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An introduction to the
Virtual Learning Environment
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Table of Contents
Welcome to Teaching with Moodle ........................................................................................................................ 1
Logging In ................................................................................................................................................................ 3
Moodle Basics ......................................................................................................................................................... 3
Breadcrumbs ....................................................................................................................................................... 3
The Help Icon ...................................................................................................................................................... 3
My Profile ............................................................................................................................................................ 3
The Homepage ........................................................................................................................................................ 5
Overview of Moodle Courses .................................................................................................................................. 7
Course Settings ....................................................................................................................................................... 9
Adding Content to Your Course ............................................................................................................................ 11
Turn Editing On ................................................................................................................................................. 11
The Two Drop-Down Lists: Add a Resource and Add an Activity ...................................................................... 11
Uploading Files to the Files Area ....................................................................................................................... 11
Uploading a New File .................................................................................................................................... 11
Updating an Existing File ............................................................................................................................... 13
Linking to Files or Web Resources .................................................................................................................... 14
Linking to a Folder of Resources ....................................................................................................................... 15
Adding Text, Images and Links Using Labels ..................................................................................................... 16
Managing Content ............................................................................................................................................ 17
Sending Announcements .................................................................................................................................. 17
Embedding Videos ............................................................................................................................................ 18
Creating a Calendar Entry ................................................................................................................................. 20
Adding Activities ............................................................................................................................................... 21
Overview of Activities ........................................................................................................................................... 22
Assignments ...................................................................................................................................................... 22
Choices .............................................................................................................................................................. 22
Database Activity .............................................................................................................................................. 22
Feedback ........................................................................................................................................................... 22
Forums .............................................................................................................................................................. 22
Glossary ............................................................................................................................................................. 22
Lesson................................................................................................................................................................ 23
Quizzes .............................................................................................................................................................. 23
SCORM/AICC Packages...................................................................................................................................... 23
Wikis .................................................................................................................................................................. 23
Getting Help .......................................................................................................................................................... 24
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Logging In
You can access LearningSpace from anywhere in the world all
you need is a browser with Internet access. Open a web
browser and navigate to http://LS.marjon.ac.uk
In the username and password fields enter your normal UCP
Marjon account (the same details you use to logon to a
campus PC).
If youve forgotten your password you can reset it online using
the password reset manager (click the Forgotten your
username or password? link).
Clicking the login button will take you to the Moodle homepage.
Moodle Basics
Before we jump in and start using Moodle there are a few things you need to familiarise yourself with first.
Breadcrumbs
On every page (except the homepage) youll find breadcrumbs in
the top-left under the LearningSpace logo. Think of breadcrumbs as a trail, showing you how you navigated
to the current page. Breadcrumbs appear as clickable links, giving you an easy way to backtrack to previous
pages.
Note: you can click the Home link on a breadcrumb trail to get back to the homepage.
My Profile
Every Moodle user has their own profile which is visible to other staff
and students. You can view your profile at any time by clicking your
name next to the Logout link in the top-right.
This will present you will an overview of your profile (as it appears to other users).
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If you want to amend or add information click the Edit profile tab to the left of your profile page. Try the
following:
1. Update Your Description
Enter some information about yourself in
the description field. It might be helpful to
add some basic contact information
(remember this is visible to other
logged-on users).
2. Add a Photo
You can upload a photo to your Moodle
profile. This could be useful to help your
students identify you.
To upload a picture click the Choose a file
button and locate your image. Images will
be resized automatically.
Note: To save any changes to your profile click the Update Profile button.
Your Blog: Moodle users have their own blog, to use however they like. You can use this blog to keep a running journal of
what youre doing, researching, interested-in etc. Content can be tagged by keyword and you can share your posts with
other staff and students. Posts are not publically visible outside of Moodle.
To add a post to your blog click the Blog tab from your profile > then Add a New Entry.
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The Homepage
Return to the Moodle homepage using the breadcrumbs.
The homepage is the first thing staff and students see when they log in to Moodle. It contains a number of
different boxes around the outside (known as Blocks), some of which are only found on the homepage.
1. My Courses
This block shows you all the modules and groups you are a member of on Moodle. You can click the
appropriate link to navigate to a module/group or click All Courses to browse the entire catalogue.
Important: The catalogue will be useful for gaining guest access to other modules or self-enrolling on groups, so you
should spend some time familiarising yourself with this.
Remember: A Moodle Course is a term used to describe any study module or community group on LearningSpace.
2. Settings
Click this link to expand various options to change your profile.
3. Whats New on Learning Space
New and updated information which may be of interest to you.
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4. Information Bar
Drop down boxes that contain links to useful areas.
5. Site News
A news feed controlled by the LearningSpace team. In order to avoid users Moodle homepage becoming
clogged up with general information we will only post important system messages (e.g. upgrades,
downtime etc) or academic news (e.g. term dates, exam changes) in this area. All other student news can
be posted on the other community areas.
6. Logged-in Status / Logout
This provides a quick way to access your Moodle profile (by clicking your name) and is the best way to
logout of LearningSpace when youre finished.
7. My Calendar
Helps staff and students keep on top of upcoming events. Staff can add calendar events in modules which
are then displayed in student calendars as a clickable link. You might use the calendar to set assignment
deadlines/reminders. You can also add personal events to keep yourself organised!
Note: you can view a more detailed calendar by clicking on the current month. From here you can view all entries or add
new personal events by clicking the New Event button in the top-right. To add calendar entries for a particular study
module (e.g. PEDC01), you need to navigate to that study module and then click the calendar link.
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4. Course Title
Each module or group should have space for a title at the top. This should have already been entered for
you for taught study modules.
5. News Forum
This is used to relay important course related information to students. Any thing you post in the news
forum is automatically emailed to students.
Teaching with Moodle
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Note: The News Forum is the Moodle equivalent of the Announcement tool, found in the previous version of LS.
Refer to:
Weekly View: Using the Topics layout is the default as it is the most flexible. You can, however, choose to organise
resources using a weekly format, which replaces each box with a date. Well explain how to do this next.
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Course Settings
Before you begin adding content to your Moodle Course you first need to check that it has been set up in the
way you want.
On the Settings block, click the Course administration heading and
then Edit settings link.
Important: The settings page contains lots of different customisation options.
Be wary of making significant changes here unless you understand the
repercussions! Any options not explained below should be treated with caution.
Changing the short name/full name/course ID will prevent automatic student
enrolments so please do not change these entries.
You can use the Groups settings if you intend on splitting your enrolled students up into groups (e.g.
Group A, B etc). You can then use these groupings when creating online activities (e.g. give Group A a
discussion board that Group B cant see).
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c) Guest Access by default all Moodle courses (both Modules and Associations) are set to allow
guests in without a key (a guest being any logged-on user). It is hoped that this will give students
the potential to find out about a module they are thinking of taking. Guests can view any course
materials including discussion forums. They cannot, however, post or interact in any way. If you
are having sensitive discussions we recommend that you disable guest access by setting this to do
not allow guests in.
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Turn Editing On
Before you can add content you need to Turn editing on by clicking the button in
the top-right of the Moodle course. This button will only be visible to users who have
been given necessary permissions (e.g. teaching staff and administrators).
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Now youre ready to upload your file. Click the Add button.
Add informative
description
Private Files:
resources youve uploaded to your
personal file store (see p1)
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Note: Internet Explorer 9 users might receive the error message file not specified. This is a bug. Youll need
to run IE9 in compatibility mode for the time being. See LS Help: Problem with File Uploading in Internet
Explorer 9 available from LS Help for Staff on LearningSpace.
Youll be taken back to the add a file form. Once youve set any additional options or restrictions you may
want, click Save and Return to Course. The link to your file will now be visible from your course page.
Update resource
On the content section youll notice that your existing file is displayed. Click the Add button to begin the
process of uploading a new version.
Update resource
Existing
document
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Back on the add a file form youll see that you now
have more than one file in the content list.
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Insert an image
4. Press Save and Return to Course to add the label to your Moodle page.
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Managing Content
Once youve added some content to your Moodle Course youll notice a number of icons appear next to each
resource (when editing is turned on). You can use these to control the content as follows:
Icon
Function
Explanation
Move
Click and drag this icon to move resources around on the page.
Indent
Moves the resource to the right to give the impression of an ordered list.
Update
Show / Hide
Delete
Groups
Changes how groups of students interact. This is only available on some items.
Note: You can also add, edit, move or delete blocks on your course page. Blocks add extra
functionality to your Moodle Course.
To add a block make sure edit mode is switched on, then select one from the drop-down.
Sending Announcements
Announcements are a fast way of contacting all students enrolled in a Moodle Course. As well as being
displayed in the News Forum, students will also receive these messages by email.
1. Open your Moodle Course and click the News Forum link underneath
your module/group name.
2. This should take you to a general news and announcements forum
specific to your Moodle Course. Click the Add a New Topic button.
3. You need to specify a Subject (e.g. the title of the announcement) and the message itself. You can
copy and paste text into here, and add web links etc.
You can also add an attachment, although be wary about attaching large files which could
quickly clog-up student mail boxes.
If ticked, Mail Now will send the announcement immediately after posting. Without this ticked
the message will be emailed when Moodle runs its next batch job (around every 15 minutes).
Unless your message is urgent you do not need to worry about ticking this.
4. Once youre happy with your message, click the Post to Forum button. The message will be emailed to
students as well as being visible in the News Forum.
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IMPORTANT: Unless you ticked the Mail Now button you will receive a message telling you have 30 minutes to
edit/update the post. We recommend that you DO NOT edit a post if you spot an error because your revised message
may not be emailed to students. It is much better to create a new announcement, so that students receive the updated
message by email.
Embedding Videos
Due to performance issues (and file space costs) we suggest that you do not directly upload video files into
Moodle Courses. By using a method known as embedding (essentially hosting the video file elsewhere and
linking to it via a media player) we can save on file space but also deliver better performance to staff and
students.
Video files which I have on My Computer (or a DVD):
Rather than just uploading them to your Moodle Course, please contact a member of the
e-Learning Team, who can make these available for your module or group. You must ensure
that you have Copyright permission to provide the video for educational use.
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5. The page resource lets you add text, images and other resources. If we pasted our embed code
straight into the box it would just appear as text. We need to tell Moodle that this is special web
code so that it knows to render it appropriately. To do this, click the Toggle HTML Source button
(represented by HTML ) on the toolbar:
Note: You can also add text, images and web links on the same page as your embedded video. This could be useful for
explaining a topic/idea further, or providing Copyright details/credit to the author. Remember you can edit resources at
a later date.
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Note: If the calendar block isnt visible then you will need to add it to your course by following these instructions;
1. Go into your course and select the Turn Editing On button which can be found at the
top right of the screen;
2. Next select Calendar from the drop down box in the ADD A BLOCK section.
3. The calendar block should now be visible on the right hand side of your course
page and you can click Turn Editing Off.
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1. Identifies the module or group which the calendar page is currently representing. You can use this to
quickly jump between calendar events for different Moodle Courses.
2. To create a New Event click this button then:
a. When asked for the type of event you wish to add, select Course Event.
b. Enter a meaningful name (such as Assignment 1 Deadline).
c. Enter the details into the Description box (e.g. please hand your assignment into the
Programmes Office before 12noon).
d. Select appropriate date/time options. You can specify duration or whether the event reoccurs
if you need to. Once youre happy with the date/time settings click Save Changes to add the
event to the course calendar.
e. Your calendar entry should now appear as a blue link on the
monthly calendar (see arrow 3) for the date you specified.
3. The Monthly overview. Calendar events appear here as clickable
links.
Adding Activities
Documenting how each activity works and how to set them up is a mammoth task and outside the scope of
this training document. However, a brief summary of the activities available is provided overleaf, with a few
suggestions on things to consider. Please check for individual tutorials for the activities on our LearningSpace
help section, or alternatively contact a member of the e-Learning team.
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Overview of Activities
There are a large variety of different activities/tools you can use in your Moodle Course, all of which can be
used in different ways.
Assignments
Assignments allow the teacher to specify a task that requires students to prepare digital content (any format)
and submit it by uploading it to the server. Typical assignments include essays, projects, reports and so on.
This module includes grading facilities.
Chat
The Chat module allows smooth, synchronous text interaction, each chat area can be limited to group
members or roles, or be for anyone in the course. It supports URLs, smilies, embedded HTML, images etc .
Choices
A choice activity is very simple - the teacher asks a question and specifies a choice of multiple responses. It can
be useful as a quick poll to stimulate thinking about a topic; to allow the class to vote on a direction for the
course; or to gather research consent.
Database
The Database module allows the teacher and/or students to build, display and search a bank of record entries
about any conceivable topic. The format and structure of these entries can be almost unlimited, including
images, files, URLs, numbers and text amongst other things.
Feedback
With this module you can create a custom survey and invite responses from students.
Forums
This tool can be the most important activity in your Moodle course - it is here that most discussion takes place.
Forums can be structured in different ways, and can include peer rating of each posting, or require students to
add some content before they can see what their peers have contributed. By subscribing to a forum,
participants will receive copies of each new posting in their email.
Glossary
This activity allows participants (staff and students) to create and maintain a list of definitions, like a
dictionary. The entries can be searched or browsed in many different formats. The glossary also allows
teachers to export entries from one glossary to another (the main one) within the same course. By turning
auto-linking on, Moodle will automatically create links to glossary entries from throughout the course.
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Lesson
A lesson delivers content in an interesting and flexible way. It consists of a number of pages. Each page
normally ends with a question and a number of possible answers. Depending on the student's choice of
answer they either progress to the next page or are taken back to a previous page. Navigation through the
lesson can be straight forward or complex, depending largely on the structure of the material being presented.
Quizzes
This module allows the teacher to design and set quiz tests, consisting of multiple choice, true-false, and short
answer questions. These questions are kept in a categorised 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. Quizzes can be used for Marjon online multiple choice exams, contact a member of the e-Learning
Team to find out more.
SCORM/AICC Packages
A package is a bundle of web content packaged in a way that follows the SCORM or the AICC standard for
learning objects. These packages can include web pages, graphics, Flash presentations and anything else that
works in a web browser. You can use this to deliver RLOs created using Xerte.
Wikis
A Wiki enables documents to be authored collectively using a simple mark-up language using a web browser.
"Wiki wiki" means "super fast" in the Hawaiian language, and it is the speed of creating and updating pages
that is one of the defining aspects of wiki technology. The Moodle Wiki module enables participants to work
together on web pages to add, expand and change the content. Old versions are never deleted and can be
restored.
Workshop
The Workshop module allows peer assessment of documents, and the teacher can manage and grade the
assessment. It supports a wide range of possible grading scales and teachers can provide sample documents
for students to practice grading.
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Getting Help
Technical Problems (e.g. error messages, file issues etc)
Queries about Teaching with Moodle (e.g. using activities, best practice, content etc)
e-Learning Team:
aread@ucpmarjon.ac.uk | ext: 5673
echorley@ucpmarjon.ac.uk| ext: 5673
Enrolment Problems
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