Student Moodle Guide - app8.client.renweb.com Moo… · Student Moodle Guide 2 INTRODUCTION ... It allows teachers and ... Eventually, Moodle will simply become another tool used

Student Moodle Guide

Revision date: August 2015 1


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INTRODUCTION

The purpose of this document is to assist you in the early stages of using Moodle, particularly

when accessing your online course for the first time.

What is Moodle?

Moodle is a web-based learning environment that allows you to access your course materials online

and make use of a number of useful built-in facilities to enhance your learning experience.

It brings the dynamics of a classroom environment to the Internet. It allows teachers and

students to interact in a ‘virtual classroom’ in much the same way as in a standard classroom.

The difference is that it can be done from any place in the world, at any time and with the

resources of the Internet as support.

Moodle courses can be developed as fully interactive classrooms where you may be involved

in online group discussions or collaborative group work. Other courses may not involve a lot

of online discussion and course material may be presented as a structured set of files (such as

Word documents and PowerPoint presentations). It depends on the learning material, your

lecturer, and the best way to deliver the course.

Some of the advantages of Moodle to support your education at the International University

of the Caribbean are:

• Increased access to important course information

• Additional learning support where materials and tools are available

• Undertaking aspects of studying anytime, almost anyplace.

To make the most effective use of this system:

• Ensure you know how Moodle is to be used within a specific course

• Exploit the opportunities provided (follow links to readings, participate in discussion

forums, complete quizzes, etc.)

• See Moodle as additional support, not a failsafe to missing classes

• Don’t leave online work to the last minute.

With each module studied, Moodle will become a more familiar and welcoming learning

environment. Eventually, Moodle will simply become another tool used to support learning.

As with any classroom, it is a changing environment - expect each module to apply different

tools and techniques. Join in, ask questions, and participate as you would in any classroom.

Important: Not all courses will be available on Moodle. Your lecturer should inform you if

he/she is using Moodle to support your learning. If in doubt, please check with your

lecturer.


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(Please See Elearn Manual for More details)

iucelearn.redirectme.net/elearn

How do I access Moodle?

You can access Moodle through a web browser (such as Internet Explorer or Mozilla

Firefox) on any internet-connected computer. This means that you can access Moodle from

home as easily as you can from any of the IUC campuses.

(1) To access Moodle, open a web browser window and type in the following web address:

iuc.webhop.me/elearn

(2) You should now see the Moodle home page (as shown below).


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Type your Moodle username and password into the appropriate textboxes and then click on

the “login” button. Your username will be in the format ‘firstname.lastname’ so if your name is

Mark Jones then your username will be mark.jones or if your name is Mary Bennett-Smith then

your username will be mary.bennettsmith. The username must only be typed in lower case

letters.

After you have accessed your course, you will be taken to your course homepage.

The main parts of the homepage of a course

(1) The navigation bar– each Moodle page has a horizontal navigation bar at the top.

The navigation bar tells you where you are in the course and it allows you to return to the course page (if you click the short name for the course) at any time.

(For more details, see the section on “How do I navigate a Moodle course?”).

(2) Course contents area– this is located in the middle of the screen and consists of course

sections. The first section usually has general information about the course. The remaining

sections contain course resources (such as text documents, PowerPoint slides, HTML pages,

images, etc) and activities (such as forums, quizzes, etc).

(a) Resources are meant to be perused or read without further interaction. The icon by the

side of the resource title indicates what type of file it is. You simply click on the title (or icon)

of a resource and, depending on the file type, it will either open directly in the web browser,

in a separate browser window, or you may be given the option to download the file directly to

your computer.

You will need to have the relevant software application installed on your computer to access

the files.


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The resources in a course can include:

Your lecturer may include a number of activities in your course for your completion. The

most common ones are:

For hands-on practice:

1. Go to a Practice Moodle Site: Mount Orange School (Student Demo)

http://school.demo.moodle.net/mod/page/view.php?id=46


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2. The practice site is shown below

You may also visit the following for additional sample course sites:

Another Demo Course

https://moodle.sbc.edu/course/view.php?id=313


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These course pages provide a basic look at the interface as there are no activities for you to

complete. This basic look should familiarize you with the page layout and blocks that Moodle

uses (as well as how activities and resources appear in a typical Moodle course (you may not

be able to complete the activities on these courses however)

Page Layout & Blocks The main course page in Moodle is divided into blocks and weeks/topics. Blocks are located on the

left and right columns of the window. Your instructor can customize the blocks in your course to meet

the needs of the course. Course content is organized by either weeks or topics and is the middle column

of the course.

Blocks Blocks are tools located in the left and right columns. There are many different blocks or

tools that your instructor can make available to you. Some common blocks are included in the

image below –People, Navigation, Settings, Search Forum, Campus Links, and Calendar.

Your instructor may choose to create a custom block that includes specific information

related to your course.

Weeks/ Topics Course content, or resources and activities, is typically organized by week or by topic.

Weekly organization is indicated by dates for each section of content. The course in the

image below is organized by weeks. Courses organized by topic, will have the label "Topic"

and the topic number instead of dates. You may see all weeks/topics at once, or the

weeks/topics may be made available as your course progresses.

Description of Items:


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1. Your Name / Logout - Click on your name to view your profile. Click logout to exit Moodle.

2. Navigation Bar – Also known as the breadcrumb trail. The last item in the trail represents your

current location. To move to the previous screen, click on the next-to-last item in the breadcrumb trail.

To return to your main course page (view seen above), click on the course name. Clicking on Home,

will return you to the main Moodle home page listing all available courses.

3. Navigation block - The navigation block appears on every page of the site. It contains an

expanding tree menu which includes My Home, Site Pages, My Profile, and Courses. What appears in

the navigation block depends on the role of the user, where they are in the Moodle site, and any settings

that have been applied globally.

4. Settings block - The settings block provides context-sensitive links to settings pages.

The main menu items (Course Administration and My profile settings) contain a submenu and can be

collapsed or expanded to display the menu as shown above.

5. Site Links – This block contains special links that have been placed on the page by the

administrators and may include a link to your email address, the university’s home page, etc.

6. Course Information area - This area contains course information such as the syllabus, news

forum, social forums, and other materials you will refer back to during the semester.

7. News Forum – The News Forum is where your instructor will post announcements and course

updates. You should check the News Forum often.

8. Week/Topic Heading – Your course will be organized by weeks or by topics. Each week/topic

will have a heading with an overview of the covered material.

9. Course Links – Items highlighted or shaded represent a course link or a glossary link. Clicking on

the highlighted word will take you to that specific resource or activity.

Navigating & Moving Around When moving around in your Moodle course, use the navigation tools to move from one area to

another. Below are the tools and buttons, you can use to move around in your online course.

The new Navigation block provides easy access to various sections of the Moodle site and includes:

• Home – Quick access to the IUC Moodle homepage

• My home - a personalized home page displaying links to the courses a user is associated with

and activity information (such as unread forum posts and upcoming assignments).

• Site pages - links to site pages and resources from the front page of Moodle (if enabled by

Moodle Admin).

• My profile - quick links allowing a user to view their profile, forums posts, blogs and

messages as well as manage their private files.

• My courses - Links (by course short name) to courses the user is associated with. Click the

course's short name to view the front page of the course or use the arrows to navigate quickly

to a specific section, resource or activity.


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It is recommended that you do not use the Back

and Forward buttons on your web browser when

using Moodle. Using the Navigation links

provided will ensure you always see the latest

version of a page (i.e.: a forum with all posts).

Be careful to update, save or post any changes

you make before moving on to another page to

avoid losing your work.

Basic navigation

There are a number of ways to move around the course and to know where you are within the

course.

Bread Crumb Trail

Use the bread crumb trail to move around in your course. The bread crumb trail is located at the top of

the Moodle window. As you move through the layers of your course, you will see a bread crumb for

each layer. The last bread crumb represents your current location. To move to the previous screen, click

on the next bread crumb. To return to the main course page, click on the course title. Clicking on Home

will return you to the Moodle home page, listing all of your available courses.

For example:

• Home : Clicking on this would take you to the screen which displays all of the courses on the

site.

• My Courses: Will take you to the main course index page listing all courses that you are

enrolled in.

• Miscellaneous : Clicking on this would display a list of all of the resources in this course.

• CF101: This is the last crumb and indicates that is your current location within the course.

Notice that the breadcrumbs menu changes to reflect your current position.

Customizing Your Profile

Edit Profile Your profile is visible to other participants and contains information about you. The default

information includes your name, country, city, first and last access, Email address, Moodle courses

you are enrolled in, and your roles (student, teacher, etc.). If you want others to view more

information about you, you can edit your profile to add more information to your profile. You can

also manage some course preferences from your profile as well.


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To edit your profile On the homepage in the Settings block, under My profile settings Click Edit

profile

Click Edit profile

under My profile

settings

Click Edit profile under My profile settings

General Settings

First and Last name You cannot change your name in Moodle.

Email Settings Your Moodle profile contains your Google school email account. Users may hide

their email addresses in Moodle, but they may not disable them.

Forum Settings By default, all users are automatically “subscribed” to forums. When a user posts to a discussion

forum they will receive email copies of all subsequent posts made to the forum. To prevent an

overflow of email messages in your inbox we suggest you use this setting:

Forum Auto-Subscribe – No: don’t automatically subscribe me to forums.

Another setting we recommend is :

Forum tracking – Yes: highlight new posts for me.


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This setting will display the number of posts in a forum you have not read yet.

Description

Use the description field to provide a brief introduction about yourself. You could include items

such as hobbies, interests, program of study.

User Picture

You may include a picture in your profile. Your picture must be a JPG or PNG file format. Your

picture will be automatically resized and appear next to your forum postings, messages etc.

Upload your photo by dragging and dropping it into the files area or by clicking the Add link in

the upper left hand corner of the box.

Click Add to upload

your picture or drag

and drop your file into

Important Note:

Moodle drag and drop requirements: Minimum browser: Firefox 4, Internet Explorer 10, Safari 5,

Google Chrome 11, and Opera 9

If you click “Add” to upload your picture to Moodle, click the "Upload a file” from the list in the File

picker, and select the image from your hard disk.

When you are taken back to your profile page, the image might not appear to have changed. If this is

so, just use the "Reload" button in your browser.

To delete your image, click in the check box next to Delete.


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Click Add to upload your picture or drag and drop your file into the file selection box

Saving Changes to Your Profile After you have finished making the desired changes to your profile, click on the Update Profile

button at the bottom of the window.

Changing Passwords A user can change their password in the Settings block > My Profile settings > Change password link.

The password must have at least 8 characters. You will enter the current password, enter new

password and enter new password again.


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Messaging Users can receive message alerts for a number of different reasons and can also send and receive

instant messages. How a user receives notification of incoming messages can be set in Navigation >

My profile > Messages.

This brings up a message navigation box where users can choose what messages and from what

courses they wish to view. Choose My contacts drop down arrow.

You will now be able to see the contacts you have chosen under Message navigation. Click on a name

to see an existing message or to create a new message in the box provided.

Click on Send message when ready.


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Forum module The forum module is an activity where students and teachers can exchange ideas by posting

comments. There are four basic forum types. Forum posts can be graded by the teacher or other

students.

Forums are represented by the forum button. Each time you see this button, the item is a type of

forum. There is some forum terminology you will need to know to get started. To begin, each forum

contains one or more discussion topics. In each discussion topic, there are posts. A post is any comment

added to the forum and consist of the initial response or replies made to other posts. Here is an

example, your instructor has asked what you found to be the most helpful or important aspect of an

assignment. Each student will start a new topic in the forum. The first post in each discussion topic is

the student's reply to the prompt. From there other students can reply to topics or start their own.

Forums have a tool that allows you to subscribe to that forum. Subscribing to a forum means that you

will receive email alerts when new posts are made to a forum. Your instructor has the option to make

subscription optional or required. News forums typically require subscription so that students

automatically receive email alerts when posts are made to the News forum.

There are several uses for forums in Moodle. Below are a few.

• News forums are used to relay announcements and important class information. Your

instructor will post announcements to the News Forum that is located in the first block of

your course. It is recommended that you check the News Forum each time you log into your

online course. Because the news forum is used for announcements, students do not have

permissions to respond to the posts made there.

• Social forums are a place where you can discuss relevant topics with other class participants.

Social forums do not typically contain graded course materials or course information. They

are simply for entertainment and getting to know other course participants.

• Graded or activity forums are typically used to discuss course material. Your instructor will

provide with a prompt or topic to discuss with other students. Because these forums are

typically graded, it is important to follow and guides or rubrics your instructor provides.

Reading forum posts News Forums The News Forums is located in the top center section of every course homepage. This Forum is where

your instructor will post announcements pertinent to the course. You should check this forum every

week to make sure you do not miss any announcements.


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When you click on the News Forum, you will see a list of all forum discussion topics. Each forum

contains discussion topics with posts. The News Forum is where you will receive announcements or

important information from your instructor. Be sure to check the News Forum on a regular basis.

Remember, in the News forum, you will not be able to reply or add a post.

The next steps will demonstrate opening and responding to a forum discussion.

To enter a forum discussion click on the forum link

Follow instructions as written by your instructor. An example is presented below.

For discussion topic one, you should introduce yourself to others in the class, For instance, you may

wish to tell them what your degree programme is, how long you have been studying with IUC, tell

what you hope to do upon completion of your degree. Tell where you are from, you may want

to brag about your children, or grandchildren. The material that you post can be read by each

student in the class, so post items that are willing to share. For the title, you may wish to enter “my

Introduction.” Your name will display with your Add Thread post. Do not give directions to your home,

etc….

Read what others have posted—find three classmates and do a reply to them. Maybe you are

completing the same programme, are taking another class together this semester, have both worked

at the same location, maybe you both have lived in another parish (once more post two or three

sentences for your reply.

When you wish to add a discussion, click the button --

The screen below opens up allowing you to type your post.

Enter a title for your discussion topic. Next, enter your initial response to the prompt or your

question/comment. You can also add hyperlinks and images to your post. After you have completed

your post, click on the "Post to forum button”.


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Click Add to

upload a file

(attachment) or

drag and drop

your file into the

Click to Post to

Forum

Important Note:


Google Chrome 11, and Opera 9

You will receive a confirmation of your post to the discussion topic. You will be able to edit your

response for approximately 30 minutes after you post it. For participants that are subscribed to this

forum, email alerts to new posts will also not be delivered until after the 30-minute editing period.

Clicking on Continue will return you to the main page for this forum.

Your post was successfully added.

You have 30 mins to edit it if you

want to make any

changes. (Continue)


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And the submission screen appears displaying your new discussion topic.

Should you need to edit or delete the post, click the post title for editing or deleting under Discussion.

Your post will re-appear and you have three options: Edit, Delete, and Reply.

Should you choose edit, your discussion screen will re-appear. Make any changes as necessary.


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Click Save changes button.

Should you choose delete, you will receive a prompt as follows:

Graded or Activity Forums Click on the forum that you want to read.


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Below is an example of what may appear when opening the forum.

There are 5 types of forums

1. A single simple discussion – A single discussion topic which everyone can reply

2. Each person posts one discussion – Each student can post exactly one new discussion topic,

which everyone can then reply to

3. Q and A forum – Students must first post their perspectives before viewing other students’

posts

4. Standard forum displayed in a blog-like format – An open forum where anyone can start a

new discussion at any time, and in which discussion topics are displayed on one page with

:Discuss this topic” links

5. Standard forum for general use – An open forum where anyone can start a new discussion at

any time

Managing Content

The way Moodle 2.5 handles/stores files works like Web 2.0 systems, such as Facebook and Google

Docs.

Each activity and each text has its own file area, and files are associated directly with the place it is

used. For example, a file attached to a forum post is stored "with" the forum post, and becomes

subject to exactly the same access restrictions.

A private files area is provided for each user to store a collection of files for their own use. This is

useful for students as well as teachers, and makes it easy to re-use media across the Moodle site. Only

you can access your own private files.


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Private Files To create folders and upload files in My Private Files:

On the My Home page, in the My private files block, click Manage my private files

My private files on the right side of the My Home page.

Or……

In the Navigation block, click My profile and then click

My private files.

Adding Folders to My Private Files It is best to organize your files inside folders. Click Create

folder.


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Enter a name for your folder and click Create folder.


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Click Save Changes when you are finished.

Adding Files to My Private Files If you want to add a file without putting it in a folder, drag and drop your file from your computer into

the file selection box or click the Add button. If you want to add a file to a folder click the folder

name.

Be sure to click Save changes after you drag and drop your file.

Important Note:


Google Chrome 11, Opera 9.

If you do not want to use the drag and drop feature you can upload a file by clicking on Add in the

upper left hand corner of the file selection box.


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When you click “Add” the File picker is displayed with My private files.

Select Upload a file, then click the Browse button to locate the file you want to upload


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Give the file a different name if you wish in the Save as field and click the Upload this file button.

Your file is uploaded to the Private files area. Be sure to save your changes so your file will be

uploaded permanently.


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Note: You can add a file to a folder by opening the folder before uploading the file or you can right

click on the file you have uploaded and choose the folder using the Path drop-down menu.


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Completing Assignments Submit an Assignment To submit a file (upload) for an assignment that is due in your class, click on the assignment. (Your

assignment names / numbers will change according to an instructor’s preference.)

After clicking on “Assignment”, you will have the option to upload files. Click on upload files.

You can drag and drop your file into the File box or click “Add” and use the File Picker.

Or click on “Add”.


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Select the file you wish to attach from its current location.

The file chosen will appear in the File name

. box Press the open button or the ‘Enter’ key


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The file

name

appears

here.

Click on the

Upload this

file button.

Click save changes.

Click the Submit assignment button when you are ready to submit your work.


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You will see the status of your submission and that your work has been submitted for grading.

Some assignments may require students to accept a submission statement verifying the content of

their work. Below is an example of a submission statement. If present in an assignment, the student

must accept the statement before the work can be submitted.


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There are three different types of assignments you may have in Moodle. 1. Uploading of Files – This option allows students to submit drafts of assignments, receive

feedback from their instructor.

2. Online Text – The student will type text directly into Moodle. The assignment will appear in

the gradebook and the teacher can send feedback to the student.

3. Offline Activity – This is an assignment that is completed outside of the Moodle environment.

Teachers give the students instructions and a due date for an assignment outside of Moodle.

However, the assignment will appear in the gradebook and faculty can send feedback to the

student.

Quizzes & Tests Quizzes are represented by the icon. Each time you see this icon, the item is a quiz or test. When you

first open a quiz, Moodle will display the grading method for the quiz, the number of allowed attempts

and

whether or not the quiz is timed. To begin a quiz, click on the "Attempt quiz now" button.

After opening the quiz attempt, you will be prompted to confirm that you wish to proceed with the

quiz.

Taking a Quiz Complete each question on the page. There are many different question types available in Moodle. If

you have problems with a quiz or question type, answer the question to the best of your knowledge or

you have the option of “flagging” the question so that you may return to it later.

• Click on the quiz link on the course homepage and read the information to check you're in

the right quiz.


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• Click on "Attempt quiz now" button.

• Click on the "Next" button at the bottom of the page to see the next page of questions.

• Click on the "flag" in the box next to the question to put a temporary marker on it.

Timed Quizzes Quizzes can be timed or have no time limit. With a timed quiz, you will see a timer in the top left

corner of the window. The timer will start as soon as you confirm that you wish to begin the quiz and

will continue without pause until it runs out. As you move through the test, the timer will move

through the page with you.

• Notice the Quiz navigation block in the upper left corner. You can use it to jump to any

question. Question boxes for the current page are in bold. Flagged questions will have a "red

corner" in their box.

• When you reach the end of the quiz the "Summary of attempt" page is displayed - it allows

you to review the questions and alerts you to questions not attempted.

• Click on any question page number or "Return to attempt" to go back to the quiz


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Click on "Submit all and finish" to have your quiz scored.

Note: Once you click “submit all and finish” in the confirmation box, you can no longer change your

answers.

Managing Your Grades To view your grades, click on Grades in the Settings block under the Administration panel.

Your grades will be listed in a table along with any feedback from your instructor. To review an

activity or grade, click on the item name in the list.

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Student

Have you completed the

registration process?

TROUBLESHOOTING Moodle Guide

“I can’t log into Moodle”

Do you know your IUC Moodle username and password?

YES NO

Try logging in again.

Check that you are

entering your username

and password correctly.

YES NO

If you still can’t log in

Have you just registered and received

your login information?

YES NO

Please see your

course administrator

to receive your

Moodle login details

You are not currently

registered as a student.

Please complete the

registration process to

receive your Moodle

login details.

You may have to wait

24 hours to log into

the Moodle site. Try

logging in the next

day.

Contact the Help

Desk:

elearnhelp@iuc.

edu.jm

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Additional Resources:


Technical Help Recommended minimum browsers for Moodle

Firefox 4, Internet Explorer 8 (IE 10 required for drag and drop of files from outside the

browser into Moodle), Safari 5, Google Chrome 11

Moodle Support

Assistance with using Moodle is available between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m.

Monday through Friday. Contact The IUC VLE Helpdesk at [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

Documents

Student Moodle Guide - app8.client.renweb.com Moo… · Student Moodle Guide 2 INTRODUCTION ... It allows teachers and ... Eventually, Moodle will simply become another tool used