Moodle Quick Start Guide for Faculty

Moodle is a course management system that helps instructors create online courses and manage student assignments, activities, and grades. Moodle is replacing Blackboard at Smith starting in Fall 2006.

This document provides a quick introduction to creating online courses with Moodle. It describes the primary functions available within Moodle and the main options available to instructors. For more detailed information about any Moodle topic, see the other documents on the main Moodle page.

Getting started
Course settings
Uploading files
Setting up activities
Adding resources
Adding students or teachers
User profiles
Using the gradebook
Additional information

Getting Started

1. To access Moodle: Open a browser window and go to:  http://moodon.smith.edu
   
   We recommend using the Mozilla Firefox browser (rather than Internet Explorer, Netscape, or Safari) when working with Moodle. If you don't have Firefox, click here to download it from the Mozilla website.
   
   
2. To log in to Moodle: Click on the (Login) link at the top right of the window, next to the message "You are not logged in."  Use your GroupWise username and password to log in.
   
   
3. Notice and use these icons:
   
   

   	Edit: Click on this icon to edit whatever it is next to.
   	Help: Click on this icon to view a popup help window.
   	Open eye: Click on this icon to hide something from students.
   	Closed eye: Click on this icon to make a hidden item available.

   
   
4. Notice the navigation bar at the top of each page. It will help you stay oriented as you explore different parts of Moodle.

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To adjust your settings, look under Administration on your course homepage and click on Settings.

Note that this link, and in fact the whole Administration section, is only available to you (and the site administrator.) Students do not even see these links.

On the Settings page, you can change a number of settings about your course, from its name to what day it starts. Each type of setting has a Help icon next to it which explains it in detail.

IMPORTANT: Please do NOT change the Short name or the Course ID number of your course.

The most important setting is the Format. The course format you choose will determine the basic layout of your course, like a template. Below are screenshots of three sample courses that use three different formats. (Ignore the different colors in the examples below; colors are set for a whole site by the site administrator, but can be changed in any course.)

WEEKLY format:

TOPICS format:

SOCIAL format:

Note that the Weekly and Topics formats are very similar in structure. The main difference is that each box in the weekly format covers exactly one week, whereas in the topic format each box can cover whatever you like. The Social format doesn't use much content at all and is based around just one forum - this is displayed on the main page.

Click on the Help buttons on the Course Settings page for more details.

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You may have existing content that you want to add to your course, such as web pages, audio files, video files, PDF files, Word documents, or flash animations. Any type of file can be uploaded into your course and stored on the server. While your files are on the server, you can move, rename, replace, or delete them.

All these actions can be performed using the Files link in your Administration menu. The Files section looks like this:

Note that this interface is only available to instructors - it is not accessible by students. Individual files are made available to students later on as "resources." See the Adding Resources section for more information.

As shown in the screenshot, folders are listed along with individual files. You can create any number of folders to organize your files, and move your files from one to the other.

The file space is divided into four functional areas:

1. List of files and folders. Click on a filename or folder to open that file or folder.
   
   
2. Checkboxes, to the left of the filenames. Click on a checkbox (or boxes), then choose an action from the With chosen files dropdown menu.
   
   
3. Action list, to the right of the filenames.  You can rename, unzip, or choose a file to link to a resource by clicking on the appropriate action next to a filename.
   
   
4. Dropdown menu and buttons along the bottom of the list:
   
   
   • With chosen files: After selecting the desired files (marking the checkboxes) you can move the files into a folder, delete the files, or zip them into a single file for easier download or transfer.
     
     
   • Make a folder: Creates a new folder at your current level in your files space. You can nest folders as many levels deep as you like.
     
     
   • Select all / Deselect all: Checks or unchecks all the checkboxes in the current folder. Note that the top level is simply the parent folder to any folders within it. As you open folders, you can move back up a level by clicking Parent folder.
     
     
   • Upload a file: Opens the standard file dialogue box and allows you to search for and identify the file you wish to upload to your Moodle course.

Uploading files via the web is currently restricted to one file at a time. If you want to upload mulitple files at once (for example, a whole website), it is often easier to use a zip program to compress them into a single file, upload the zip file, and then unzip them again on the server (you will see an "unzip" link next to zip archives).

To preview any file you have uploaded, just click on its name. Your web browser will take care of either displaying it or downloading it to your computer.

To change the contents of a file, edit it on your local computer and upload it again.

Important: If you upload a file that has the same name as a file that already exists on your site, your new file will not be displayed automatically. You must refresh your browser window to see the new version.

Note: If your content resides out on the web, you don't need to upload files at all - you can link directly to your pages from inside the course.  See the Adding Activities and Adding Resources sections for more information.

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Building a course involves adding course activity modules to the main page in a logical order. You can change the order any time you like.

To turn editing on: Click on the Turn on editing link under Administration, or the button at the top right of the page. This toggle-switch shows or hides the extra controls that allow you to manipulate your main course page. Note that in the screenshot above showing the Weekly course format, the editing controls are turned on.

To add a new activity: Simply go to the week or topic or section of the screen where you want to add it, and select the type of activity from the popup menu. Here is a summary of standard Moodle activities:

• Assignment: An assignment is where you set a task with a due date and a maximum grade. Students will be able to upload one file to satisify the requirements. The date they upload their file is recorded. Afterwards, you will have a single page on which you can view each file (and how late or early it is), and then record a grade and a comment. Half an hour after you grade any particular student, Moodle will automatically email that student a notification.
  
  If you would like be able to comment on a student's file and upload the version of the file with your comments, choose Advanced uploading of files under Assignment type. This will still allow the student to upload a file, which you can then open and grade, but from the grade screen you will be able to upload the commented version. Students will see both their original and your commented version of their file.
  
  
• Choice: A choice activity is very simple - you ask a question and specify a choice of responses. Students can make their choice, and you have a report screen where you can see the results. It is ideal for quick polls and class votes.
  
  
• Forum: This is the module where discussion takes place. When you add a new forum, you must choose one of four different types: a simple single-topic discussion, a free-for-all general forum, a one-discussion-thread-per-user forum, or a question-and-answer forum.
  
  Under "Force everyone to be subscribed", you can make the forum act like a listserver, such that posting a message automatically sends an email to everyone who is subscribed.
  
  
• Quiz: This module allows you to design and present quizzes consisting of multiple choice, true-false, and short answer questions. Your questions are kept in a categorized database, and can be re-used within courses and even between courses. Quizzes can allow multiple attempts. Each attempt is automatically marked, and the teacher can choose whether to give feedback or to show correct answers. This module includes grading facilities.
  
  
• Survey: The survey module provides a number of predefined survey instruments that are useful in evaluating and understanding your class. Currently they include the COLLES and the ATTLS instruments. They can be given to students early in the course as a diagnostic tool and at the end of the course as an evaluation tool.
  
  
• Questionnaire: A questionnaire allows you to set up your own survey.
  

After adding your activities, you can move them up and down in your course layout by clicking on the little arrow icons ( ) next to each one.
You can also delete an activity using the cross icon , or edit it using the edit icon.

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Adding Resources

Resources are the content of your course. You can create simple text-based pages by typing them directly into a form. A resource can also be any file you have uploaded, or any file you can point to using a URL.

To link to a file:

1. On the drop-down menu, choose Link to a file or website.
   
   
2. In the next window, click on the Choose or upload a file button.
   
   
3. In the Files window, selet a file from your existing files list, or add a new file, as follows:
   
   
   1. Click on the Upload a file button.
      
      
   2. In the next window, click on the Browse button, navigate to the file and select it, and click on the Open button.
      
      
   3. When the correct filename is displayed in the window, click on the Upload this file button.
      
      
   4. Back in the Files window, select the newly-added file from your files list.
      

To link to a website:

1. On the drop-down menu, choose Link to a file or website.
   
   
2. In the next window, if you know the URL of the webpage, enter it in the Location field.
   
   
3. If you don't know the URL, click on the Search for webpage button to open a browser window. 
   
   
4. When you locate the page, copy its URL, close the browser window, and paste the URL into the Location field.

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Adding Students or Teachers

1. In the Administration block, click on Assign Roles.
   
   
2. Select the role you wish to assign (Teacher, Student, or Guest).
   
   
3. On the Assign Role page, enter all or part of the name of the person you wish to add in the Search field.
   
   
4. When the search is complete, select the correct name from the box on the right of the page, then click on the left-pointing arrow to add that name to the list on the left.
   

Note:  To unassign someone from a role, select their name on left and click on the right-pointing arrow.

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To change or add information about yourself, such as your email address, click on your name on the top right of the page, next to the Logout link.

Your profile will open, showing the information others can see about you. Click on the Edit profile tab to change your email address, upload an image, or add/change many other pieces of information.

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Using the Gradebook

To access the gradebook:

1. Click Grades in the Administration block
2. Click Set Preferences
3. Click Use Advanced Features

Items are automatically added to your gradebook for each activity in your course. You can also add non-Moodle events by hand:

1. Click Edit Grades.
2. Click Manage Graded Events.
3. Give the event a name, category and point total.
4. Click Add graded event button.
   

Assigning Categories

You can group graded events into categories which can in turn be weighted, as follows:

1. Click Set Categories – Uncategorised exists by default.
2. Type a category name next to Add Category.
3. Click Add Category button.

To put graded events into a category, choose the desired category from the drop down menu next to the event. (Curve To is basically scaling grades)

To weight categories:

1. Click Set Weights.
2. Assign a weight to each category – weights should add up to 100%.
3. You can drop the lowest x number of scores from any category.
4. Enter the number of scores that should be dropped into the Drop X Lowest box.
   Note: If items in the category have different points, results may vary.

Hiding an item causes it not to show and not be counted toward the total grade. You could, for example, choose Hide Uncategorised and use this method to store items until they are graded.

What you and your students see:

You can determine what is visible to students and what your gradebook looks like:

1. In the Administation block, click on Settings
2. Within Settings, set Show grades to Yes or No. This determines whether students see any grades at all.
3. In your gradebook, click Set Preferences.
4. For each option, choose the desired setting.

Navigating through the Gradebook

In View and Edit Grades, grades are displayed by category.

1. Choose the category name from the Current Grade Category drop down, or by clicking the category name.
2. Click the graded event name to change any settings for that event.
3. Within Edit Grade you can enter grades in a spreadsheet format.

Points vs. Percents

• Each item has a point value and each score is some number of points up to that value.
• Each item also can be reported as a percent of the earned score/total points.
• In View Grades, you also see Total Points for all items in all visible categories.
• Total % is calculated from all items, not just graded items.
• Categories can have weights. All items in a category will total a % of the overall grade.
• The weight of each item in the category is computed by dividing the category weight by the number of items in the category.
  

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For additional information about specific Moodle topics, please see the other documents provided for instructors on the main Moodle page.

If you have problems accessing a course, contact the User Support Center at x4487.  If you are having problems with your course materials, contact Jo CannonCarlson, the Moodle administrator.