Moodle Help Guide

Moodle Page

Add a Moodle Page to display many different kinds of content such as plain text, images, audio, video, and/or embedded codes. Pages are more accessible than uploading word-processed documents, particularly if the document just contains text to be read and not downloaded.

When to use a page and not a file

Attributes of Moodle pages

Pasting from another document

Step 1

Select Page from the Activities and Resources Pop-up.

Step 2

Give the Moodle Page a name and description for students.

Step 3:

Add text into the Page Content textbox. 

Please Note: You can copy and paste text from Word or Notepad, and you can drag and drop images into the content area.

Step 4

Click Save and Return to Course or Save and Display.

When to use a Page and Not a File

Use a page if:

• The document doesn't need to be printed.

• You need to update it fairly often.

• You don't need to impose strict control over the way it looks.

• Your students may need to refer to it frequently for reference.

Attributes of Moodle Pages

• Opens directly - no need to download and open with proprietary software, such as Microsoft Word.

• Can be easily accessed by mobile devices.

• Much easier for the teacher to edit.

• Can contain links to files, to web pages, or to Glossary entries.

Pasting from Another Document

Be very careful when pasting from a word-processed document (such as MS Word) as it can add extra code to your Page and stop your course working correctly. If you don't want to type the text out manually then here are some suggestions:

• Open the document containing the text you want to paste into your new Page.
• Copy the text.
• Paste the text into a plain text editor, such as Notepad.
• From notepad, copy the text again.
• Paste it into your Moodle Page.
• You will have to reformat the paragraphs, but the Page will be clear of problematic code.

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Assignments

Assignments with No Grade

Assignments allow students to submit work to their teacher for grading. The work may be text-typed online or uploaded files of any type the teacher’s device can read. Grading may be done using simple percentages, custom scales, a Rubric, or a Marking Guide. Students may submit as individuals or in groups.

Step 1:

Select Assignments from the activities and resources pop-up window.

Step 2:

Name the assignment and give it a general description.

Step 3:

Add any instructions for the activity. The instructions will be visible to students when they edit and submit their assignments.

Step 4:

Adjust the "allow submissions from" and "due date" for the assignment. 

Step 6

There are 12 sets of preferences that you can change as an instructor for every assignment. However, these are the most common settings to adjust:

• Availability
• Submission types
• Submission settings
• Grade
• Turnitin plagiarism plugin settings

Click here to read more about the assignment settings in Moodle.

Step 5:

Once you have finished adjusting the assignment preferences, click Save.

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Assignments with No Grade (i.e., Collecting Disability Forms in Moodle)

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

Step 4

You can now collect your ADA forms in the Assignment Dropbox. Their grades will not be affected.

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Forums (Discussion Boards)

The forum activity allows for reflection, collaboration, and social learning in an online or face-to-face environment.

Types of Forums

Standard forum for General Use: this is the default type of forum. In this type of forum, students will read an introduction text in a separate area above the list of discussions. Students can then click on a button to start a new discussion thread or can post a reply to a thread.

Single Simple Discussion: in this type of forum, the teacher will post a question or discussion topic, and then each student can reply to your topic. In this forum, students cannot start a discussion topic.

Question and Answer Forum: the instructor first poses a question or discussion topic. Each student must post a reply to the question or topic before viewing posts of peers.

Standard Forum displayed in a blog-like format: this is similar to the Standard Forum for General Use. However, the first post of each discussion is displayed in a blog like format with a link to “discuss this topic” near the bottom right of the post

Post to Discussion Forum (Standard for General Use)

All types of discussions will have a reply and/or a Post to Forum Textbox that appears in line with the Discussion.

Setting Up a Forum

Step 1

Select Forums from the Add an Activity or Resource Pop-up.

Step 2

Name the discussion board, include a description of it, and review the preferences.

Forum Preferences

Availability

Here you can give the discussion board a Due Date and a Cut-off Date. If you wish to add a date that the discussion board opens, you can add a Restriction.

Attachments and Word Count

Set maximum size allowed of attachments and the number of attachments. If you require a specific word count for the discussion you can set the Display Word Count setting to Yes.

Subscription and Tracking

If students subscribe to forum posts then they will receive notifications of updates. You can change this setting to optional, forced, auto, disabled. When setting this think about how often you want students to check for updates. If Read Tracking is set to optional student will have the option of highlighting new posts in the discussion.

RSS

If enabled, you will create a Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feed to the discussion. This feed can be accessed a number of different ways online.

Post Threshold for Blocking

The default setting is to allow students to post any number of times to a discussion board. If you would like to limit the number of times students are allowed to post you can adjust it using this settings. You can also include a warning when students are about to be blocked from posting.

Turnitin Plagiarism Plugin Settings

Here you can enable and adjust the TurnItIn settings and use it for the Discussion Board.

Whole Forum Grading
Adjust how the forum is graded. Forums can be graded by a point system or a scale. Moreover, discussion boards can be graded using a Rubric, Marking Guide, or Checklist.

Common Module Settings
Some of the Common Module Settings to pay attention to include Group Mode (visible: student access all groups, separate: students only view posts within their own group, no group: students are single participants in discussion).

Restrict Access
You can set a number of restrictions on discussion boards. For instance, if you want the discussion board to be available at a certain date you can add a Date Restriction.  

Activity Completion Settings
This is where you can set the Activity Completion. You can either have students manually mark it completed or you can set specific conditions for Activity Completion (e.g. you can set the number of posts or the number or replies as a condition.)

Question and Answer Forum

The Q and A Discussion Forum will require that students first post a reply to your discussion topic before accessing peer responses. This discussion type is best used to allow every student to post an original and unique reply to the question without the influence of other students.

After students submit their original post, they must wait 30 minutes for their peers to see it and reply to it.

Step 1

Step 2

Complete setting up the Q and A discussion; the settings are identical for all forum types and then select Save and Display.

Step 3

Student Posting a Response to Your Discussion Topic (Question)

Reply Privately to a Post

There might be moments when you wish to reply to a discussion post privately. Follow these steps. 

Step 1

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Step 5

File 

Many types of files can be uploaded and accessed through Moodle.

Files may be added in two ways:

• They may be dragged and dropped directly onto the course page (while in edit mode).
• They may be uploaded using the file upload.

Step 1

Choose File from the activity chooser.

Step 2

• Give the resource a name and description.
• Check "Display description on course page" if you want the description displayed on the course page.

Step 3

Drag and drop the file or use the File Picker and upload it to the resource.

Step 4

Choose how you want the file to be displayed on Moodle:

• Automatic - let Moodle decide the best option for you.
• Embed - show the file as part of the Moodle page (images, PDFs, videos)
• Force download - force the user to save the file or open it in a program on their computer.
• Open - show the file in the browser, but without the Moodle page decorations (images, PDFs, videos)
• In pop-up - Same as 'Open', but opens a new browser window to show this file (without the Moodle heading, blocks, etc) - this browser window also does not have all the menus and address bar in it.

Step 5

Select either Save and Return to Course or Save and Display.

URL/Link

A URL (Uniform or Universal Resource Locator) is a link on the internet to a website or online file. Teachers can use the URL resource to provide their students with web links for research, saving the students time and effort in manually typing out the address.

Setting Up a URL Resource

1. In a course, with the editing turned on, choose URL from the activity chooser and give it a helpful name.

2. In External URL, type the web address of the site you want to link to (or copy and paste).

3. In Appearance, choose how you want your URL to display, using the ? help icon for more information. If you don't see all the settings then ask your admin as they may need to enable them site wide.

4. Expand the other settings to specify what you require and then click Save and return to course.

Kaltura Media Assignment

The Kaltura Media Assignment allows students to create and submit videos using the Kaltura Video Platform.

Step 1

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Step 3

Uploading Media

Kaltura Video Platform supports various ways to create and use video in the classroom. One of the most common types is to use Express Capture to record a direct testimonial or demonstration for your students directly on your computer. Additionally, you can link YouTube videos to your MyMedia. The value of adding a YouTube Link is that you can use the Kaltura Quiz and Chapter features.

Adding a Kaltura Video to Moodle 

Video can take up a lot of server space, so it is recommended that Moodle courses be kept below 500MB. The Kaltura Video Platform server has unlimited space to host videos.

Once you have added a video to MyMedia, you can add it as a single resource in a course. By selecting Add an Activity or Resource and selecting:

Step 1

Select Kaltura Video Presentation or Kaltura Video Resource in the Add an Activity or Resource pop-up window.

Note. The Kaltura Video Presentation and Kaltura Video Resource are identical resource types.

Step 2

Give the Resource a unique name and description, and then select the Add Media button under the Video heading.

Step 3:

From the pop-up window, you can access the Shared Repository and Embed a video into the activity or you can embed a video from your MyMedia.

If the video is from another faculty member it might be in the Shared Repository. If it is a video in your Kaltura My Media, it will be listed on your My Media.

Step 4

Select Save and Return to Course or Save and Display.

Step 5

The Kaltura Video Resource is now posted on the Moodle Course Main Page.