Below are links to common inquiries about Moodle features. Hover over the link for a brief description.
Editing Text - how to use the text editor and what the icons mean
Activities - how to involve students actively in their learning.
Blocks - how to add extra items and information to the sides of your course page.
Questions - how to create questions for use in quizzes and Moodle's lesson module
There are several ways to track student progress in Moodle. This page outlines what is available to teachers in a course - grades, competencies, activity completion, course completion, course reports, other ways to track progress.
Important: To create course backups and restore materials from one course to another, you must have Instructor status in both courses.
1. Open the course that you would like to backup. Select the More tab and then select Course Reuse.
2. Change the Import dropdown menu to Backup.
3. Keep all defaults and select Jump to final step.
4. Select continue. Your new backup file will appear in the User private backup area, which stores your backup file in Moodle.
5. Select the link to Download the backup file onto your computer.
You cannot add this file to the LATTE backup folder created by ITS. Instead, we recommend creating a new folder with an easily identifiable and memorable name for your personal Moodle backup files.
1. Open a new tab and login to Brandeis Box.
2. Select New +. Then select Folder from the drop down menu.
3. Enter a name for the folder and select Create.
4. Select the link to open the Folder you created in Step 3.
7. Select New and then select File Upload from the dropdown menu.
8. Find the file you want to upload. An easy to find this is to select the download folder and sort by last modified.
Select the course backup file that you downloaded and select open.
9. In Box you will see a message confirming that the file has uploaded.
Moodle allows faculty to save a simple version of their course, including any files that have been uploaded. This option only saves the activity title and description. It does not save assignment submissions, forum posts, quiz questions, grades, or any student information. This guide explains how to download content, locate downloaded files, and access them efficiently.
1. Navigate to the settings page of the course.
2. Verify that the Enabled download course content setting is set to Yes.
3. Scroll to the bottom of the page and select Save and Display.
1. Navigate to your Course
2. Select the More link and then Download Course Content from the drop down menu.
3. A pop-up window will notify that you are about to download a zip file. Select Download.
4. The file will be downloaded onto your computer.
Once the download is complete, locate the ZIP file:
When an instructor is registered to teach multiple sections of a single course, he or she may want to share content across all sections of that course with Moodle. Moodle has options for sharing content across sections.
Enrolling Course Sections in a metacourse
Moodle has a feature in which a "parent" course receives registrar information from the "child" sections the instructor is teaching. An instructor may use this feature in several different ways to share content between sections in Moodle. Reference the illustration below to see how "child" course (section) enrollment feeds into the Moodle "parent" course(metacourse).
Metacourses in Moodle are currently created only by request.
1. Complete the TDX form to request a Metacourse.
2, Provide the following information to request a metacourse to share the same content in all your sections:
Metacourses are identified by having "-All" or a similar "1&2" marking within the course name when it is displayed on your Moodle Dashboard.
If you are requesting a metacourse to combine sections that are taught by multiple instructors, we will need permission from all involved instructors before proceeding with the metacourse creation.
If additional sections of your course are added in Workday and Moodle after your metacourse was created in Moodle, please contact the Help Desk so that the Moodle team can add the additional sections to your metacourses's setup.
*During high volume times (nearing the beginning of a semester) metacourse requests may take up to a week to turn around. As courses are provisioned months ahead of when classes start, the recommendation is to put in a request as soon as course shells are available.
1. Do you want to share course resources between sections?
Choose a metacourse option if you want all students in all sections to see the same content. All students are enrolled in the Metacourse and can all access the information uploaded there.
2. Do you want students to communicate within their section?
Choose a metacourse opton if you want to show the same content to all the course sections through the metacourse, but also want to use the section courses for section-specific discussions and other interactive features. Ensure the metacourse setting indicates "Hide" and explain to students that they find content in the metacourse and interact in the specific section course(1,2, or 3).
Grading TAs cannot be added at the Metacourse level, they must be added in each section individually.
To request an Independent Study Course be provisioned with a Course Shell in Moodle, please email help@brandeis.edu, and be certain to indicate that you need an Independent Study format Workday course to be converted to an actual Moodle course shell. To avoid confusion and delay it is helpful to distinguish the request from to more numerous ad hoc course shell requests (which get routed to the Brandeis Communities instance).
The "Switch role to" feature in Moodle allows instructors to view their courses from a student's perspective. This tool is invaluable in confirming that content, assignments, and activities appear as intended for students. By switching roles, instructors can ensure the accessibility and clarity of course materials, verify settings, and anticipate potential issues students might encounter.
1. Access the "Switch role to" option:
2. Select the Student Role:
3. Navigate the course as a student:
4. Exit the "Switch role to" Mode:
