Moodle - California State University, Northridgeit/training/pdfs/moodle_getting_started.pdf · 2011-01-11 · Moodle – Getting Started -Guide for Instructors R1/10/11 Page 4 2

Moodle User Guide

Moodle

Getting Started - Guide for Instructors

Faculty Technology Center

(818) 677-3443

OV 5

[email protected]

www.csun.edu/at/training

Moodle – Getting Started -Guide for Instructors R11/16/10

Table of Contents

Introduction ........................................................................................................................................................................ 1

What is Moodle? ............................................................................................................................................................. 1

Prerequisites – What Do You Need Before You Start? ................................................................................................... 1

What will be covered in this document? ............................................................................................................................ 1

Getting Started .................................................................................................................................................................... 2

Login to Moodle .............................................................................................................................................................. 2

Setup Your Profile ........................................................................................................................................................... 3

“My Courses” – First Look ................................................................................................................................................... 7

Course Layout Setup ....................................................................................................................................................... 7

Customizing Settings for a class .......................................................................................................................................... 8

Blocks .............................................................................................................................................................................. 8

The Administration Block ................................................................................................................................................ 9

Customizing the Weekly outline page for a Course ...................................................................................................... 15

Communicating Information to your students ................................................................................................................. 18

Add a Resource to the Course ....................................................................................................................................... 19

Add an Activity .............................................................................................................................................................. 20

Editing a course ................................................................................................................................................................. 22

Moving Resources/Activities ......................................................................................................................................... 23

Navigation ......................................................................................................................................................................... 23

How to Move Content From One Moodle Course to Another ......................................................................................... 24

Tips for using Moodle ....................................................................................................................................................... 25

Learn More about Moodle - Other Resources .................................................................................................................. 25

Moodle – Getting Started - Guide for Instructors R1/10/11 Page 1

INTRODUCTION

What is Moodle?

Moodle is software that can be used to produce internet-based courses and web sites. It is a Learning Management

Systems accessed by using a web browser. It is used to add web technology to instructor’s courses. Educators around

the world use Moodle to deliver online courses and to supplement traditional face-to-face courses. Moodle can be used

to teach a fully online course or to enhance your teaching by taking advantage of the Internet without replacing the

need for a teacher. You and your students can access the system from any place with an Internet connection.

Moodle gives educators tools to create a course web site and provide access control so only enrolled students can view

it. It offers a wide variety of tools that can make your course more effective. It provides an easy way to upload and

share materials, hold online discussions and chats, give quizzes and surveys, gather and review assignments and record

grades.

Prerequisites – What Do You Need Before You Start?

To use Moodle you will need:

A computer with Internet connection

A computer with a web browser installed

o To make best use of what Moodle has to offer it is recommended that you use one of the following

browsers:

Internet Explorer v5.5 or later,

Firefox,

Netscape v7 or later.

o Note – Other browsers can be used, however they may not have a WYSIWYG interface which will make

it a bit more cumbersome to use.

An account set up within Moodle. Visit the Academic Technology website at http://www.csun.edu/at for

information on getting a Moodle account and course set-up.

The web address (URL) of the server running the Moodle application - http://moodle.csun.edu

Teacher access to a course on Moodle.

WHAT WILL BE COVERED IN THIS DOCUMENT?

The items that will be covered in this document include:

Getting started with Moodle. Sign up for an account, review the basic interface, get used to some of the

conventions and start a course.

How to add content to your course.

Course management

Tools available in Moodle,

Other Resources Available to learn more about Moodle including how and when to use forums, hold chat

sessions, send messages, give quizzes, set assignments, develop shared glossaries and databases, create pathed

http://www.csun.edu/at

http://moodle.csun.edu/

Moodle – Getting Started -Guide for Instructors R1/10/11 Page 2

lessons, collaboratively develop web pages, create blogs, set up surveys and polls, and record student grades.

We will cover how to add the tool to your course and the options available and some creative ideas for

effectively using the tool in your class.

GETTING STARTED

Login to Moodle

To login and get started with Moodle:

1. Launch your web browser

2. In the address field of the web browser type: http://moodle.csun.edu

3. In the Login field, located on the upper left side of the screen, input your Username &Password (see figure

below). Your Username is a mixture of numbers and letters.

4. Click the Login button

5. The “My courses” page displays. (See figure below) You will see a listing of the courses you have requested to

be set up in Moodle under “My Courses”. NOTE: Students are automatically populated to your courses via

enrollment records on SOLAR.


Setup Your Profile

Why is it important to set up your profile? Profile Settings & Options - Within the Profile Options you will have the ability to setup a profile image, description and other information pertaining to yourself and your courses.

There are default settings that are important to change to improve your Moodle experience.

Select the “Show Advanced” button to reveal all profile setting options.

Profile Image - Users in the Moodle community by default are given a black silhouette as their profile image. This image appears when you post to forums, submit/assign assignments, as well as on every instance of your activity throughout the course.

Adding your picture to your profile helps to represent yourself and make your participation more personal and does the most to build community in an on.ine course site.

Any graphic or photo can be uploaded as your profile picture, although it is recommended that you use a head shot.

To update your profile:

1. Upon your first login, you will be prompted to edit your profile. To return to edit your profile, click on your name in the top right corner next to the “(Logout)” link or select the Profile link in the Administration block in your course. See figure below.


2. The Profile window appears. Click on the “Edit Profile” tab. See figure below.

3. Within the “General” settings, (see figure below) it is recommended to change:

a. “Forum auto-subscribe:” to NO . . or to YES . . If you select Yes, you will receive a copy in your email box of every post made to all the forums in your classes you post to.

b. “Forum tracking:” to YES . This will help you easily see when there are forum posts that you haven’t yet seen. A number will be highlighted next to the forum name on the course main page; threads will also show the number of unread posts and new posts will be highlighted.

First Name, surname - The first two fields are quite self-explanatory. The first and last names that you supply should be those that you wish to be known by on the course. They will be used by other course participants


to identify you when grading work and responding in forums and other activities. This field name is automatically filled by SOLAR.

Email address - This field name is automatically filled by SOLAR. It is your CSUN email account. This email address is used to receive acknowledgements and messages from the system, and is also the address that is displayed to all other users of the Moodle site, assuming that you have set the "Email display" option to allow other participants in your course to see your address, so it should be a mail address that you check regularly. Other email display options are to hide your mail address from all users, or to make it available to all users on the Moodle system, not just members of the courses you are enrolled in.

Email display -This controls the visibility of the address to others, allowing you to show or hide your email in the class. There are three options: you can set it so that all users (including guests) could see your email, or so that only other students in the class could see your email address, or so that no one could see your email address at all.

Email activated - You can either enable or disable emails being sent to your address. However, if you disable your email account in your profile, you won't receive announcements from the instructor in this class; you will miss out on important information.

Email format - For the messages to come into your mailbox, you can choose between "Pretty HTML format" (which means that the messages will be formatted with different fonts and colors to make them easier to read) and "Plain text format" (plain text with no fancy formatting or colors).

Email digest type - This setting allows you to choose how you want to receive any emails you get from forums. A digest is a compilation of all the posts to a forum for a given period. There are three possible choices: No digest, complete or subjects.

Forum auto-subscribe - This setting lets you decide if you want email copies of posts that are added to forums. If you set this to subscribe, the system will email you copies of new posts in forums that you join. This setting will override your efforts to unsubscribe from individual Moodle forums.

Forum tracking - Enabling forum tracking means highlighting the posts you have not read yet. This feature significantly improves time management when working with discussion forums. When editing text this can usually be left on "Use HTML editor (some browsers only)". This allows for text formatting options, with a WYSIWYG text editor--but requires newer browsers that can accommodate Javascript. If you find your browser is not letting you edit text, change this setting to "Use standard web forms". Also "Use standard web forms" if you want to input your course content using your own HTML. Set to "use standard web forms" if you use a screen reader or mobile device to read web pages.

When editing text – The setting defaults to “Use HTML Editor”. We recommend that you leave it at the default.

AJAX and Javascript – This field defaults to “No”. We recommend that you leave the default setting unless

you are an advanced user.

Screen reader - Set this to "Yes" if you use a screen reader.

City/town; country - These fields are used to further identify you by geographical location.

Timezone - This field is used to convert time-related messages on the system (such as assignment deadlines)

from the server local time to the correct time in whichever zone you have selected. It is not an editable field.


Preferred language - You are limited to languages installed with your Moodle instance. Moodle is available in over 78 languages. The language packs do not change the language used in the course content, but will modify the Moodle-specific terms used by the software for commands and features.

Description (*Required) - In this field you can enter some text about yourself, be it information about your studies, hobbies, qualifications or anything else that does not break the acceptable use policy of your Moodle site. This text will be visible to anyone that views your profile.

4. Other settings (see figure below). This is where you can upload your profile picture and add other personal

information, web page info. etc. Be sure to include a brief description of your profile picture i.e. “Prof. Smith”

5. Update Profile Button – When you have completed your profile edits, select the Update Profile button. If the

window does not change it would be due to an incomplete or empty Required field. Scroll up the page to find

the incomplete field.


“MY COURSES” – FIRST LOOK

In the center of the page as well as on the bottom right side of the “My courses” page, (see figure below) you will see

the “My Courses” block. This includes a list of all your courses as well as a “CSUN Moodle Community” which is a course

site for all faculty at CSUN who use Moodle. It is a place to share resources, ask questions, and get answers about using

Moodle in teaching and learning.

1. Access your course by clicking on the course name. The figure above shows two courses. Both named “UNIV100

Freshman Seminar” but each has a unique course number.

2. Click on the course name to begin building the course.

Course Layout Setup

A new course will be mostly blank. See Figure below. The course templates have:

Block areas on the left and right sides (example of Blocks in the figure below are labeled "People",

“Administration”, "Search Forums", etc.),

Course content sections appear under the heading: "Weekly Outline". The weekly outline format is the default

format for a course. This can be changed to other formats. See the section on The Administration Block,

subsection titled Settings for where to change this default setting.

The first section just below Weekly Outline is designed for general information and activities of the whole course

and is fixed and unnumbered for the Weekly outline format.


The "News Forum," appears in the top (unnumbered) section of the course example shown below: the

"News Forum." News forums will be discussed in the next section.

Remaining sections are set up with a weekly date format.

The upper left corner of the course page, as show in the figure above, shows the name of your course.

The Search Forums block allows you to search your course forums for particular bits of information or news.

Much like any search function on a web page performs.

The Administration block is where you find links to set your course options, assign roles, perform backups of the

course, and manage student grades.

The CSUN Block has links to common resources such as the library, IT Help Center and a link to Student Moodle

Training (which you can point your students to).

CUSTOMIZING SETTINGS FOR A CLASS

There are many settings that can be customized to have your online course look and feel the way you want.

Blocks

The view of your course homepage and ultimately the features offered to your course participants depends on which

Blocks you choose using the Blocks drop down menu. All of the blocks can be moved around, added or deleted from

your course homepage.


To add a block,

1. Turn editing on:

2. Choose the block you would like to add from the "Blocks" drop down menu. This menu will only be visible when

editing is turned on, and will never be visible to your students. If you delete a block then would like it back, you

can always re-add it. See figure below.

3. With editing on, you can see the block editing icons next to the block's title. Using these, you can hide the entire block with the 'eye' tool, move the block up and down with the up/down arrows, move the block from one side of the course to another using the sideways arrow, or delete the block altogether using the delete tool. See figure below.

The Administration Block

The Administration Block (See figure below) has many functions, most hidden from your course participants.


Settings

You will need to identify some basic fundamental course level structure, such as who has access to the course and the

course name. In the Administration block, the Settings link is only available to you, the course creator and the system

administrator. When you have completed the configuration of all your settings, click on the “Save changes” button at

the bottom of your Settings window.

See the figures below which display the Edit course settings window. Review the setting carefully. Below is a brief

description of the most frequently used settings.


Full name -This is the complete name of the course as it appears on the course list.

Short name - This is the abbreviated name of the course as it appears in the breadcrumb, or navigation, area of

the course pages.


Summary- The content of the summary area will appear to students when viewing a list of courses, so it is good

to type a brief course summary here. Remember to keep your entry for the summary concise to minimize

scrolling for students as they view all the courses on the list they are enrolled in.

Format - Below the Summary is the format choice. More detail on course formats appears on the next page.

Course Formats – The course format that you choose will decide the basic layout of your course, like a template.

- The Weekly and Topic formats are very similar in structure. The main difference is that each box in the

weekly format covers one week, whereas in the topic format each box can cover whatever you like.

- The Weekly format, dates are automatically added into each section.

- The Social format is based around just one forum and doesn’t use much content.

- A few other specialized formats are available for advanced users only.

Number of weeks/topics - Simply choose the number of weeks/topics that apply for your course. If you add

more topics Moodle will add new, blank topics below your old ones. Move topic/week blocks up or down using

the up/down arrows in the right margin of each section's block.

Course start date- To change the start date of your course; simply select a new start date in the "Course start

date" menu. Selecting a date here will provide the reference point for the dates that automatically present in

each section of a course in a "Weekly" format. NOTE: If your set your course to weekly, make sure the correct

start date is set and you have the proper number of weeks selected.

News items to Show - It will only have effect if you have the "Latest News" block enabled. If so, then the latest

postings in the course Announcements page will be shown to the students.

Show grades - If you are not grading your course and you would prefer to hide the grade book from students,

choose "No."

Show activity reports - Activity reports are available for each participant that shows their activity in the current

course. As well as listings of their contributions, these reports include detailed access logs. These are always

available to teachers, setting this menu to "Yes" enables students to view their own activity reports.

Enrollment duration - Don't change the enrollment period setting unless you want to restrict access to your

course after a particular date once the course has begun.

Maximum File Upload Size - This setting will limit the size of files that can be uploaded within your course; but

more restriction can be applied to various activities within the course. Currently the default setting maximum is

500 mb.

Meta-course - Meta-courses can be considered "parent" courses and only other [child] courses are enrolled—

not individual participants.

Enrollment settings - Do not change any enrollment settings in your course. The discussions of automated

enrollment options are beyond the scope of this course.

Groups - Groups may be set up in Moodle courses.

Availability and Password (enrollment key) – Moodle course sites are created automatically but by default will

be unavailable to students and appear grayed out. This is to prevent students from entering courses before

faculty are ready to use them. To make a course available to students (and therefore not grayed out):

o 1. Go the Administration block and select Settings.

o 2. Under Availability, select the "This course is available to students" option from the drop-down

menu.

o 3. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and select Save changes.


You can

allow Guest access by enabling guest access and sending the password to your guests. Guests may see student

interactions in forums and read all course content posted by the Teacher, but may not interact with participants.

NOTE: If someone tries to access the course and they are not added to the Moodle course yet, they will be

prompted for an “enrollment key”. You can set this enrollment key option, or wait for the automated enrollment, or

manually add the student (see next section).

Assign roles

Students enrolled in the class via the SOLAR system will be automatically assigned to the Moodle course before the

semester begins. The Assign roles function can be used if you want to add an Observer to the course or change the role

of a student. It also can be used to add a teaching assistant (grading or non-grading), librarian or student who needs an

accommodation.

Below are the different roles and their descriptions.

Roles Description

Non-editing teacher Non-editing teachers can teach in courses and grade students, but may not alter

activities.

Teaching Assistant (Grading) Teaching Assistants have most of the permission of a teacher WITH access to

gradebook and the ability to grade activities.

Teaching Assistant (Non-Grading) Teaching Assistants have most of the permission of a teacher WITHOUT access

to gradebook or the ability to grade activities.

Librarian Librarians have most of the permissions of a teacher.

Student Students generally have fewer privileges within a course.

Student –No Time Limit on Quizzes Allows user unlimited time to attempt a quiz which has a specified time

limit. (See quiz documentation for more information).

Observer Observers have minimal privileges and usually cannot enter text anywhere.

Below is the Assign roles dialog window.


1. To find potential users, use the search field below the list on the right.

2. Enter a unique portion of the user’s name.

3. Click the Search button to filter the potential users that meet the unique criteria.

4. To add the participant, select the participant from the right list, click on the left pointing arrow between the

right and left boxes. This will add the participants to the left box of “existing users” now enrolled in the course.

5. To unenroll participants, select the name from the left column and click the right-pointing arrow.

6. Note that the “Role to assign” box is at the top of the list. This is where you can change a participant’s role if

you choose.

Files

The Files option allows you to upload files e.g., photos (.jpg), PDF files, Word documents, PowerPoint presentations, into

your course, for inclusion in an activity or layout. Click on the Files link in the administration block to upload files or see

files you have uploaded in a list arranged under four headings: file name, file size, the last time a given file was modified,

and the action you can do with a given file (or folder).

Below is the File dialog window before any action has been taken to make new folders or upload a file.

Below is the File dialog window after a few folders have been created and a file has been uploaded.


As you can see in the figure above, folders are listed first, then files. You can create any number of folders to

organize your files and move them from one folder to the other.

Files & folders can be renamed by clicking the “Rename” link at the far right of the line.

Some files may be edited online, you will see an “edit” link under the Action heading next to the file that may be

edited online.

Important tip: If your content resides on an internet site then you do not need to upload the files at all, you can link

directly to them from inside the course.

Customizing the Weekly outline page for a Course

To begin personalizing and editing the Weekly outline page:

1. Click the “Turn editing on” button located in the upper right corner of the window.

2. Next, click the edit icon in the Header section. See figure below

3. The Summary window opens. In the text box, type in your course welcome, heading and any other introduction

you would like to appear. Use the toolbar/HTML editor icons to format your text. See figure below.


4. Click the “Save changes” button when finished. This will return you to the course page.

5. You should now see the course header and introduction you typed in the top block beneath Weekly outline.

Add your Course Syllabus

1. From the “Add a resource” field use the drop down arrow and select “Link to a file or website”. See

figure below.

2. Adding a new Resource window displays. See figure below.


3. In the Name field type: Syllabus.

4. In the Summary text box type: Course Syllabus. The text will appear on the aggregated Resources page,

so it is a good idea to be descriptive.

5. In the “Link to a file or web site” area, click the “Choose or upload a file . . “ button.

6. A new window opens, click on the Upload a File button, Choose the Browse button to locate the file to

upload.

7. Click the Upload this file button.

8. You should be returned to the “Adding a new Resource” window. The file should appear in the

“Locations” field.

9. Scroll to the bottom of the window and click “Save and return to course” button.

10. Your course Syllabus link now appears in the course Header. See figure below.


News Forum

The News Forum is a special forum for general announcements. This forum is automatically created for each Course and

every enrolled person is subscribed to the News Forum. This makes the News Forum a very useful tool for

communicating to all the students in a class. In many ways, it is much better than messaging or emailing students.

Instead you can post your message to the News Forum and a number of things happen automatically:

1. The message is posted and archived by date to the News Forum

2. Students receive the message by email automatically after the 30 minute editing period expires (unless you

check the box for "Mail now")

3. A notice is added to the Latest News Blocks

COMMUNICATING INFORMATION TO YOUR STUDENTS

Moodle provides a variety of ways to communicate information to your students. One way is in the “Latest News” block (located on the right hand side).

1. In the “Latest News” block, click on the “Add a new topic” link. (See figure below) The Add a new topic window appears.

2. In the Subject field, provide a subject, for example, “Read chapter 1 before the first class”. See Figure below


2. In the Message text box field type a more detailed message, such as “You should have already read chapter 1 of

the text before coming to the first class.” Use the format text toolbar to emphasis and format text. Just like in

Word, use the headings dropdown for proper accessible format.

3. To attach a file to this topic, scroll down the page.

a. In the Attachment field, click the Browse button

b. Located the file to attach.

4. Next, select the Mail now box –this will automatically send email out to all participants in the class with this

message and will post it to the News forum. If box is not selected, you have up to 30 minutes to edit text before

email is sent. Messages can take up to 1 ½ hours to be sent based on various email programs/carriers.

5. Select the Post to forum button – your message post will email out to all subscribers. It automatically refreshes

you back to the main course page. Now in the news block you will see your new posting.

6. Students can also click on the News forum link in the header block to view the postings in date order.

Add a Resource to the Course

Add resources to the course in the weekly blocks in the same way that you added your course syllabus in the header

block which was described previously.

Resources allow you to add content to your course. Note that there are separate drop-down lists in each of your

course's sections for Resources and Activities.

Major resources include:

a. Book: a structured set of mini-web pages with its own navigation system. No knowledge of HTML is necessary

to create a book.

b. Label: basic text that you enter directly into a section of your course on the main course page.

c. Text page: a simple text-based page you create by typing desired text directly into a Moodle form. There are no

formatting capabilities with simple text.

d. Web page: you can create a web page directly with Moodle or by using a web page editor and pasting the

resulting HTML content directly into Moodle. You must click on the toggle HTML icon to enter HTML editing

mode. See picture on previous page. NOTE: Some browsers and word processing programs i.e. Word, have junk

code that is copied on a copy and paste function. To avoid this junk code, copy the text into a simple text

application like Notepad. See the Tips and Tricks Forum in the CSUN Moodle community for more information.

e. Link to a file or web site: you can point to any file you have uploaded (e.g., a handout, a PowerPoint

presentation to share with students, etc.) or any existing site or page on the WWW.

f. Display a directory: display the complete contents of a directory in your course files to students. (not illustrated

in this course)

g. IMS Content Package: the IMS Content packaging specification makes it possible to share content among

different systems by using a standard format. Publishers may create support materials for their textbooks that

may be in IMS Content format.


To Add a Resource:

1. In the weekly outline, find the week in which you want to post/add a resource.

2. From the “Add a resource” field use the drop down arrow and select “Link to a file or website”. See figure

below.

3. Adding a new Resource window displays.

4. Fill in the Name field

5. Fill in the text box with further information, instructions or details.

6. In the “Link to a file or web site” area, click the “Choose or upload a file . . “ button.

7. A new window opens, click on the Upload a File button, Choose the Browse button to locate the file to upload.

8. Click the Upload this file button.

9. You should be returned to the “Adding a new Resource” window. The file appears in the file list. In the Action

column, select “Choose”. The file should appear in the “Locations” field.


11. Your course resource link now appears in the Week block.

Add an Activity

There are a number of robust interactive learning activity modules that you may add to your course with the “Add an

activity” drop down menu. You can even push some of the activities for the course to the integrated grade book. Add

activities to each week of the course.

1. In the weekly outline blocks, find the week in which you want to add an assignment or activity.


2. From the “Add an activity . .” field use the drop down arrow to make the appropriate selection. . See figure

below.

3. The Add . . . . window displays. In the figure below, the choice was made to Upload a single file.

4. Fill in the appropriate fields. In the sample above that would be:

a. Assignment name field.


b. Description field - The description of the assignment, which should include precise instructions for students regarding the subject of the assignment, the form, in which it should be submitted, the grading criteria etc. Use this area to describe the assignment and explain what learners are expected to do to

complete this task. c. Grade Field - The grade for the assignment is specified here. Choosing a number will become the

maximum grade for this assignment. Apart from the numbers, one of the descriptive grades which have been defined for this course can also be picked. If you will not be giving a grade for the assignment, choose No Grade.

d. Available from - Setting this date prevents students from submitting their assignments before this date.

e. Due date – Setting this date prevents students from submitting their assignments after this date.

f. Prevent late submissions - Set to "No", assignments submitted after the due date will be marked as late, but students will still be able to submit them. Set to "Yes", assignment submission will be blocked after

the due date. g. Email alerts to teachers - If enabled, then teachers are alerted with a short email whenever students add

or update an assignment submission.


6. Your course activity link now appears in the designated Week block. See figure below

NOTE: For more detailed information on the different activity choices and how they are used, see the

Moodle Activities documentation available through the Faculty Technology Center (FTC) or login to

Lynda.com for an interactive tutorial experience. See reference page at back of this booklet.

EDITING A COURSE

One of the most appealing features of Moodle is that no knowledge of HTML or other programming is necessary to

create and edit online instructional materials.

1. To add or alter activities or resources a teacher must use the "Turn editing on" button on the course homepage near the top right corner of your window. The same button will also turn editing off. Similarly, the "Switch role to..." menu allows the teacher to see the course page as a student or non-editing teacher would see it. To add items to a section, you will use the pull down boxes for activities and resources.

2. Participants in the class do not have the "Turn editing on" button--it's only available to the Teacher, TA, Librarian

or the Moodle System Administrator. When editing is on you will see the following icons next to all editable

objects in the course:


Moving Resources/Activities

There are many different editing icons that appear on your course page when editing is turned on. For example,

resources and activities can be moved to different positions and places in the course by using the move icon or delete

them using the cross icon. Below you will find an explanation of each of the editing icons you will see.

The edit icon lets you alter/update whatever resource or activity it is next to by taking you to its setup page.

The help icon will pop-up a relevant help window.

The open-eye icon means an item is visible to students. Clicking it will make the item invisible to participants

and change the icon to the closed eye.

The closed-eye icon means an item is hidden from students. Clicking it will make the item visible to

participants and change the icon to the open eye.

The left icon is used to out dent course elements. There is also a right icon for indenting items.

The move icon allows course elements to be moved up or down throughout the course.

The move here icon appears when moving a course element. It appears only after you've clicked

the move icon, and indicates the destination of the item you're moving.

The delete icon will permanently delete something from the course after you confirm a warning on a second

page.

The marker icon allows you to make a section current.

The one icon hides all other sections of the course, showing only this one.

The all icon redisplays all sections in a course.

NAVIGATION

There are a couple options for you to find your way around in a Moodle course.

1. The Activities block - Select the name of the activity type. For example, to see all “Forums”, select the

Forum link and all the forums that have been created for the course will show.

2. Breadcrumb trail – Use the breadcrumb trail links to navigate to different locations within Moodle.

Breadcrumbs are located in the upper left corner of the page. See figure below.


3. Jump to – this navigation dropdown box allows you to select the particular section and activity you’d

like to move to in the course. It can be found near the top of your browser window when within an

activity.

HOW TO MOVE CONTENT FROM ONE MOODLE COURSE TO ANOTHER

There are two basic ways to move content from one Moodle course to another. Both require you to have your new

course already set-up on Moodle.

Import – This tool allows you to select what activities you want to move. This does not import student data. It is the

recommended method when you want to pick and choose what you would like to import.

Backup/Restore – These tools allow you to backup your old course and then restore your entire course into your new

course. This is helpful if you want the entire course. Be sure to omit user data and files so you don’t pull all the students

and assignments over. If you accidentally move student data you can then delete it.

To use the Import tool:

1. Open your new Moodle course for the current (or next) semester

2. Select Import from the Administration Block

3. Use the drop down menu to select the source course where you want to draw content

4. Use the check boxes to select what content you want imported

5. Follow the prompts to complete the import

To use the Backup and Restore tool:

1. Open your previous Moodle course that you want to backup

2. Select Backup from the Administration Block

3. Use the check boxes to select what content you want backed up

4. For the other settings, we recommend you omit User Data so you don’t pull all the students and

assignments over. Also uncheck the Users and User Files and the Role Assignments. You do want the

Course Files.

5. Follow the prompts to complete the backup

6. Download the zip backup to your computer (select the new backup in the list to download)

7. Open your new Moodle course for the current (or next) semester

8. Select Restore from the Administration Block

9. Upload your zip backup (button in lower left)

10. Once the file is uploaded, select Restore to the right of the file

11. Follow the prompts to complete the restore


TIPS FOR USING MOODLE

Don't be afraid to experiment. It's hard to break anything in a Moodle course, and even if you do it's usually

easy to fix it. So, feel free to poke around and change things.

Add your profile and encourage all of the students to fill out their profile. Include your profile photo and

encourage your students to do the same.

Use the News Forum for class announcements. All posts are distributed by email automatically after the 30

minutes editing period expires. The messages are posted and archived by date in the News Forum and a

notice is added to the Latest News Block.

Use the Logs link (under Administration Block > Reports) to get access to complete, raw logs. In there you'll

see a link to a popup window that updates every sixty seconds and shows the last hour of activity.

Reports are found in the Administration block. These provide a great way to see what any particular person

has been up to in the course.

LEARN MORE ABOUT MOODLE - OTHER RESOURCES

There are many FREE resources available to support you in your learning and teaching within Moodle. The blue question

marks throughout your Moodle class gives you specific information on that particular item. The Moodle Docs link at the

bottom of each window within your Moodle class gives you more general information on aspects of Moodle.

The help icon will pop-up a relevant help window.


CSUN MOODLE Community

Once you have your Moodle account, one of the courses you will see listed under the “My courses” section is a course

named CSUN Moodle Community. The purpose of the course site is to be a common place for faculty to share

resources, ask questions, etc.

On-Line Tutorials

1. Lynda.com On-line training tutorials available to all campus users, faculty, students etc. This is a terrific on line

training tool to help show you how to disseminate information, create a forum and assess the progress of

students and much more. There is a large selection of tutorials to choose from to help further your knowledge

with Moodle. Topic specific tutorials are available as well. Some examples are:

Setting up the grade book

Sending email to the class

Creating a live chat room

Creating a forum

Creating a quiz

Posting video files

Linking to a web site

Creating a web page

And much more

Moodle for Faculty (Lynda.com) - http://moodle.csun.edu/mod/resource/view.php?id=6338

Moodle for Students (Lynda.com) - http://moodle.csun.edu/mod/resource/view.php?id=6339

2. Other Moodle Tutorials - http://www.moodletutorials.org/

http://moodle.csun.edu/mod/resource/view.php?id=6338

http://moodle.csun.edu/mod/resource/view.php?id=6339

http://www.moodletutorials.org/


3. Moodle “How To” Video tutorials - http://www.remc3-

9.org/education/components/scrapbook/default.php?sectiondetailid=285&&PHPSESSID=f7762edb300fc3a126d

1a28297fb05f8

Documentation

1. Moodle Teacher documentation - http://docs.moodle.org/en/Teacher_documentation

2. Using Moodle – Teaching with the Popular Course Management System -

http://issuu.com/iusher/docs/usingmoodle2?mode=embed&documentId=080624142903-

4cc5c9e016844a70b2d4b211268b5d82

3. MoodleDocs: http://docs.moodle.org/

http://www.remc3-9.org/education/components/scrapbook/default.php?sectiondetailid=285&&PHPSESSID=f7762edb300fc3a126d1a28297fb05f8



http://docs.moodle.org/en/Teacher_documentation

http://issuu.com/iusher/docs/usingmoodle2?mode=embed&documentId=080624142903-4cc5c9e016844a70b2d4b211268b5d82

http://issuu.com/iusher/docs/usingmoodle2?mode=embed&documentId=080624142903-4cc5c9e016844a70b2d4b211268b5d82

http://docs.moodle.org/en/MoodleDocs:Guidelines_for_contributors

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educational use only. Please cite source when using this material.

Documents

Moodle - California State University, Northridgeit/training/pdfs/moodle_getting_started.pdf · 2011-01-11 · Moodle – Getting Started -Guide for Instructors R1/10/11 Page 4 2