................................................................................................. 41

File ..................................................................................................................................................... 43

Private files ........................................................................................................................................ 46

Folders ............................................................................................................................................... 49

IMS content package......................................................................................................................... 51

Label .................................................................................................................................................. 52

Web page .......................................................................................................................................... 53

URL .................................................................................................................................................... 54

Creating activities ......................................................................................................................... 56

Communicate with students ............................................................................................................. 57

View a list of all students in a course ....................................................................................... 57

View a history of student activity ............................................................................................. 57

Message an individual using the Online Users block ............................................................... 58

Message selected participant/s from the Participants list ...................................................... 59

Send a group message/email using the Participants list ......................................................... 60

Post to a specific group in a 'separate groups' forum.............................................................. 61

Configure your notifications ..................................................................................................... 62

Attendance ........................................................................................................................................ 63

Chat ................................................................................................................................................... 65

Choice ................................................................................................................................................ 66

Database ........................................................................................................................................... 67

Databases and course rollover ................................................................................................. 70

Make your database searchable .............................................................................................. 70

Dialogue ............................................................................................................................................ 71

Feedback ........................................................................................................................................... 72

Forum ................................................................................................................................................ 73

Glossary ............................................................................................................................................. 76

Group activities ................................................................................................................................. 77

Group selection ................................................................................................................................. 80

SCORM package ................................................................................................................................ 81

Voice activities (Authoring, Board, Email, Podcaster, Presentation) ................................................ 82

Voice Authoring ........................................................................................................................ 83

Voice Board .............................................................................................................................. 83

Voice Email ............................................................................................................................... 83

Voice Podcaster ........................................................................................................................ 84

Voice Presentation ................................................................................................................... 84

Wiki ................................................................................................................................................... 85

Wimba Classroom ............................................................................................................................. 87

Blogging in Moodle ........................................................................................................................... 88

Using assessment tools ................................................................................................................. 94

Assignment ........................................................................................................................................ 95

Create a private online space for a student ............................................................................. 97

Manage student submission of video assignments ................................................................. 97

Turnitin Assignment .......................................................................................................................... 98

Lesson ............................................................................................................................................... 99

Quiz ................................................................................................................................................. 100

Workshop (peer review and self‐assessment) ................................................................................ 101

Gradebook ...................................................................................................................................... 106

View the Gradebook............................................................................................................... 107

Customise the Gradebook—categories, items, scales, grades and outcomes ....................... 108

Change viewing preferences .................................................................................................. 113

Hide grades from students ..................................................................................................... 115

Manage assignments in the Gradebook ................................................................................ 116

Export the Gradebook ............................................................................................................ 118

Online Moodle resources ............................................................................................................ 119

UNSW resources ............................................................................................................................. 119

Other tertiary institutions’ resources ............................................................................................. 119

Moodle resources ........................................................................................................................... 119

September 2011 UNSW Moodle 2 staff step‐by‐step instructions—1

Getting started

The following pages will help you get used to the Moodle 2 environment:

What is Moodle 2?

Re‐orientation for Moodle 1.9 users—what’s changed and what’s new in Moodle since

version 1.9

Log in, access a course, time out, log out—how to access and exit Moodle

What’s on the My home page?

What’s on a course home page?

What tools are available in Moodle?


What is Moodle 2?

Moodle (Modular Object‐Oriented Learning Environment) is open‐source learning management

software.

Two versions of Moodle are currently being used at UNSW, Moodle 1.9 and Moodle 2. These

instructions relate to Moodle 2 only.


Re‐orientation for Moodle 1.9 users

file repositories (new)

Workshop activity (changed)

Wiki activity (changed)

course and activity completion (new)

conditional activities (selective release) (new)

roles and permissions (changed)

private files (new)

navigation (changed)

comments (new)

new blocks (new)

File repositories

With Moodle 2’s file repository system:

Duplicate files are only stored once, saving disk space.

When you upload a file, Moodle gives it the same permissions as the resource or activity to

which it is uploaded. (For example, a file may belong to a file resource, a forum post or a wiki

page).

You access repositories using the new File picker interface. The new system manages

resources files and keeps track of their usage in activities, e.g. when an image is used on a

content page. Metadata about each file (author, date, license information) is stored in the

database.

You can now copy documents and media into Moodle from external content repositories

(Google Docs, Flickr, YouTube, Wikimedia, Mahara) using an interface similar to a standard

Open dialog box. You can also import files from your desktop or by specifying a URL.

Workshop activity

Moodle 1.9: The Workshop tool is fairly cumbersome and complex; it takes a great deal of time and

concentration to become familiar with it. It has only been maintained sufficiently to keep it

operational.

Moodle 2: The new Workshop tool (completely rewritten) has a more user‐friendly interface and the

process is more streamlined and better signposted. Workshop activities proceed as follows:

2. Teacher creates assessment tasks and sets up the grading strategy.

3. Students submit responses.

4. Peers and/or teacher assess the submissions.

5. Moodle calculates the grades for both students’ submissions and their assessment of others’

submissions.


Wiki activity

Moodle 1.9: HTML and Creole editing formats are available. Teacher has to choose which HTML

mode to allow, whether to allow file upload, auto‐linking options and student admin options.

Moodle 2: The Wiki activity has been completely rewritten. HTML, Creole and Nwiki (a Mediawiki‐

like markup language) editing formats are now available. File upload is automatically available. The

Adding a new Wiki page has been simplified and, as with all activities, you can Restrict access to

wikis, and set Activity completion conditions.

Course completion and activity completion

Moodle 1.9: The Gradebook is the only place where it is clear which activities/courses have been

completed by students. It is not possible to tell whether a student has viewed a resource or an

activity.

Moodle 2: Comprehensive completion indicators have now been integrated into Moodle at both

activity and course level.

Using the Restrict access and Activity completion sections on the Adding a

new [Activity] page, you can now define when the system considers that a

student has completed the activity. You may, for example, require that a

certain number of posts are put up, that a grade is assigned or a particular

grade is achieved, that a choice is made or that a student manually marks a

resource as having been viewed.

You can now specify a course completion condition for all students. This can

be based on activity completion, or on achieving a certain grade, meeting

deadlines or other criteria. This standard can be used as a prerequisite to

other courses, allowing ordered progression and scaffolding.

You and your students can access reports on students’ progress through a

course or series of courses.

Conditional activities (selective release)

Moodle 1.9: No alternative learning paths can be constructed through a Moodle 1.9 course. You can

either show or hide an activity, but you cannot make its visibility conditional on viewing another

resource or completing another activity.

Moodle 2: With the new Conditional Activities feature, you can restrict access to activities based on

dates, grade obtained, the completion of another activity or other criteria. Using these criteria, you

can set up course content so that it is progressively disclosed.


Roles and permissions

Moodle 1.9: An instructor can assign Teaching Assistant, Student and Guest roles within a course.

Moodle 2: All roles are assigned by the system administrator. Individuals’ roles can be viewed within

a course (in the Settings block: Under Course administration, click Users > Permissions > Check

permissions), but only the system administrator can change them. Instructors can determine access

to resources and activities using the Restrict access section of the Adding page.

Private files (new feature)

In Moodle 2, each user has access to a private files area where they can upload and manage a set of files.

Access the private files area using the Navigation block (My home > My profile > My private files), or add the My private files block. In the File picker, Private files displays as a repository from which you can select files to use in a course.

Navigation

Moodle 1.9: Moving around a Moodle 1.9 course can be quite laborious, requiring a lot of clicking

through pages.

Moodle 2: The new standard Navigation and Settings blocks on every page shows different links

depending on whether you are at course level or resource/activity level, allowing you to jump

elsewhere quickly.

Comments

Moodle 1.9: Instructors rely on such tools as forums and glossaries to allow student input and

commenting.

Moodle 2: User comments (on glossaries, databases, blogs etc) are now managed centrally and

handled and displayed consistently throughout Moodle. Comments can be added and deleted

without loading a new page. The new Comments block can be added to any course page.


New blocks

Comments—allows comments to be added to any page. Great for student feedback.

My private files—allows access to a user's private files using the File picker. Quota

management is available.

Course completion status—reports on the completion status of your courses

All blocks can now be docked, so that only their title is visible at the top left‐hand corner of the course page. To dock a block, click the docking icon at the top right of the block (hover your mouse over it and the identifying text ‘Move this to the dock’ displays). To undock, hover over the docked block’s tab and click the undocking icon .


Log in, access a course, time out, log out

To log in to Moodle 2:

1. Go to the Moodle login page: https://moodle2.telt.unsw.edu.au/login/index.php

2. Enter your Username (your staff number) and Password (your zPass) and click Login. The My

home page displays.

Note: Once you are logged in, if you are inactive in Moodle for a substantial period, your session will

time out. When you next access the Moodle page, the Login to the site page will display with the

message: ‘Your session has timed out. Please log in again.’

To access a Moodle course:

1. Log in to Moodle 2.

2. On the Moodle My home page, click the name of the course. The course home page displays.

To log out of Moodle, click Logout at the right of the page banner, next to the message, ‘You are

logged in as...’


What’s on the My home page?

The My home page is the default landing page when you enter Moodle. Links to all your teaching

courses display here.

Blocks: The boxes down the right‐hand panel of the page are called ‘blocks’. They contain specific

information or functions for you and your students in Moodle.

To add a block to a page:

1. Click Turn editing on at the top right of the page. 2. In the Add a block block, select the block you want in the drop‐down list. The new block will

display directly above the Add a block block.

To rearrange blocks on a Moodle page:

1. Click Turn editing on at the top right of the page.

2. In the title bar of the relevant block, click the Move arrows . Dotted lines display around the block and dotted rectangles display at every other potential location on the screen.

3. Click inside the rectangle at the chosen location. The block will move to that location.

Customise home page: Click this button to show the tools you can use to hide, edit, delete or move

a block.

Course overview: This block contains a list of the courses you teach. Notifications of recent changes

to the course display below the course link. Click a course name to access its home page.


What’s on a course home page?

Breadcrumbs: These display at the top of the page, below the page banner. They show you the route

you took to reach this page (e.g. My home > My courses > [course name]). Use these breadcrumbs

to return to earlier pages.

Page formats: By default, a new course home page is presented in Weekly outline format. This

format consists of an introductory section and an additional section for every week in the semester.

Three other formats are available:

SCORM format: The course is presented as a package of web pages, graphics, Flash

animations, quizzes or other elements. (SCORM—Sharable Content Object Reference Model)

Social format: The course is presented as an open forum.

Topic outline format: This format is identical to the Weekly outline, but with the dates

removed. It allows you organise content by theme or topic.

To change page format:

1. In the Settings block, click Edit settings.

2. On the Edit course settings page, select the new Format from the drop‐down list.

3. Click Save changes. The course home page displays in the new format.


To add a link from the course home page to an external application:

1. Add an HTML block: o Click Turn editing on at the top right of the page. o In the Add a block block, select HTML from the drop down list. The new block will

display directly above the Add a block block. o Move the block to the position where you want it to display.

2. In the (new HTML block), click the Configuration icon . 3. On the Configuring a block page, enter a Block title, e.g. 'MapleTA Quiz'. 4. Type some text into the Content box, e.g. 'Go to the quiz'. 5. Select the words you typed and click the Insert/edit link button . Complete the Insert/edit

link window and click Insert. 6. Test the link. 7. In the Content box, enter brief, clear instructions about:

o whether students will need to log in to the external application o how they can return to the Moodle course once they have clicked out of it using this

link. 8. Complete the rest of the page as necessary and click Save changes.

To create a link from a Moodle book or web page to an individual topic on the course home page:

1. On the course home page, hide all the topics except the one you want to link to. Do this by clicking the Hide icon at the right of each topic. The Show icon will replace it:

2. Copy the resulting page's URL. 3. In the book or on the web page, create a link using the copied URL. When the user clicks this

link, the single‐topic course page will display. 4. Click the Show icons for all the hidden topics to make them visible again.

Resources: A ‘resource’ is any type of non‐interactive

digital content that you add to your Moodle course. In the

Weekly outline and Topic outline formats, click and select

from the Add a resource drop‐down list when you want to

add a book, file, folder, IMS content package, label, web

page or URL to a course home page section.

Activities: An ‘activity’ is an item of interactive content

created using one of the Moodle tools (e.g. assignment,

chat session). In the Weekly outline and Topic outline

formats, click Add an activity to view the available activities

and select from the drop‐down list.


What tools are available in Moodle?

Assignment: A tool for creating gradable items and allowing students to upload digital content in

response. Students can enter assignment text directly, or submit essays, spreadsheets,

presentations, web pages, photographs or graphics, or small audio or video clips. Or you can just use

this tool to remind students of offline assignments they must complete. You can also return

assignments to students online.

Attendance: Use the Attendance block (the most efficient way to use the Attendance activity) to

record students’ attendance at classes or activities, to report on attendance, or to change the

attendance settings. In the student view of Moodle, the same block will display an attendance report

to the individual student.

Blog: A blog (weblog) is an online journal, with entries organised chronologically with the most

recent first. Blogs can be a group or an individual effort. Blogs in Moodle are either:

user‐based—each user has their own non‐course‐specific blog—or

course‐based—OU (Open University) blogs.

Book: A Moodle book (very similar to the Learning Module tool in the Blackboard LMS) is a multi‐

page resource that is formatted like a book, containing main chapters and subchapters. A good way

to keep the course home page neat and short is to place lesson content within a book.

Chat: The Chat tool allows students and teachers to have real‐time synchronous text‐based

discussion in an online chat room. (For audio chat, see ‘Voice tools’ or ‘Wimba Classroom’ below.)

Choice: Use this tool to present students with a single question and a number of answers to choose

from (e.g. for a discussion starting‐point, a quick poll, or to establish preferred arrangements for an

excursion). You can allow participants to change their choices, or set the activity to close or lock

down on a specific date, allowing participants to change their minds several times before finalising

their choice.

Database: With the Database activity, you and your students can collaborate on building a searchable bank of record entries relating to any topic. The format and structure of the entries can be almost unlimited, including images, files, URLs, numbers and text.

Dialogue: A two‐way text‐based communication tool. You might use Dialogue for a private

conversation between you and a student, or between you and all the members of a group. Any

participant can attach files to a dialogue post. All dialogue activities are logged and can be viewed by

both students and teachers.

Feedback: A student‐survey tool. You can view responses in summary or analysis format, or by

individual user. You can specify anonymous response if you wish.

Forum: An online discussion board where you and your students can post messages to each other,

and keep track of individual discussions.

Glossary: A tool for embedding glossaries of terms used by practitioners in your area of study.


Group selection: This tool allows you to set up groups and then let students choose which group

they want to join. You can specify maximum numbers for the groups.

Gradebook: You can record, track and calculate grades within Moodle. The grading tool is complex

and flexible. You can provide feedback to students in the form of comments, which can be

standardised using a scale. You can use scales for any kind of assessable activity except an

automatically‐graded quiz.

Lesson: Using lessons, you can create programmed learning units in which each correct answer

brings up a new piece of information and a new question, or in which you simply enforce sequential

viewing of various pieces of content. Moodle’s Lesson tool lets you create quite complex branching

lessons.

Participants list: You can use the Participants list to view the course participants by group or role, to annotate participants individually or collectively, to message individuals, groups or classes, and to download filtered lists as CSV files.

1. In the Navigation block, for the relevant course, click Participants. A list of all course participants displays.

2. Filter the list by either: o selecting the desired participants from the Current role drop‐down list, or o selecting the group to display from the Separate groups drop‐down list. A list of the

group members displays.

Depending on the settings, you may need to click Show all below the list to view all the selected course participants or group members.

3. Below the list, click Select all, and from the Choose drop‐down list, select: o Send a message to open a page where you can enter a message, remove

participants from the recipients list, preview and (in the preview page) send the message

o Add a new note to open a page where you can add personal, course or site‐specific notes for your own reference against, for example, individual students' names

o Add a common note to open a page where you can add a personal, course or site‐specific note that applies to all participants on the list

o Download as CSV to export the filtered list as a CSV file to your computer.

Quiz: In Moodle, you can

create quizzes with different question types

randomly generate quizzes from pools of questions

allow students to re‐take quizzes multiple times, and

let the software take care of the scoring.

SCORM package: Using this tool, you can upload any package of SCORM (Sharable Content Object

Reference Model) content to your Moodle course. SCORM is a collection of specifications that

enable interoperability, accessibility and reusability of web‐based learning content. This type of


content is created using HTML, JavaScript, SWF files and (for non‐technical users) SCORM authoring

software.

Survey: Moodle’s survey tool is quite limited, only allowing you to get student feedback about your

course using preset questions. For a more comprehensive survey, we recommend that you use the

Feedback tool.

Turnitin Assignment: UNSW uses three Turnitin products: OriginalityCheck, GradeMark (including e‐

rater) and PeerMark. OriginalityCheck checks submitted assignments against Turnitin’s databases for

originality; GradeMark allows you to digitally mark up and give feedback on student submissions,

and PeerMark is a student peer review and grading tool. Instructions on using Turnitin products with

Moodle 2 are available on the Turnitin support site.

Voice activities (Authoring, Board, Email, Podcaster, Presentation): Voice activities allow you to

incorporate audio recordings into your course. You can create audio content to be played within the

course or downloaded as a podcast, set up an asynchronous voice‐based message board, send and

receive voice emails and present web content, images and PDFs with audio instructions, narration or

messages, to which students can respond with audio and text comments.

Wiki: Wikis are collections of collaboratively authored web pages, beginning with a home page that

students can edit, and to which they can link more pages. Changes to all pages are visible using the

page history function. You can create wikis at both class and group level.

Wimba Classroom and Wimba Voice: Wimba Classroom is a live virtual classroom supporting multi‐

way audio, video, application sharing, polling and content display.

Workshop: More structured than Assignments, the Workshop tool allows the instructor to define

several aspects of a task by setting up multi‐criterion evaluation or rubrics. Students submit their

own work; then they assess others’ submissions, considering each task aspect separately, giving

feedback, and suggesting a grade. They are then graded on both their own submission and their

effectiveness in assessing their peers’ work.


Course materials and copyright

Using other people's work in your course

Original works and other subject matter are automatically given copyright protections under Australian law. Copyright law is intended to provide a balance between rewarding creators for the use of their works and allowing users reasonable access to those works.

It is very likely you will want to include copyright‐protected material in your Blackboard or Moodle course. Note that ensuring the correct usage and attribution of such material is your personal responsibility, and that you can be held liable for illegal copying or reproduction of copyrighted works

Library online resources—link to them correctly

When using the UNSW Library's online content in Blackboard or Moodle

1. Find the publisher of the resource by checking the catalogue (http://www.library.unsw.edu.au/).

2. Check the licence conditions database (http://er.library.unsw.edu.au/) for that publisher to: o see if you are allowed to create a link o find instructions on creating a link to an article or to a publisher's website.

3. Place the link you created in the appropriate location in your online course.

For further information about including Library content in your course, visit this page of the Library's website (http://www.library.unsw.edu.au/servicesfor/academic/coursematerials.html).

Copyright guidelines

UNSW Governance Support administers a range of statutory and internal compliance obligations, including copyright.

For important information and guidelines relating to copyright:

1. Go to the Governance Support page (http://www.gs.unsw.edu.au/), click Copyright and select Teaching support from the drop‐down menu.

2. If prompted, log in using your zPass and UniPass. 3. The first page of the Teaching Support site displays. Use the sub‐menu on the left to discover

the appropriate source type, delivery method and guidelines for the item you want to include in your Blackboard or Moodle course.

For further information about copyright, click the Contact Us tab. Contact the Head, Governance Support listed on the Contact Us page.


Creating course content

These pages give you basic instruction in adding different kinds of content to your Moodle course:

Edit course home page settings

Turn editing on

Add content to the course home page

Create a resource

Create an activity

Embed an image

Embed a UNSWTV/YouTube video

Incorporate Lectopia

Hide a resource or activity

Restrict access to a resource or activity

Set up activity completion

Edit course home page settings

1. In the Settings block, under Course administration, click Edit settings.

2. On the Edit course settings page, make changes as necessary. (Click the Help button for

more information about each field.)

3. Click Save changes.

4. On the course home page, in the Settings block, click Switch role to and select Student from

the list, to view the changes as a student will see them.


Turn editing on


2. Icons for editing tasks display at the top of each box, or beside each resource or activity.

3. Hover your mouse pointer over the icon to see the icon name. Each icon’s function is

described in the table below.

Edit‐icons and their uses

Icon Icon name Description

Section icons—Topic/Weekly outline

Edit [course] summary

Click to change the general information about the course, which displays above the weekly/topic sections.

Move [content item] Click and drag icon to move the content item up or down in the list.

Move right Indent the content item. (A Move left icon will display.)

Update Access the Updating page for the item.

Delete Remove the content item. (A confirmation dialog box will display.)

Hide [content item] Make the content item invisible to students. (A closed‐eye icon will display. Click the closed eye to re‐display the item.)

Groups

Indicates whether groups are being used for the content item. Toggles through No groups , Separate groups , Visible groups

.

Assign roles Assign roles to users in relation to the content item. (This can only be done by the system administrator.)

Move [week/ topic] Click and drag the icon to move the topic up or down in the list.

Edit [week/ topic] summary

Click to change the general information for each week or theme, which displays above content items in the section.

Show only this topic Remove all other topics from view. (Icon is replaced by Show all

topics icon .)

Highlight this topic as the current topic

Adds bands of colour to the left and right of the topic.

Hide [week/ topic] Make the topic invisible to students. (Topic displays as ‘Not available’.)

Block icons

Hide Make the block invisible to students. (A closed‐eye icon will display and the block will be greyed out. Click the closed eye to re‐display the block.)

Configuration Specify where and how the block displays on the page.

Delete Remove the block. (A confirmation dialog box will not display.)

Move Move the block up or down. Click icon, then click chosen new location.

Hide [block name] block

Toggle to collapse and expand the block.

Move this to the dock Removes the block from the right‐hand panel, making it accessible using a tab at the left of the screen.


Copy text from Word into Moodle

When creating course content, do not copy text from a Microsoft Word file and paste it directly into the Moodle text editor box. Word text contains formatting code that can create problems in your course display.

When copying text from Word or any other application, use one or the other of the following methods:

Method 1:

1. In Word, copy the text from the source document. 2. In the Moodle text editor, click the Paste from Word icon . 3. In the Paste from Word window, paste the text and click Insert. The window closes and the

text displays in the text editor. 4. Complete the rest of the page and save your changes.


Method 2:

1. In Word, copy the text from the source document.

2. In the Moodle text editor, click the HTML icon . 3. In the HTML Source Editor window, paste in the text and click Update. 4. In the text editor, add any necessary formatting using the Moodle text editor tools. 5. Complete the rest of the page and save your changes.


Troubleshoot Word‐to‐Moodle copy/paste issue

Is it too late for you to use the methods above? Have you already pasted text directly from a Word file and saved your changes? If you are using Internet Explorer 7 as your browser, you may find that you can no longer see:

the text you just entered any topics beyond the one you just edited the usual blocks down the side of the page.

This issue is only visible when the page is displayed within the Internet Explorer 7 browser. In Firefox, the page displays correctly. However, you don't want any IE7‐using students to panic when they arrive on this page.

Perform the following steps to rectify the problem:

1. Open the same page in a different browser.

2. Click Turn editing on. 3. Click the Edit summary icon for the topic where the error was made. 4. In Microsoft Word, copy the required text from the source document.

5. On the Moodle editing page, click the HTML icon . 6. In the HTML Source Editor window:

o select the previously‐pasted Word text with all its accompanying formatting code o paste in the copied Word text, replacing the old formatted text o click Update.

7. In the Moodle text editor, format the text the way you would like it to display, using the text editor tools.

8. Click Save changes. On the course home page, the topics and blocks should now display correctly.


Add content to the course home page

To add content directly to a section of a course home page formatted as Weekly outline or Topic

outline:


2. Click the Edit summary icon at the top of the relevant section.

3. On the Summary page:

change the Section name if necessary

add Summary information about the course, week or topic and

click Save changes.

To add new blocks, click the Add a block block at the bottom of the blocks column and select the

new block from the drop‐down list.

To add resources and activities to a section, go to the following instructions:

Create a resource

Create an activity

Embed an image

Embed a UNSWTV/YouTube video


Book

File

Folder

IMS content package

Label

Web page

URL


Create a resource

A ‘resource’ is any type of external web content that you add to your Moodle course—for example,

a web page or a text or image file. To create a resource:

1. On the course home page, click Turn editing on at the top right.

2. In the appropriate section of the page, click Add a resource.

3. Select the resource you want from the drop‐down list.

4. On the Adding a new [chosen resource] page, complete the mandatory fields and any

additional fields that are appropriate to the resource.

5. Click Save and display to preview the resource, or Save and return to course to view the

new resource in the content list on the course home page.

To create specific resources, go to the following instructions:

Book

File

Folder

IMS content package

Label

Web page

URL

Embed an image

Embed UNSWTV/YouTube video



To organise the resources and activities list, create labels and use indenting:

To indent the resource in the section’s content list, click the Move Right icon .

To move the resource up or down the list, click and hold the Move icon and drag the item

to the desired position.

To edit a resource:


2. Next to the appropriate resource, click the Update icon.

3. On the Updating page, make the necessary changes.

4. Click Save and return to course to save your changes, or Save and display to view the

changed resource.

To delete a resource:


2. In the appropriate section of the page, click the resource’s Delete icon.

3. A confirmation dialog box displays. Click OK.

4. The resource no longer displays in the resources list.


Create an activity

An ‘activity’ is an item of interactive content created using one of the numerous Moodle tools—for

example, a chat session or an assignment. To create an activity:

1. On the course home page, click Turn editing on at the top right.

2. In the appropriate section of the page, click Add an activity.

3. Select the activity you want from the drop‐down list.

4. On the Adding a new [chosen activity] page, complete the mandatory fields and any

additional fields that are appropriate to the resource.

5. Click Save and display to preview the activity, or Save and return to course to view the new

activity in the content list on the course home page.

To create more specific activities, go the following instructions:

Forum

Blogging in Moodle

Group activities

Assignment (4 types)

Workshop (peer review and self‐assessment)

Quiz


To organise the activities list, create labels and use indenting:

To indent the activity in the section’s content list, click the Move Right icon .

To move the activity up or down the list, click and hold the Move icon and drag the item

to the desired position.

To edit an activity:


2. Next to the appropriate activity, click the Update icon.

3. On the Updating page, make the necessary changes.

4. Click Save and return to course to save your changes, or Save and display to view the

changed activity.

To delete an activity:


2. In the appropriate section of the page, click the activity’s Delete icon.

3. A confirmation dialog box displays. Click OK.

4. The activity no longer displays in the resources list.


Use legacy course files (recommended)

Why you should use legacy course files

Switch legacy course files facility on

Upload a file or image to legacy course files

Insert a file or image from legacy course files into a course

Manage files during course rollover

Why you should use legacy course files

We strongly recommend that, when you upload any resource to a Moodle course—either from the private files area or from an external source)—you upload it first to the Legacy course files repository. This applies both to files you're adding and to images you're embedding in the course.

If you don't use legacy course files, and instead upload files and images directly to a course, you can create issues relating to:

linking to files within a course editing files file management and course rollover.

If you tend to perform lots of edits on resource files and images, and to do so on the fly, at the last moment, it is most unwise to upload them directly to a course. Get them right on your own computer, or in the private files area, then move them into legacy course files when they're ready for use in a course.

Issues? What issues?

Links and instances

When you 'link' to a resource that is not in legacy course files, you in fact create a separate instance of the resource behind the scenes in Moodle. Every time you 'link' to the resource, you create a new instance. When you want to update the resource, you must update all of these instances of it. If you use legacy course files, only one instance of the resource exists within the course, so you only have to update that.

If you want to link to the resource from several places, you cannot reuse the first link you created, because the link in the HTML editor contains a reference to a temporary database location). That is, you can't Copy Image Location and Paste it into a new place in the course. You have to create a new link (and a new instance of the resource). This practice can easily lead to storage problems.

To ensure that you avoid this proliferation of instances of files or images, when you are inserting a file from legacy course files into a course, make sure you check the Link external check box.


File sharing

Other teachers can insert a file or image from your course into their course, if they have access to your course and you have placed the resource in legacy course files.

If you want to allow a teacher who doesn't have access to your course to use multiple text and image resources from your legacy course files, go to the Legacy course files page, create a zip file of the files, download them and forward them to the other user by email.

Once you upload course files to the legacy course files area, anyone with course access can see the files. only upload items you are happy for students to see. If files are not ready for students to view, upload them to the private files area until you have finished working on them. The private files area is a good place to keep them if you are likely to want to link to them from several different courses.

For video resources, we recommend that you upload the video to UNSWTV or YouTube and link to it, rather than uploading it directly to a course.

Instructions

Switch legacy course files facility on

1. In the Settings block, under Course administration, click Edit settings. 2. On the Edit course settings page, at Legacy course files, select Yes. 3. Click Save changes. On the course home page, a new item, Legacy course files, displays in

the Settings block.


Upload a resource to legacy course files

Upload a file or image to the Legacy course files page using the following steps:

1. In the Settings block, under Course administration, does Legacy course files display? o If yes, click it and continue to the next step. o If no, click Edit settings; on the Edit course settings page, into the Legacy course files

field, select Yes; click Save changes. Repeat step 1.

2. On the Legacy course files page, click Edit legacy course files. 3. Click Add. 4. In the File picker, click Upload a file. Browse for a file, select it and click Open. 5. In the file upload window:

o If necessary, select the Link external check box. o Complete the remaining fields and click Upload this file.

6. The uploaded file displays on the Legacy course files page. Do not exit this page without clicking Save changes, or the nominated files will not be uploaded.


Insert a file or image from legacy course files into a course

Once a file is uploaded to legacy course files, you can embed it in a resource or activity as follows. Once embedded, when the course is rolled over, the file's course number will be automatically changed to that of the new course.

1. For an image:

o Within the text editing box, click the Insert/edit image icon in the third row of functions.

o In the Insert/edit image window, click Find or upload an image. 2. In the File picker, click Legacy course files. 3. Select the image file. 4. In the selection window:

o If necessary, change the file’s Save as name. o Select the Link external check box. o Adjust author and license details as necessary. o Click Select this file.

5. In the Insert/edit image window, the Image URL displays and the image displays in the Preview box.

o Enter an Image description to display to users who employ screen readers. o Click Insert. The image displays in the text editor. Once you have saved your changes

to this page, the image will display with any other content entered in the text editor, when a user clicks the link for the item.


Delete a file from legacy course files

Note: When you delete a file from legacy course files, no warning displays as to whether, or how many times, the file has been linked to a course. Be very sure the file has not been inserted in a course before you delete it.

1. In the Settings block, under Course administration, click Legacy course files. 2. On the Legacy course files page, click Edit legacy course files. 3. On the file list page, click the action icon beside the file you want to delete, and select

Delete. 4. In the confirmation box, click Yes.

Manage files during course rollover

Courses can be rolled over by the course administrator or TELT administrator.

When you import a course, the files linked to resources and activities are not brought over to the new course. To move the course files across from the old course to the new, follow these instructions:

1. Back up the old course. 2. In the new course, import the activities and resources you wish to re‐use. 3. In the old course, go to the Legacy course files page and:

o Create a zip file of all the resources you wish to move across to the new course. o Download the zip file to your local computer.

4. In the new course, go to the Legacy course files page and: o Upload the zip file of resources. o Unzip the file.


Embed an image

You can embed an image wherever the text editing box is available for entering content.

Before you embed an image, ensure that you have uploaded the image to the Legacy course files page in the following way:



2. On the Legacy course files page, click Edit legacy course files. 3. Click Add. 4. In the File picker, click Upload a file. Browse for a file, select it and click Open. 5. In the file upload window, complete the relevant fields and click Upload this file. 6. The uploaded file displays on the Legacy course files page. Click Save changes.


Once the file is uploaded, embed it in a resource or activity as follows:

1. Within the text editing box, click the Insert/edit image icon in the third row of functions.

2. In the Insert/edit image window, click Find or upload an image.

3. In the File picker, click Upload a file, then Browse.

4. In the File Upload window, browse for and select the file, then click Open.

5. In the File picker:

Enter a name for the file to Save as in the repository.

Adjust author and license details as necessary.

Click Upload this file.

6. In the Insert/edit image window, the Image URL displays and the image displays in the

Preview box.

Enter an Image description to display to users who employ screen readers.

Click Insert. The image displays in the text editor. Once you have saved your changes

to this page, the image will display with any other content entered in the text editor,

when a user clicks the link for the item.


Embed UNSWTV/YouTube video

To embed a UNSWTV video:

1. On the UNSWTV website, navigate to the relevant video.

2. On the relevant page, below the video, copy (highlight, then press Ctrl + C) all the text in the

Embed field.

3. In Moodle 2, open the relevant resource or activity’s Adding or Updating page. (This

procedure is using Adding a new Page.)

4. In the text editor, in the third row of functions, click the Edit HTML source icon.

5. In the HTML Source Editor window, paste (press Ctrl + V) the embed code and click Update.

Note: No code or video will display in the text editor.

6. Click Save and return to course.

7. In the course home page, click the link for the resource or activity. The embedded video will

display within it.


Manage student submission of video assignments

It is not recommended for students to upload video assignments directly to Moodle.

For instructions on managing student submission of video assignments using UNSWTV, see the document 'How to submit video assignments in UNSWTV: Instructor setup and test publish, student submission'. A link to the PDF document displays on the ‘Create an assignment’ page of the Moodle support site (http://support.telt.unsw.edu.au/moodle/content/M2_create_assignment.cfm?ss=0).

To embed a YouTube video as a TEACHER (the following example relates to embedding in a course or

weekly/topic summary):

1. Within the text editing box, click the Moodle Media icon in the third row of functions.

2. In the Insert/edit embedded media window, click Find or upload.

3. In the File picker, click YouTube.

4. In Search videos, enter the search terms, then click Search.

5. Click the appropriate video.

6. Enter Save as and Author details and Choose license as appropriate to this video. Then click

Select this file.

7. In the Insert/edit embedded media window, click Insert. A new link displays in the text

editor.

8. Click Save changes. The embedded video displays on the course home page.


To embed a YouTube video as a STUDENT:

Students can embed YouTube videos in posts to a Moodle discussion forum. When you set up your forum instructions, if you expect students to include videos, include the following steps:

1. Locate the relevant video in YouTube. 2. Below the video frame, click Share. A Link to this video box displays. 3. Click Embed. An embed code box displays. Do not copy the code in this box. 4. Below the code box, click the Use old embed code check box. The old embed code displays

in the box. 5. Select all the code in the box and copy it.

6. In the text editor for the Moodle forum post, click the HTML icon . 7. In the HTML Source Editor, click where you want the video to display, and paste in the

embed code. 8. Click Update.



You can give students access to Lectopia‐recorded lectures from within your Moodle course.

Place links to the recordings where students are most likely to see and use them—for example:

in the course summary at the top of the course home page

in the appropriate week’s or topic’s section summary

in a topic section of their own.

Once Lectopia has processed a recording, it sends you an email containing a link to the recording. The link looks something like this: http://lectopia.telt.unsw.edu.au/lectopia/lectopia.lasso?ut=1697

To make the recording available to students: 1. On the Moodle course home page, in the relevant section, click Add a resource and select

URL from the drop‐down list.

2. On the Adding a new URL page, enter a Name and Description for the lecture recording.

3. Under Content, copy and paste the URL from the Lectopia email into the External URL field.

4. Under Options, for Display, select In pop‐up from the drop‐down list.



Hide a resource or activity from students

To make a resource or activity invisible to students:


2. Next to the resource or activity, click the Hide icon. The eye closes .

3. To view the page as a student will see it, in the Settings block click Switch role to and select

Student.

4. To return to your normal view, in the Settings block click Return to my normal role.

5. To redisplay the resource or activity to students, repeat steps 1 to 2, clicking the Show icon

in step 2. The eye opens .


Restrict access to a resource or activity

To control the release of a resource or activity to students, perform the following steps:

1. Are you creating a new resource or activity, or restricting access to an existing one?

If creating, complete the first five sections of the Adding a new [selected resource or

activity] page.

If changing an existing item, access

the Updating page.

2. To hide the resource or activity

completely from the student view, under

Common module settings, at Visible, select Hide from the drop‐down box.

3. To control the release of a resource or activity to students by date, grade or activity

completion, under Restrict access:

To restrict access by date, select the Enable check box or boxes, and select Allow

access from and Allow access until dates into the day, month and year fields.

To restrict access by students’ grades for a previous assignment or quiz, at Grade

condition select the assignment from the drop‐down list and enter the grade

parameters in the two % fields.

To create additional grade conditions, click Add 2 grade conditions to form and

complete as many as you need.

To restrict access by students’ completing, not completing, passing or failing a

previous assignment, quiz or other activity, at Activity completion condition select

the activity from the first drop‐down list and select the completion condition from

the second drop‐down.

To create additional completion conditions, click Add 2 activity conditions to form

and complete as many as you need.

At Before activity can be accessed, select whether you want the activity to be visible

to students before they meet the access conditions.

Note: Access

to resources

can also be

restricted

using groups

and

groupings.


To extend an individual's submission times or grant them special access to a quiz:

1. On the course home page, turn editing on.

2. Click the Update icon for the relevant quiz.

3. On the Editing quiz page, in the Settings block, under Quiz administration, click User

overrides.

4. On the resulting page, click Add user override.

5. On the Edit override page, Search for the individual student, then make the appropriate

changes. You can:

require this student to use a password to enter the quiz

open or close the quiz and a different time or date (in the event of extenuating

circumstances or special needs)

allow this student a different number of quiz attempts.

6. Click Save. The overrides overview page displays, showing all current overrides and their

details. Add another user override or return to the Editing quiz page.


Set up activity completion

To enable activity completion, in the Activity completion section of the activity’s Adding or Updating

page for an activity, select your preferred method of Completion tracking from the three options

available in the drop‐down list.

Select Do not indicate activity completion if you are not setting completion conditions for

this activity.

If you leave the default setting, Students can manually mark the activity as completed,

selected, a Mark as complete button (grey tick) will display next to the activity on the course

page, which the student must click to indicate completion. (To avoid confusing students, if

you are not using activity completion for this activity, select Do not indicate activity

completion.) If you select this option, you can enable the Expect completed on date fields

and enter a date.

Selecting Show activity as complete when conditions are met allows you to:

o require a student to view the activity in order for it to be considered completed

o require a student to submit feedback in order for the activity to be considered

completed

o enable the Expect completed on date fields and enter a date.


Creating resources

These pages give you instruction in adding different Moodle resources to your course:

Book

File

Private files

Folder

IMS content package

Label

Web page

URL


Book

A Moodle ‘book’ is a multi‐page resource that is formatted like a book, containing main chapters and

subchapters. A good way to keep the course home page neat and short is to place lesson content

within a book.

Before you copy or link to work by other authors in your Moodle book, read the Course materials and copyright page to find out the correct procedures (http://149.171.132.66/moodle/content/Course_materials_and_copyright.cfm?ss=0).


2. In the appropriate section, click Add a resource and select Book from the drop‐down list.

3. On the Adding a new Book page, enter a Name and Summary information for the book.

4. Select how you want Chapter numbering to display, and whether you want Custom titles of

chapters displayed in a table of contents.

5. Complete any other necessary fields and click Save and return to course.

6. On the course home page, click the link for the new book.

7. On the Editing chapter page, type a Chapter title, select whether it is a Subchapter, enter

Content in the text editing box and click Save changes. The chapter content displays.

8. In the Table of contents block, click the Add new chapter icon and repeat step 7.

9. When you have created all the required chapters and subchapters, click the Exit book icon

to return to the course home page.


File

These instructions tell you how to link to resources on the course home page by:

uploading a file from your local computer

inserting an already uploaded file from the course server

embedding a file from an external repository such as YouTube, Flickr or Mahara.

You can upload course files to two different locations in Moodle:

the legacy course files area (where anyone with course access can see the files) your private files area (where only you can see the files) ‐ for instructions on using this area,

see the private files page.

Upload a file from your local computer to the Legacy course files page in the following way:



2. On the Legacy course files page, click Edit legacy course files. 3. Click Add. 4. In the File picker, click Upload a file. 5. In the file upload window:

o Browse for a file, select it and click Open. o Complete the remaining fields and click Upload this file.

6. The uploaded file displays on the Legacy course files page. Click Save changes.


To insert, into the current course, a file that has already been uploaded to legacy course files:


2. In the appropriate section, click Add a resource and select File from the drop‐down list.

3. On the Adding a new File page, enter a Name and a Description for the file.

4. Under Content, click Add.

5. In the File picker, click Legacy course files, then:

o Click to open the appropriate folder and subfolder.

o Click to select the file. The save options display.

o Make any necessary changes and click Select this file. The File picker closes and the

filename displays in the list.

6. Complete the other fields in the Adding a new File page as necessary.



To insert a file sourced from an external repository:


2. In the appropriate section, click Add a resource and select File from the drop‐down list.

3. On the Adding a new File page, enter a Name and a Description for the file.

4. Under Content, click Add.

5. In the File picker, click the name of the repository you want to search, then:

o Conduct a search for the file, if necessary (e.g. for a YouTube video or Flickr image).

o Click to select the file. The save options display.

o Make any necessary changes.

o Click Select this file.

o The File picker closes and the filename displays in the list.

6. Complete the other fields in the Adding a new File page as necessary.



Private files

Use the private files area to create a file structure containing files sourced (copied) from any of your

courses.

To access the private files area:

1. Go to the Navigation block.

2. Click My profile.

3. In the drop‐down menu, click My private files.

To upload a file to the private files area:

1. On the My private files page, click Add. 2. In the File picker, click Upload a file. 3. Browse for the file, select it, complete the File picker fields as necessary and click Upload

this file. 4. The file displays in the Files list. Click Save changes.


To use a private file in a course:

To use a private file within one of your courses, go to the Legacy course files page and upload the file from the Private files area, before inserting it into the course from the legacy course files using the File picker.

To upload a file from your private files to the legacy course files:


field, select Yes; click Save changes. Repeat step 1. 2. On the Legacy course files page, click Edit legacy course files. 3. Click Add. 4. In the File picker, click Private files. 5. Select the desired file. 6. In the file upload window, complete the fields as necessary and click Select this file. 7. The uploaded file displays on the Legacy course files page. Click Save changes.

The file is now uploaded to the course‐specific files area. You can link it to your course in several places.

When you edit the file and upload a new version (with the same filename) to the legacy course files, users who click the link will see the updated version.


To organise private files:

1. On the My private files page, click Manage my private files.

2. On the editing page, you can:

o Add new files to the folder or Create folder as needed.

o Click the menu icon next to any folder to show a menu by which to zip, rename,

move or delete the folder.

o Click the menu icon next to any file to show a menu by which to download it, set

it as the main file, or rename, move or delete the file.

3. Click Save changes to save your changes.


Folders

To create a folder and upload a file to the folder:


2. In the appropriate section, click Add a resource and select Folder from the drop‐down list.

3. On the Adding a new Folder page, enter a Name and a Description for the folder.

4. Under Content, either:

o click Add to add files to this folder, or

o click Create folder to create a subfolder, name it and click OK, then click on the

subfolder’s name to open it, and click Add to add files.

5. To upload files to a folder/subfolder, in the File picker, click Upload a file, then:

o Click Browse.

o In the File Upload window, browse for the file, select it and click Open.

o Give it a Save as name by which you’ll recognise it in the repository.

o Change the Author name if necessary.

o Choose license as appropriate.

o Click Upload this file.

6. Complete the other fields in the Adding a new Folder page as necessary, and click Save and

return to course.


To organise existing folders:


2. Click the appropriate folder name.

3. On the folder’s content page, click Edit.

4. On the editing page, you can:

o Add new files to the folder or Create folders as needed.

o Click the menu icon next to any folder to show a menu by which to zip, rename,

move or delete the folder.

o Click the menu icon next to any file to show a menu by which to download it, set

it as the main file, or rename, move or delete the file.

o Click Submit to save your changes.

5. On the folder’s content page, click the appropriate breadcrumb to display the course home

page.


IMS content package

You can upload to your Moodle course any package of digital material that was created according to

IMS Content Packaging specification.


2. In the appropriate section, click Add a resource and select IMS content package from the

drop‐down list.

3. On the Adding a new IMS content package page, enter a Name and a Description for the

package.

4. Under Content, click Choose a file. Use the File picker to find and upload the package,

adding a file name, author name and license information in the selection screen.

5. Complete any other fields necessary and click Save and return to the course.


Label

To add non‐link text, such as a heading or a description of a resource, within the content list in a

course home page section:


2. In the appropriate section, click Add a resource and select Label from the drop‐down list.

3. On the Adding a new Label page, enter Label text and format it appropriately. Add a

resource (e.g. an image or embedded media) if necessary.

4. Complete any other appropriate fields for this label, then click Save and return to course.

The label (and resource link, if you created one) displays as the last item in the section.

5. To edit the label, click the Update icon .

To indent the label in the section’s content list, click the Move Right icon .

To move the label up or down the list, click and hold the Move icon and drag the item to the

desired position.


Web page

You can create a web page in Moodle using the following languages:

HTML4

HTML5

XHTML

Javascript.

Before you copy or link to work by other authors in your Moodle web page, read the Course materials and copyright page to find out the correct procedures (http://149.171.132.66/moodle/content/Course_materials_and_copyright.cfm?ss=0).

To create a web page:

1. Click Turn editing on at the top right of the

page.

2. In the appropriate section, click Add a

resource and select Page from the drop‐

down list.

3. On the Adding a new Page page, enter a

Name (to display in the section content list)

and a Description for the folder.

4. Under Content, add Page content.

5. Complete any other appropriate fields for

this web page, and click Save and display to

preview the page.

6. To make any changes to the page:

click the course home page breadcrumb

click the Update icon .


URL

To create a link to an external site in a section of the course home page:


2. In the appropriate section, click Add a resource and select URL from the drop‐down list.

3. On the Adding a new URL page, enter a Name (to display as the link name) and a Description

for the URL.

4. Under Content, either:

o Type or paste in the URL, including the prefix http://, or

o click Choose a link and search for or select the URL in the File picker.

5. Under Options, from the Display drop‐down list select In pop‐up.

6. Complete the other fields in the Adding a new URL page as necessary, and click Save and

return to course.


Hyperlinks and email addresses that you paste into the text editor are not automatically made live

by the system. To create a link that is operational for students in the text editor:

1. Select the link text within the text entered in the text editor. 2. Click the link button in the third row of function buttons in the editor. 3. In the Insert/edit link window:

o paste in the Link URL (including the 'http://' prefix) or email address (including the 'mailto:' prefix)

o at Target, select Open in new window o at Title, enter the text that will display when a user hovers their mouse pointer over

the link o click Insert.


Creating activities

These pages tell you how to create interactive non‐assessable activities within your Moodle course:

Communicate with students

Attendance

Chat

Choice

Database

Dialogue

Feedback

Forum

Glossary

Group activities

Group selection

SCORM package

Voice activities

Wiki

Wimba Classroom

Blogging in Moodle


Communicate with students

View a list of all students in a course

1. In the Navigation block, under My courses >

[course name], click Participants.

2. Click Show all at the bottom left of the page.

3. At the top of the page, under Current role,

select Student from the drop‐down list. The

list of users with the Student role displays.

4. To download the list as a CSV file (containing

student email addresses, zIDs and group

membership details):

Click Select all at the bottom left of the

list. Ticks display in all the boxes in the

Select column.

From the Choose... drop‐down list, select

Download as CSV.

View a history of student activity

1. In the Navigation block, under My courses > [course name], click Reports.

2. On the Reports page, either:

select report parameters from the drop‐down lists, then click Get these logs, or

choose a report from under Or watch current activity.


Message an individual using the Online Users block

If a tutor or student is online at the same time as you are, you can message them using the Online

users block.

1. Does the Online users block display on the My home/course home page?

If yes, continue to the next step.

If no:

o Click the button Customise this page or

Turn editing on at the

top right of the page.

o Scroll to the bottom of the block column. In

the Add a block block, select Online users

from the drop‐down list. Continue to the

next step.

2. Either:

Click the user's name, then in their details page click

Send a message, or

Within the block, click the Send a message icon to

the right of the user's name.

The Messages page will display.

3. Enter your Message and click Send message to send it.


Message selected participant/s from the Participants list

You can send messages within Moodle that will be delivered to the individual/s or groups you select

from the course participant list. Follow these steps to send a message to an individual participant:

1. Within the course, in the Navigation block, select Participants. The participants list displays.

2. Either:

In the First name/Surname column, click the name of the individual you want to

email. Their individual page displays.

Click Send a message at the bottom left of the page.

or:

In the Select column, select the check boxes for several participants you want to

email.

From the Choose... drop‐down list below the participants list, select Send a

message.

3. On the Messages page, type your Message and click Send message.


Send a group message/email using the Participants list

From within Moodle, you can send a message to multiple selected students. If individual students

are online, notification of the message will pop up on‐screen; if they are offline, they will be sent an

email offline—this will depend on their individual messaging settings (they control these at the

following location: Settings block > My profile settings > Messaging).

If you want to email all (rather than selected) students in a course , you can do so using an forum to

which all students are subscribed by Forced subscription.

To send a message to a group that has been created within the course:

1. In the Navigation block, select Participants. The participants list displays.

2. From the Separate groups drop‐down list, select the group you want to email. The group list

displays.

3. At the bottom left of the list, click Select all. (You can also select individual group members

to email.)

4. From the Choose... drop‐down list, click Send a message.

5. On the Message course users page:

Type your message in the Message body box.

Below the box, click Remove for any users you don't want to receive the message.

Click Preview.

6. On the preview page, review the message.

To make changes, click Update and return to step 5.

To send the message, click Send message. A message displays: 'Selected users have

been messaged and the recipient list has been reset.'


Post to a specific group in a 'separate groups' forum

1. Within the forum, select the group from the All participants drop‐down list at the top of the

page.

2. Click Add a new discussion topic.

3. Complete the Your new discussion topic page and post the topic to the forum. Only the

group you have selected will be able to view the post.

4. On the forum page, the group at which a group‐specific post was targeted displays in the

Group column.


Configure your notifications

How you and your course participants receive messages depends on how you configure your

notification settings for messages:

1. In the Settings block, click My profile settings > Messaging.

2. On the Configure notification methods for incoming messages page select check boxes for

the types of notifications you wish to receive. You can specify:

which events you wish to be notified of (messages, forum posts etc.)

different notifications depending on whether you're logged in to Moodle

notification by popup (see illustration) or email (note: jabber messages are not yet

enabled)

which email address should be used for email notifications

that you can only be messaged by people on your contact list.

3. Deselect the check boxes for the notifications you don't wish to receive.

4. Click Update profile.


Attendance

You can only add one Attendance activity per course. To create an Attendance activity:

1. On the course home page, in the relevant section (which will generally be the first section),

click Add an activity and select Attendance from the drop‐down list.

2. On the Adding a new Attendance page, change the Name of the Attendance module if you

wish, and select the percentage of the grade that will depend on the student’s attendance.

(You can also opt for no grade to be assigned for attendance, or only a Satisfactory grade.)

3. Complete the remaining fields on the page, and click Save and display.

4. On the Sessions page, click the Add tab.

5. On the Add page, select:

o the Create multiple sessions check box.

o the date of the first class into the Session Date fields (day, month, year, hour,

minute)

o the duration of the class into the Duration hour and minute fields.

o the day after the final class into the Session end date field.

o the checkboxes for the days on which the class is taught.

o the Frequency of the class (‘2’ means the class is held every two weeks).

6. Enter a class Description, observing any relevant naming conventions, and click Add session.

7. Click the Sessions tab.

8. On the Sessions page, check that the sessions have been set up correctly.

To set up grades and variables:

1. Click the Settings tab.

2. On the My Variables page:

o For Acronym, enter a status code (e.g. ‘P’).

o For Description, define the code (e.g. ‘Present’)

o Enter a Grade appropriate to the code.

o Click Add.

3. Repeat step 10 until all the acronyms you need are entered, defined and graded. Note: Click

Add after entering the last acronym’s details, or it will not be saved.

4. Click Update.


To record attendance at a session/class:

1. On the course home page, in the Attendance block, click Take attendance.

2. On the Sessions page, under Actions, click the Take attendance icon for the relevant

session.

3. On the Attendance for the course page, for each student, select the button in the

appropriate column, and add any necessary Remarks.

4. When the page is completed for all students, click OK. (If you cannot complete the roll yet,

save what you’ve done; you can return to the Sessions page later and click the link in the

Description column to access the roll and complete it.)

To display an attendance report to students:

1. Click the course name breadcrumb.

2. On the course home page, next to the Attendance activity, click the Hide icon.

3. In the Add a block block, select Attendance from the drop‐down list. The Attendance block

displays in the right‐hand column. This gives you access to the attendance functions, but in

the student view it displays a report on the student’s individual attendance.

To make changes to a session:

1. On the course home page, click the link for the Attendance activity.

2. On the Attendance for the course page, under Actions, click the Edit icon for the relevant

class.

3. On the Update Attendance for the course, change the class date, Duration and Description

as necessary, and click Update.

To delete a class:

1. On the course home page, either: o click the Attendance activity link, or

o in the Attendance block click Take attendance.

2. On the Sessions page, either: o In the Actions column, click the Delete icon, and click Continue in the

confirmation page, or

o In the Select column, select the check boxes for the sessions you want to delete,

then in the With selected field select Delete from the drop‐down list and click OK.


Chat

To create a Chat activity:

1. On the course home page, in the relevant section, click Add an activity and select Chat from

the drop‐down list.

2. On the Adding a new Chat page, enter the Name of this chat room and some Introduction

text.

3. At Next chat time, enter the day, month, year, hour and minute of the first chat session.

4. At Repeat sessions, select how you want the chat time(s) to display.

5. Select the period for which you want to Save past sessions, and whether Everyone can view

past sessions.

6. Complete the remaining fields as necessary and click Save and return to course.

To participate in a chat session:

1. On the course home page, click the chat session link.

2. On the chat home page, click one of the two links that will admit you to the chat room.

3. To post a message to the chat session, type it in the field at the bottom of the screen and

click Send. The message displays in the chat window.


Choice

The Choice tool allows you to put a single question to students, and list a number of options, from which they may choose only one. To set up a Choice activity:

1. On the course home page, in the relevant section, click Add an activity and select Choice

from the drop‐down list.

2. On the Adding a new Choice page, enter a Choice name and some Introduction text—this

will be the question regarding which students will make a choice.

3. If you want to limit the number of students who can select each option, under Limit select

Enable.

4. Enter each option in a separate Option field, and enter Limit numbers if you have enabled

limiting. Click Add 3 fields to form if you need to add more than 5 options.

5. Under Restrict answering to this time period enter the dates for which you want this choice

to be available.

6. Complete any necessary fields under Miscellaneous settings.

7. Complete any further fields on the page and click Save and display to check that the

question and options display as you wish.

To view responses to the Choice activity:

1. On the course home page, click the Choice activity’s link. The first response to the activity

displays.

2. Click the link at the top right, View [number of responses] responses.

3. On the Responses page, you can:

o view a summary table of the responses (the number of responses per option

displays in brackets after the column heading)

o delete any or all of the responses

o download the responses in ODS, text or Excel format.


Database

A database can be a useful way to encourage students to contribute to the class's learning. For example, with no previous experience you can build a simple database in Moodle where:

students can record the details of reference works they have found useful for your course, or where

supervisors can advertise the research projects that they are prepared to supervise, providing information for students making their choices about research work..

To create a database:

1. create the Database activity 2. define the database fields 3. edit the database templates if you want the information to display in a particular way.

Then you and your students can:

begin adding entries in the Add entry page, either individually or by uploading a .csv file comment on and rate submissions, if you've enabled this view individual database entries or a list, and search and sort the database.

To create a Database activity:

1. On the course home page, in the relevant section, click Add an activity and select Database


2. On the Adding a new Database page, enter a Name for the database and some text in the

Introduction field explaining how the database will be used.

3. Enable the date fields and define the periods for which the database will be open to

contributions, and available in a read‐only form.

4. Select the number of Required entries per student if the activity is to be considered

complete, and the Entries required before viewing other students’ entries. If you are

requiring entries before viewing, contact the system administrator to have the database’s

auto‐linking filter disabled.

5. Select:

o the Maximum entries any student can contribute

o whether Comments will be allowed on individual entries

o whether each entry will Require approval before displaying in the database, and

o how many RSS articles can be included in an entry.

6. Set up the Ratings system, if you want students to be able to rate entries. (You must save

the activity before you can choose the Roles with permission to rate.) You can:

o tell Moodle how to decide on a final rating (Aggregate type)


o indicate whether to apply a Scale to the ratings

o only allow items contributed during a given date range to be rated.

7. Complete the remainder of the page and click Save and display. The Fields page displays.


To define the database fields:

1. On the Fields page, do you want to: o use a predefined set of fields? If yes, continue to the next step. o create your own fields? If yes, go to step 3.

2. To use a predefined set of fields: o Click the choose a predefined set link. o In the resulting page scroll down, select from the Use a preset section and click

Choose. o On the Field mappings page select the Overwrite current settings check box and

click Continue—you will be invited to Add entries.

3. To create your own fields:

From the Choose drop‐down list, select the field type you want to create. Enter the Field name, Field description and any other required information,

and click Add.

4. Once you’ve defined the fields, you may want to edit the database templates to alter the

way in which the database displays entries.


To edit the database templates:

1. Within the database, click the Templates tab. 2. This Moodle Docs page provides useful instructions, tips and further information about

creating database templates.

Databases and course rollover

When you roll a course over, the database content does not come across to the new course, because the content is counted as user data, contributed by students who will not be in the course the following semester.

To move the database into the new course, you must export it from the old course and import it into the new one.

Make your database searchable

Once you and your students have built the database beyond a certain size, you'll want it to be searchable. At present , the Moodle Database tool doesn't automatically set up an advanced search template—if you click the Search tab, a coding error message will display (PHP catchable fatal error).

You can make your database searchable in two ways. First, on the View list or Search page, deselect the Advanced search check box and click Save settings. Then do one of the following two things:

Use the fields that now display below the list to conduct a simple search. To search, enter a Search term and either click Save settings or press Enter.

Click the Templates tab, then on the Templates page click Advanced search template at the top, and define the template to suit your and your students' needs.


Dialogue

To set up a Dialogue activity to allow student‐to‐teacher or student‐to‐student communication:

1. On the course home page, Turn editing on.

2. In the appropriate section, click Add an activity, and select Dialogue from the drop‐down

list.

3. On the Adding a new Dialogue page, enter a Dialogue name and some Dialogue

Introduction text indicating how the dialogue is to be used.

4. Click Show advanced and complete the options in the General section as necessary, clicking

the Help button if you need help deciding on your selections.

5. Complete the remainder of the page and click Save and return to course.

To open a dialogue with a student:

1. On the course home page, in the relevant section, click the link for the dialogue activity. 2. On the dialogue page, select the student you want to Open a dialogue with. 3. Enter a Subject line for the dialogue, and text for the opening message, then click Open

Dialogue.


Feedback

To create a feedback activity:


2. In the appropriate section, click Add an activity, and select Feedback from the drop‐down

list.

3. On the Adding a new Feedback page, enter a Name and some Description indicating how

the feedback is to be used.

4. Set the feedback’s Timing.

5. Under Feedback options, select whether:

o feedback can be submitted anonymously

o users will be shown an analysis of the feedback received so far when they submit

o you want email notification of each submission

o users can submit more than one piece of feedback

o you want questions automatically numbered.

6. Under After submitting:

o Enter the text you want to display to the student once they’ve submitted their

feedback (e.g. ‘Thank you for completing these questions...’).

o Paste in an alternative URL, if you want to redirect students to somewhere other

than the course home page when they click Continue.

7. Complete the remaining fields as necessary and click Save and display. The feedback

Overview page displays.

To create questions

1. On the feedback Overview page, click the Edit questions tab.

2. On the Edit questions page, select a question type, Information, page break, label or captcha


3. For a page break, question, information or label, complete the resulting page as appropriate

and click Save question. Note the following:

o You do not have to create questions in their finalised order in the test; you can

change their order at any time.

o You can specify whether questions are Required in order for the feedback to be

considered complete.

o Any question can be made dependent on any other question. Using the depend

facility, you can create branching series of questions.

4. On the Preview page, you can move, edit or delete any question, information, captcha or

label, change the Required status of any question, or move or delete any page break.


Forum

To set up a new forum:

1. On the Moodle course home page, in the relevant section, click Add an activity and select

Forum from the drop‐down list.

2. On the Adding a new Forum page, under General:

o Enter the Forum name.

o Choose the Forum type (click the Help button to see the options).

o Provide a Forum introduction. Note:

If you expect students to contribute to the forum in video form, include a

link to the instructions for uploading YouTube videos (see the ‘Embed video

‘instructions, under ‘Manage student submission of video assignments’).

If you are copying text from a Microsoft Word document, follow the

instructions ‘Copying Word text into Moodle’.

o Choose the Subscription mode from the drop‐down list:

With Optional subscription, users must go into the forum and choose to subscribe.

With Forced subscription, users are automatically subscribed. With Auto subscription, all enrolled users are initially auto‐subscribed for a

short period, after which they can choose to unsubscribe.

3. Under Post threshold for blocking, place any necessary limitations on forum posts

o Time period for blocking—Select a period within which users may post to the

forum.

o Post threshold for blocking—Enter the number of times any individual may post

before they are blocked from posting further

o Post threshold for warning—Enter the number of posts at which system will warn

the user of the approaching threshold.

4. Click Save and display.

5. On the new forum’s home page, click Add a new discussion topic.

6. On the Your new discussion topic page, enter a Subject and Message, add any necessary files

and click Post to forum.


To set up access to all forums:

For easy access to the main forum page, where you can see all the forums listed and subscribe to or unsubscribe from forums, add an Activities block to your course home page.

To change forum subscription mode:

1. On the course home page, click the forum name. 2. On the forum page, in the Settings block, click Subscription mode. The list of modes

displays, with the current mode in black and the three other modes as links. 3. Click the mode you want to change to. A confirmation message displays briefly, then the

forum page redisplays. 4. Repeat step 2 to check that the forum is now in the correct mode.


Glossary

To create a Glossary activity:


2. In the appropriate section, click Add an activity, and select Glossary from the drop‐down

list.

3. On the Adding a new Glossary page, under General:

o Enter a Name.

o Enter some Description indicating how the feedback is to be used.

o Set the number of Entries shown per page.

o Select the features you want this glossary to have, clicking the Help button for

assistance where necessary. (Note: Moodle’s word for ‘glossary term’ is ‘concept’.)

4. Set up an RSS feed, if you want one.

5. Complete the remaining fields as relevant and click Save and display.

To create a glossary entry:


2. Access the glossary’s page, by either:

o creating a glossary activity, as described above, or

o in the course home page, clicking the glossary activity’s link.

3. Click Add a new entry.

4. On the Add a new entry page:

o Enter the Concept (glossary term).

o Enter its Definition.

o Enter any Keywords by which you want this concept and definition to be searchable.

o Add any Attachment necessary.

5. Specify any Auto‐linking rules and click Save changes.

6. The new entry displays on the glossary’s home page, where you can export, delete or edit it.


Group activities

To assign an activity to a group, the group must belong to a grouping. (You can create a grouping

containing a single group.)

To create a group activity, therefore, you need to create a group, create a grouping to contain it,

then assign the activity to the grouping.

To create a group:

1. In the Settings block, select Course administration > Users > Groups.

2. On the Groups page, click Create group.

3. On the Create group page:

o Enter a Group name.

o Enter a Group description, if necessary.

o Complete the other fields/selections as necessary.

o Click Save changes.

4. On the Groups page, click Add/remove users.

5. On the Add/remove users page:

o Select names from the Potential members list.

o Click Add to move them into the Group members list.

Note: Instead of completing steps 4 and 5, once you have created a number of groups you can

create a Group selection activity that allows students to enrol themselves in groups.


To create a grouping:

1. In the Settings block, select Course administration > Users > Groups.

2. On the Groups page, click the Groupings tab.

3. On the Groupings page, click Create grouping.

4. On the Create grouping page, enter a Grouping name, and click Save changes.

5. On the Groupings page, in the Edit column for the new grouping, click the Show groups in

grouping icon .

6. On the Add/remove groups page:

o Select a group or groups in the Potential members list.

o Click Add to move the selected groups into the Existing members list.


To assign an activity to a grouping:

1. On the Adding or Updating page, under Common module settings:

o For Group mode select either Separate groups (where a group can only see their

own group) or Visible groups (where a group has read‐only access to other groups’

work).

o For Grouping, select the grouping.

o For Visible, if you are still in the process of setting up the activity, leave the selection

as Hide. (Return later and change it to Show to make the activity visible to students.)

2. Complete the rest of the page as appropriate and click Save and return to course.

To view and export a group list, or annotate or communicate with a group—note that you can only

perform these actions if Separate groups has been enabled:

1. In the Navigation block, for the relevant course click Participants. A list of all course participants displays.

2. From the Separate groups drop‐down list at the top of the page, select the group to display. A list of the group members displays. (Depending on the settings, you may need to click Show all below the list to view all the group's members.)

3. Below the list, click Select all, and from the Choose drop‐down list, select: o Send a message to open a page where you can enter a message, remove group

members from the recipients list, preview and (in the preview page) send the message

o Add a new note to open a page where you can add personal, course or site‐specific notes for your own reference against, for example, individual students' names

o Add a common note to open a page where you can add a personal, course or site‐specific note that applies to all members of the group

o Download as CSV to export the group list as a CSV file to your computer.


Group selection

To create a Group selection activity:


2. In the appropriate section, click Add an activity, and select Group selection from the drop‐

down list.

3. On the Adding a new Group selection page, under General:

o Enter a Name for the activity.

o Enter an Introduction, containing instructions for students.

o If selection is to be limited to a single grouping, select it at Allow selection from.

o Enter an Enrol password if necessary, and Unmask it (show it as typed rather than a

row of dots) if desired.

o Set the Default maximum members per group.

o Apply any date restrictions on the selection.

4. Complete the remaining fields as relevant and click Save and display.

5. On the activity’s home page, click the Limits tab.

6. On the Limits page, enter the maximum members per group for each group, and click Save

changes.

To make changes to groups after students have made their selections:


2. Click the link for the group selection activity.

3. On the activity’s home page, click Manage groups at the upper right of the page.

4. The Groups page displays, where you can add and remove users from groups, as well as

create, edit and delete groups.


SCORM package

To add an activity in a SCORM package:


2. In the appropriate section, click Add an activity, and select SCORM package from the drop‐

down list.

3. On the Adding a new SCORM package page, under General:

o Enter a Name.

o Enter a Description of the package, and instructions for students if necessary.

o Click Choose a file, then select the SCORM package file from the File picker.

4. Restrict answering by date and time, if appropriate.

5. Under Other settings, click Show advanced and make your selections, clicking the Help

button for assistance.

6. Complete the rest of the page as appropriate and click Save and return to course.


Voice activities (Authoring, Board, Email, Podcaster, Presentation)

The Wimba Voice activities available within Moodle 2 are:

Voice Authoring—allows instructors to put a recording in any content area.

Voice Board—an asynchronous discussion tool. Instructors can post an audio message, and

students can respond using text or audio messages.

Voice Email—enables you and your students to include voice recordings as well as text in

emails. This can be useful for:

o sending out a pre‐semester welcome

o issuing important course updates during the semester.

o short question and answer sessions between an instructor and a student or group of

students.

Voice Podcaster—used to create a series of audio (or video) files that students download

from a website. The .mp3 podcast files you create are hosted on the Wimba Voice server. An

RSS feed is created, which, on release of a podcast file, automatically sends it to subscribers'

computers.

Voice Presentation—allows instructors to include audio instructions, narration or messages

when presenting web content, images and PDFs. Students can post audio and text

comments on the presentation.

To perform any of these procedures, you will need a microphone and speakers attached to your computer. A good headset will usually give better quality than using an inbuilt microphone.

To change your audio input device from within a Voice tool: 1. At the top right of the audio applet, click the menu icon .

2. Hover your mouse over Audio Input in the drop‐down list. If you are recording through a

headset plugged into the front of your computer, select HD Audio front mic.

3. Click the menu icon again.

4. Hover your mouse over Audio Output in the drop‐down list, then select the appropriate

audio output device.

5. Do not change the Audio Filters—leave Auto Gain Control and Noise Reduction selected.

To create a Voice activity of any kind, begin by following these steps:


2. In the appropriate section, click Add an activity, and select the appropriate Voice activity


3. On the Adding a new Voice [chosen activity] page, under General, enter an Activity Name.

4. Follow the appropriate instructions below for the activity you chose.


Voice Authoring

5. Record your message:

o Click the Record button to record your message.

o Click the Pause button to pause recording. Click it again to resume.

o Click the Stop button when you finish recording.

o Click the Play button to listen to your message.

6. Complete the remaining sections of the page as appropriate and click Save and return to

course.

Voice Board

5. Select any Associated Voice Board. If no associated Voice Board exists, select New Voice

Board.

6. In the Creation of a new Voice Board window, enter a title and click Ok.

7. Complete the remaining sections of the page as appropriate and click Save and display.

8. In the Voice Board window, run the Setup Wizard (the link is at the foot of the window) to

check your audio settings.

9. Click New.

10. In the Compose window, enter a Subject for your message.


o Click the Record button to record your message.




12. Click Post. The Compose window closes.

13. In the Voice Board window, click the recording’s title to activate the Edit, Delete and

Forward buttons. You can also Import or Export audio files from here, or choose playback

Options.

Voice Email

5. Select whether the email is to go to Instructors, Students or both (All).

6. For Pre‐filled Subject Field select Yes and enter the text you want to pre‐fill the field.

7. Select whether to Include Reply Links if you want users to reply with a Voice Email. If

selected, three links will appear in the Voice Email:


o Reply with your voice: Click this link to reply to the Voice Email with text and voice.

o Reply all: Click this link to reply to all recipients of the original email.

o New Voice Email: Click this link to send a new Voice Email to any email address.

8. Leave Audio Quality set to Standard Quality.

9. Select a Maximum message length.

10. Complete the remaining sections of the page as appropriate and click Save and return to

course.

Voice Podcaster

5. Select any Associated Voice Podcaster. If no associated Voice Podcaster exists, select New

Voice Podcaster.

6. In the Creation of a new Voice Podcaster window, enter a title and click Ok.

7. Complete the remaining sections of the page as appropriate and click Save and display.

8. In the Voice Podcaster window, run the Setup Wizard (the link is at the foot of the window)

to check your audio settings.

9. Click New.

10. In the Compose window, enter a Subject for this podcast file


o Click the Record button to start recording your message.




8. Enter any necessary supporting text—e.g. notes or messages—in the box below the applet . 9. Click Post. 10. In the Voice Podcaster window, click the new podcast’s title to activate the Edit and Delete

buttons, if necessary.

Voice Presentation

5. Select any Associated Voice Presentation. If no associated Voice Podcaster exists, select New Voice Presentation.

6. Complete the remaining sections of the page as appropriate and click Save and display. 7. The Voice Presentation window displays. It contains further instructions for creating a

presentation. Click New to open the Compose window and begin.


Wiki

To create a Wiki activity (including the front page of the wiki):


2. In the appropriate section, click Add an activity, and select Wiki from the drop‐down list.

3. On the Adding a new Wiki page, under General, enter a Wiki name and a Wiki description.

4. Under Wiki settings:

o Enter a First page name.

o Select the appropriate Wiki mode.

o Make format selections, clicking the Help button for assistance.

5. Complete the remaining sections of the page and click Save and display.

6. On the Create page page, click Create page.

7. On the Edit page:

o Add page content in the text editor.

o Add any appropriate official or other Tags.

o Click Save.

8. If you need to make any changes to the page, click the Edit tab.

To add a new page to an existing wiki:

On the course home page, open the wiki.

1. On the wiki front page, click the Edit tab.

2. On the Editing this page page, in the HTML format text editor box, choose where you want

to place the link to the new page. You are effectively creating a contents list—you may want

to put this at the head or the foot of the page. In the chosen location, type the title of the

new page within double square brackets, e.g. '[[Background]]'.

3. Click Save. The front page displays with the new link.

4. Click the link.

5. On the Create page page, click Create page.

6. The new page's Editing page displays. Add content to the page just as you did for the front

page, and click Save.

7. To return to the front page of the wiki, click its breadcrumb at the top of the page—or you

can create a link to it by typing its title in the new page inside double square brackets.


Wimba Classroom

To create a Wimba Classroom activity:


2. In the appropriate section, click Add an activity, and select Wimba Classroom from the

drop‐down list.

3. On the Adding a new Wimba Classroom page, under General:

o Enter an Activity name.

o Select any Associated Room. If no associated room exists, select New Room. In the

Creation of a new room window, enter a name for the room and click Ok.

4. Complete the remaining sections of the page (under Restrict access, the access times may

be particularly important) and click Save and return to course.

5. To enter the new Wimba Classroom, click its link on the course home page.


Blogging in Moodle

A user blog is automatically set up as part of a Moodle 2 user’s profile; it is not a course‐specific

activity. You can also create user blogs or a course blog as an activity within a course (in the Add an

activity list, select OU blog).

Student user blog entries can be made assessable, but only by manually creating a grade item in the

Gradebook; no scoring facility is available on the blog page itself.

OU (Open University) blogs can be graded in the same way; the possibility of a grading option is

currently being explored.

To add an entry to your user blog:

1. In the Navigation block, select My profile > Blogs > Add a new entry.

2. On the Add a new entry page:

o Type an Entry title.

o Enter text in the Blog entry body text editor.

o Add any necessary attachments.

3. Select or add Tags as necessary.



To view all a student’s blog entries: In the Navigation block, select My courses > [course name] >

Participants > [user’s name] > Blogs > View all entries.

Note: This will display this student’s blog entries for all the Moodle 2 courses they are enrolled in.

To set up and view:

all the student’s blog entries for your course specifically, or

all students’ blog entries in response to a particular blogging exercise:

1. Instruct the students, when they post their blog entries on the Add a new entry page, to

enter a relevant tag (e.g. course ID, identifying code for the blogging exercise) in the Other

tags field before they click Save changes.

2. To view the relevant entries, in the Navigation block, click Site pages > Tags.

3. On the Search tags page, either enter the tag in the field and click Search, or click the tag in

the tag cloud below the field.

4. On the tag’s page, click See all blog entries tagged with “[tag]”.


This method relies on your students remembering to tag their blog entries, and tagging them

correctly. You may prefer to use a discussion forum, an assignment, or an OU blog (see the following

instructions) to make access to their responses more reliable.

To create a course‐specific OU (Open University) blog:

1. On the course home page, click Add an activity and select OU blog from the drop‐down list.

2. On the Adding a new OU blog page:

o Enter a Blog name, and a Summary if required.

o Choose whether to Allow comments, and from whom.

o Choose whether you will use Individual blogs in this case (click the Help icon for

further information).

o If applicable, choose the level of Maximum visibility for this blog (click the Help icon

for further information).

o Under Common module settings, decide whether you will use Group mode for this

blog. This would be sensible if there are lots of different teachers for the course,

each of which has their own group of students. Select Visible groups if the teachers

are allowed to see each others' students, or Separate groups if they are only

allowed to see their own students—make sure each teachers is made a member of

their group.

o Complete the remaining fields as necessary and click Save and display.


To add an entry to an OU blog:

1. On the course home page, click the blog name.

2. On the blog home page, click New blog post.

3. On the New blog post page:

o Enter a Title if necessary.

o Type your Message, and add any necessary Tags. (Tags apply only within the blog.

Click a tag to see all posts in the current blog with that tag.)

o Choose whether you will Allow comments on this entry.

o Add any necessary Attachments.

o Click Add blog post.

4. The new post displays on the main blog page, where you can Edit or Delete it if you wish.


Commenting on an OU blog post

Once you have added a comment to an OU blog post, you cannot edit it; you can only delete it. You

can delete your own comments from any OU blog post, and the author of a blog post can delete any

comments added to it.

To add a comment to an OU blog post:

1. On the blog home page, for the relevant post, click Add your comment.

2. On the New blog comment page:

o Enter a Title, if necessary.

o Type your comment in the Message box.

o Click Add comment. The new comment displays on a page with the relevant post,

under the heading Comments.


To delete a comment from an OU blog post:

1. On the blog home page, for the relevant post, click [number of comments] comments. The

post and all its comments display.

2. For the relevant comment, click Delete.

3. In the confirmation page, click Continue. The post displays with all its comments. The

comment you deleted displays with the message 'Deleted by [you], [day, date, time]'. This

message is only visible to you, and to the system administrator, not to other users.


Using assessment tools

These pages tell you how to create basic assessment activities within your Moodle course, and how

to set up the Gradebook to allow them to be marked:

Assignment

Turnitin Assignment

Lesson

Quiz


Gradebook


Assignment

Moodle 2 gives you four different assignment options:

Upload a single file—multiple files may also be zipped and submitted).

Advanced uploading of files—allows multiple file submission, submission of an

accompanying message and the returning of files online

Online text—students type their answer online rather than submitting a file

Offline activity—the assignment is completed offline. Setting it up in Moodle allows

students to be reminded to complete it, and grades to be entered against it.

To create an assignment:


Assignment > [assignment option] from the drop‐down list.

2. On the Adding a new Assignment page, enter an Assignment name and Description and

complete the remainder of the General and Grade sections as appropriate.

3. Complete the option‐specific fields as necessary. The table on the following page describes

the choices offered to you.


4.

Section Choices to make

Upload a single file Whether students can submit the assignment more than once—Allow resubmitting

Whether Moodle notifies you when students add or edit a submission—Email alerts to teachers

Maximum assignment file size—Maximum size

Advanced uploading of files

(With this option, you can return a file online, or—through the assignment’s Gradebook column—send a file to a student in response to their submission.)

Maximum assignment file size—Maximum size

Whether students can delete uploaded files before submission—Allow deleting

Maximum number of files students may upload—Maximum number of uploaded files

Whether students can add an accompanying note to their submission—Allow notes

Whether to hide the content in the Description field before the specified Available from date—Hide description before available date


Whether students can indicate when they have completed work on their assignment—Enable “Send for marking” button

Online text Whether students can submit the assignment more than once—Allow resubmitting


Whether Moodle copies the submission text into the feedback field, for you to comment on or edit during grading—Comment inline

Offline activity No selections are necessary.

5. Complete the remainder of the page and click Save and return to course.


Create a private online space for a student

‘I am using inquiry based learning for a course. One assessment task requires students to keep a “research notebook”. How can students create an online space that is private, in Moodle?’

Within Moodle, the closest thing to a private blog/journal is the online text assignment tool. Students type their journal or notebook entries directly into Moodle and the teacher provides feedback. For help using the online text tool, see moodle.docs.

Also within Moodle, you can also create a discussion forum ‘displayed in a blog‐like format’. To make it private, you would have to create a single‐member group for each student.

But your best option may be to use the Mahara ePortfolio system for this task, which has a dedicated blog tool that can be kept private and can be graded. Click here to go to the Mahara pilot project wikispace.

Manage student submission of video assignments

It is not recommended for students to upload video assignments directly to Moodle.

For instructions on managing student submission of video assignments using UNSWTV, go to the Moodle support site’s Create an assignment page (http://149.171.132.66/moodle/content/M2_create_assignment.cfm?ss=0). Scroll to the bottom and click the link for the document: 'How to submit video assignments in UNSWTV: Instructor setup

and test publish, student submission'.


Turnitin Assignment

Three Turnitin products can be used within Moodle 2:

OriginalityCheck, the originality checking tool

GradeMark, the assignment markup and feedback tool, including the e‐rater grammar and

spelling checking tool

PeerMark, the peer review tool.

If you are reading this page online, click here to go to the Turnitin support site page for Moodle.


Lesson

To create a Lesson activity:


2. In the appropriate section, click Add an activity, and select Lesson from the drop‐down list.

3. On the Adding a new Lesson page, under General:

o Click Show advanced.

o Enter a Name for the lesson.

o Set a Time limit, if necessary.

o Set availability and/or Deadline dates and times as applicable.

o Complete the remaining fields as appropriate.

4. Make selections in the Grade, Grade options, Flow control, Pop‐up to file or web page,

Dependent on and other sections as appropriate for this lesson.

5. Click Save and display. The lesson’s Edit page displays, where you can begin importing or

creating content.


Quiz

To create a Quiz activity:

1. On the Moodle course home page, in the relevant section, click

Add an activity and select Quiz from the drop‐down list.

2. On the Adding a new Quiz page:

o General section:

Enter a Name, and introductory text if necessary.

Set Open and Close dates and a Time limit, if

necessary.

Set the number of Attempts allowed, and, if

multiple attempts are allowed, which Grading

method Moodle should use.

o Layout: select whether you want the Question order to be randomised, and where

you want page breaks to fall.

o Question behaviour: select whether you want multiple choice or matched question

options randomised, and whether Adaptive mode is to be applied to this quiz. If you

do, click Show advanced and make two more selections.

o Review and Display: select what you want the student to be able to see when they

view their attempt or report, as well as during the quiz.

o Extra restrictions: Select any restrictions you want to apply.

o Overall feedback: enter the feedback text the students will automatically see,

depending on which range of scores they fall within, as defined by the or

percentages in the Grade boundary fields.

3. Complete the remaining sections as necessary for this activity, and click Save and return to

course.

To grant an individual student special access to, or an extension on, a quiz, go the Restrict access

Moodle support page (http://149.171.132.66/moodle/content/M2_restrict_access.cfm?ss=0) and

follow the relevant instructions.



Creating a Workshop activity is a 5‐part process:

A. Set the workshop introduction B. Provide instructions for submission and assessment C. Edit assessment form D. Prepare example submissions E. Allocate submissions

A. Set the workshop introduction


Workshop from the drop‐down list.

2. On the Adding a new Workshop page, enter a Workshop name, and an Introduction if

necessary.

3. Under Workshop features, select whether you want to give the students examples of model

submissions (or of poor / fair / good / excellent submissions), allow peer assessment or

include self‐assessment. (These instructions assume that you want to use all three.)

4. Under Grading settings, select:

o the maximum grade for the submitted assessment

o the maximum grade for the student’s feedback on their peers’ assignments

o the Grading strategy. For example, use Comments for a non‐assessable, process‐

oriented item. (Click the Help button for further information).

If necessary, click Show advanced and select the number of Decimal places to which you want the grades to display.


B. Provide instructions for submission

5. Under Submission settings:

o Enter Instructions for submission.

o Select the Maximum number of submission attachments.

o Select the Maximum file size for submissions.

If necessary, click Show advanced and select the Late submissions check box. (Note that late submissions can become complicated if your workshop activity has several phases.)

6. Under Assessment settings:

a. Enter Instructions for assessment. This is a useful place to tell students how the

workshop process will work (e.g. 'You will submit your essay as a text file only... The

workshop phase will change... You will review 3 other people's submissions...').

b. If necessary, select the Mode of examples assessment. It's useful to specify

Examples must be assessed before own submission to get students thinking about

what constitutes a good submission before they consider their own work.

7. Under Access control, select dates and times to set the submission and assessment periods.

This determines when successive phases will automatically close off—however, you must

still manually move on to each new phase.

8. Complete the remainder of the page and click Save and display.

9. In the workshop page, under Setup phase, click Edit assessment form.


C. Edit assessment form

10. Complete the assessment page, which will differ depending on the Grading strategy you

chose at step 4.

On the Accumulative grading page, for each aspect:

a. Enter a Description of the aspect to be graded, including guidelines for applying grades and questions reviewers should consider before they grade.

b. Into the Weight field, select a number between 0 and 10 to indicate how important this aspect is in relation to other aspects.

c. Click Blanks for 2 more aspects to enter additional aspects and repeat steps (a) to (b) for each aspect.

d. When all aspects are created and weighted, click Save and continue editing.

On the Comments page:

a. For each aspect, enter a Description, including guidelines for commenting and questions reviewers should consider before they comment.

b. Click Blanks for 2 more aspects to enter additional aspects and repeat step (a) for each aspect.

c. When all aspects are created, click Save and continue editing.

On the Number of errors page, for each assertion:

a. Type the assertion in the Description box. b. Change the Word for the error and the Word for the success, if you wish. c. Into the Weight field, select a number between 0 and 10 to indicate how important

this aspect is in relation to other aspects. d. Click Blanks for 2 more assertions to enter additional aspects and repeat steps (a) to

(b) for each assertion. e. When all assertions are created and weighted, click Save and continue editing. The

Grade mapping table displays. f. Make any necessary changes to the grade mapping table and click Save and close.

On the Rubric page, for each criterion:

a. Enter the criterion in the Description box. b. Select 4 Level grades. c. Define the 4 levels of achievement for which students will be assigned those grades,

using descriptions, guidelines and/or questions for the reviewers. d. Select whether you want the rubric to display in list or grid (table) format. e. Click Save and preview. f. In the preview page, check the rubric and click Back to editing form. g. On the Rubric page, make any necessary changes, then click Save and continue

editing.


D. Prepare sample submissions

11. On the workshop page, click Add example submission.

12. On the Editing example page:

o Enter a Title for the example.

o Type, or cut‐and‐paste, the example Submission content into the text editor

o Add an attachment if required.

o Click Save changes.

13. On the Example submission page, click Continue (or Assess example submission).

14. On the Assessed example submission page, provide an assessment of the sample submission

for your students to refer to in their peer assessment or self‐assessment, and click Save and

close.

15. Repeat steps 11 to 14 for all the example submissions.


E. Allocate submissions

Complete this part when students have begun submitting their assessments.

For a useful description of how random allocation works, open the PDF in the first post to this moodle.org discussion board.

16. On the workshop page, under Submission phase, click the Switch phase lightbulb icon . (You must manually switch phases throughout the full workshop process.)

17. In the confirmation page, read the text and, if you are certain you want to move the process on, click Continue.,

18. Click Allocate submissions. The Submission allocation page displays.

19. Do you want to manually or randomly allocate submissions to reviewers? If you have a large class, random allocation makes sense. You can randomly allocate, then tweak the allocation using manual allocation if you need to. Whichever method you use, you should have at least 3 people review each submitted piece.

o If allocating manually, continue to the next step.

o If randomly allocating, click the Random allocation tab and go to step 19.

20. On the Manual allocation page:

o In the left‐hand column, select the name(s) of the user(s) you want to review this

student’s work.

o In the right‐hand column, select the name(s) of the user(s) whose submitted work

you want this student to review.

21. On the Random allocation page select:

o the Number of reviews students are to perform

o whether this number is per submission or per reviewer

o whether to remove current allocations

o whether students can assess their peers’ submissions without having submitted

work themselves

o whether to include self‐assessments in the Number of reviews.

Click Save changes.


Gradebook

The Gradebook is where Moodle collects scores for graded items from the various parts of your course. Here, you can view and edit marks, as well as sort items into categories and calculate totals.

When you add a gradable activity to your course, the Gradebook automatically creates space for that item’s grades. As you or the system grade the completed activity, the assigned grades are automatically sent through to the Gradebook.

You can also manually add space to the Gradebook for items that are conducted offline, so that their scores can be incorporated into a student’s total.

View the Gradebook

Customise the Gradebook—categories, items, scales, grades and outcomes

Change viewing preferences

Hide grades from students

Manage assignments in the Gradebook

Export the Gradebook


View the Gradebook

1. On the course home page, in the Settings block, under Course administration, select Grades. The Grader report view of the Gradebook displays. You can toggle between the following three views: by clicking the tiny icon to the right of the course name within the table:

o (+) Grades only—all the grade columns, no category totals column

o (‐) Aggregates only—no grade columns, only category totals column

o (o)Full view—all the grade columns and the category totals column

2. If the Gradebook contains a lot of categories, you may need to scroll to the right to see the Course total column.

3. Click the drop‐down list at the top of the page to see the other views available. The Outcomes report shows how the course students are tracking against any outcomes you have defined. (See ‘To create an outcome’, below.) The User report allows you to select one or all users and view a summary of their individual grades, rankings and totals in all courses.


Customise the Gradebook—categories, items, scales, grades and outcomes

Before you begin adding categories and items to the Gradebook, compile a list of:

the major sections of your course

the graded activities (online and offline) for each section

Categories are useful for ordering the Gradebook for a course that has a lot of assessable items. You can display Gradebook details for a single category, and you can give each category a weighting, depending on its importance to the overall assessment.

To add a new category:

1. Click Turn editing on.

2. In the Gradebook, in the

Settings block, click

Categories and items and

select Simple view.

3. In the Simple view, click Add

category.

4. On the Grade category page,

click Show advanced to

make all the fields visible.

5. Enter a Category name.

6. Complete the aggregation

specifications, using the Help

button to help you make

your choices.

7. Under Category total, enter

a Category total name if you

are likely to put several

assessments into the

category, and enter Item

info and an ID number if

necessary.

8. Complete the Grade type

and associated fields as

appropriate, clicking the

Help button for

assistance if you need it.

9. Select the Grade display

type and Overall decimal

points, if you are not using

the defaults for those fields.

10. Select whether to hide or

lock the grades, adding a date if necessary.



12. In the Simple view, you can choose to hide or lock the new category, and you can move

existing assessable items into or out of the category using the Move icon .

Sometimes you need to manually add a grade item to the Gradebook. A grade item is an assessable activity generally conducted offline, for which you want the mark included in a student’s Moodle grades. (Note: For an assignment, you don’t need to create an item—create an Assignment activity and it will be automatically included in the Gradebook.)

To add a new grade item:


2. In the Gradebook, in the Settings block, under Grade administration, click Categories and

items and select Simple view.

3. On the View page, click Add grade item.

4. On the Grade item page, click Show advanced to make all the available fields visible.

5. Enter an Item name.

6. Complete the Grade type and associated fields as appropriate, clicking the Help button

for assistance if you need it.

7. Select the Grade display type and Overall decimal points, if you are not using the defaults

for those fields.

8. Select whether to hide or lock the grades, adding a date if necessary.

9. Under Parent category:

o Select Extra credit if you want students to be able to earn extra credit for this item.

o To include this item in an existing category, select the Grade category from the

drop‐down list. (You can change this later if you need to.)



A scale is an ordered list of marks or text values, ranging from negative to positive (e.g. “Sub‐standard, Less than satisfactory, Satisfactory, Good, Very good, Excellent!”), that is used to grade assessment submissions.

To add a new scale:


2. In the Gradebook, in the Settings block, under Grade administration, click Scales.

3. On the View page, click Add a new scale.

4. On the Scale page, enter a Name for the scale.

5. Enter the Scale terms, from most negative to most positive, separating each term from the

next with a comma.

6. If you need to, add more text in the Description text editor.

7. Click Save changes. The scale displays in the View page under Custom scales, where you can

edit or delete it.


To change the value of the grades behind letters:


2. In the Gradebook, in the Settings block, under Grade administration, click Letters.

3. On the Letters page, click Edit grade letters.

4. On the Grade letters page, if this is the first time these letters have been edited, click

Override site defaults.

5. Change the letters in the Grade letter fields and the percentages in the Letter grade

boundary fields as necessary.



To create an outcome (competency or goal) for a course or activity:


2. In the Gradebook, in the Settings block, under Grade administration, click Outcomes.

3. On the Outcomes used in this course page, click Edit outcomes.

4. On the Edit outcomes page, click Add a new outcome.

5. On the resulting page, enter a Full name and a Short name for the outcome, and select or

create a Scale to be associated with it. Add any necessary Description.

6. Click Save changes. The Custom outcomes page displays, where you can edit or delete

individual outcomes, or export all outcomes for use in another course.


Change viewing preferences

To change your preferences in relation to the way Gradebook displays to you:


2. In the Gradebook, in the Settings block, under Grade administration, click My report

preferences, then click the report type you want to change.

3. Under Show/hide toggles, select what you want to display on the report. (Click the Help

button for assistance.)

4. Under Special rows, click Show advanced and make your selections about how grades will

display and be calculated.

5. Under General, select how you want various elements of the Gradebook to display during

the grading process.


To move existing grade items into, out of, or within any category:

1. In the Action column for that

item’s row, click the Move icon.

2. On the resulting page, click the dashed rectangle that represents the position to which you want to move the row.

3. The Gradebook redisplays with the row in the selected position.


To change your preferences in relation to the way Gradebook displays to students:


2. In the Gradebook, in the Settings block, under Grade administration, click Course grade

settings.

3. Under General settings, select whether the category and course total columns (the

Aggregation column) will display first or last in the Gradebook reports.

4. Under Grade item settings, select the Grade display type and Overall decimal points, if you

are not using the defaults for those fields.

5. Under Overview report, select whether, in the Overview report, you want to show students

their class ranking, or total marks that contain marks for hidden items.

6. Under User report, select what you want to display in the student’s individual User report.

Click the Help button for assistance.


Hide grades from students

You can hide the grades for an entire category or an individual grade item from student view. The best time to do this is when you are creating the category or item, or just after you’ve created the activity.

To hide category or item grades:

1. In the Gradebook, in the Settings block, under Grade administration, click Categories and

items and select a view.

2. When the view displays,

o for a new category or item, click Add category or Add grade item

o for an existing category, click the Edit icon for the category or item.

3. On the Grade category or Grade item page, select the Hidden check box.

4. To set a date when the grade will become visible, select Enable to the right of the date

fields, and select day, month, year, hour and minute into the fields.


6. To make a hidden grade visible, return to this page and de‐select the Hidden check box.


Manage assignments in the Gradebook

To see how the following procedures work, in Settings block, under Switch role to, select Student, and submit an assignment.

The following is a useful tutorial, more detailed than the instructions given below: http://docs.moodle.org/en/Assignment_submissions#Tutorial_on_feedback_and_grading

To quick grade submitted assignments:

1. On the My home page, for each course you teach, a link will display if any submissions await

grading—‘[number] submissions not graded’.

2. Open the relevant course.

3. Click the link for the assignment.

4. On the resulting page, click the link View [number] submitted assignments.

5. On the View submitted assignments page, under Optional settings, select the Allow quick

grading check box and click Save preferences.

6. To view the submission, click its link in the Last modified (Submission) column.

7. To grade it, select a mark in the Grade column.

8. To give feedback, type it in the Comment column.

9. Select Send notification emails at the bottom of the table if you want to let all students

know that their work has been graded.

10. Click Save all my feedback.


To view and grade submitted assignments individually:

1. On the My home page, for each course you teach, a link will display if any submissions await

grading—‘[number] submissions not graded’.

2. Open the relevant course.

3. Click the link for the assignment.

4. On the resulting page, click the link View [number] submitted assignments.

5. On the View submitted assignments page, you can Download all assignments as a zip file, or

you can view and Grade each student’s submission.

o To view the submission, click its link in the Last modified (Submission) column.

o To grade the submission:

In the Status column, click Grade.

On the Feedback page, select a Grade, enter Feedback, attach a Response

file if you need to, select whether to notify the student that their submission

is graded, and click Save changes.


Export the Gradebook

To export the Gradebook:

1. Within your Moodle course, in the Settings block, click Grades.

2. In the Gradebook, in the Settings block, under Grade administration, click Export, and select

the format in which you want the Gradebook exported.

3. On the resulting page, make the appropriate selections for this export operation, and click

Submit.

4. Check that the preview rows display correctly. If they do, click Download.

5. Open or save the downloaded file.


Online Moodle resources

UNSW resources

Moodle 2 QuickStart guide

Moodle 2 support site

Other tertiary institutions’ resources

La Trobe University’s Moodle support site

University of Victoria (Canada)’s Moodle Startup Kit

Moodle resources

Moodle.org and Moodle Docs

Tomaz Lasic’s 2 Minute Moodles—the first one, Moodle explained using Lego, is a useful

introduction to Moodle concepts

Videos about Moodle 2.0 features

Moodle demonstration site

Moodle News

MoodleCommons training videos

MoodleTuts: 5 Minute Moodle Tutorials

Jason Cole and Helen Foster, Using Moodle: Teaching with the popular Open Source Course

Management System

The Moodleman Blog

00 step-by-step instructions · september 2011 these instructions are for staff using the moodle 2...

Documents