Items covered in this article:

• When you are sent the link to your Moodle course...
• Naming conventions
• Editing content
• Text editor
• Upload file using drag & drop, file picker
• Organizing the sections
• Web Design standards

When you are sent the link to your Moodle course...

When you are sent the link to your Moodle course site, your program office or CTET will have already given you edit access and should have provided you with a course development timeframe.

You may be making minor revisions such as updating the dates in the course schedule, assignments and other activities or you may be changing or adding new content. Or you may be working closely with CTET on the design and development of a new course or making major revisions to an existing course. Or your role is simply to review the course before it is made available to students.

Naming conventions

For readability in the Navigation block, naming conventions for resources and activities should include the most meaningful information in the title. Activities, such as forums, should indicate whether the activity is team or classwide in brackets at the end of the title. This way students know at a glance how the activity is structured, and CTET knows how you want the activity set-up.

For a class forum about the concept map. the title would be: Concept Map (Class)

For a team forum about the concept map, the title would be: Concept Map (Team)

Assignments should include the Assignment number & title and whether it is a Team or Individual assignment.

e.g. Assignment 1 Final Essay (Individual)

The title of the resource or activity not only appears in the Navigation block, it is also included on the screen when the item is opened.

Topics Covered In This Article

Editing Content

The Editing function within Moodle allows you to edit content and

organize the units and activities within your course. To change or update your course you need to

 activate the editing mode

.

Enter editing mode by

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clicking the edit mode on/off button located in the upper right part of the screen

.

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Edit Options

Once you have turned editing on, existing resources and activities will display a

vertical ellipsis icon:

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If you click in the ellipsis icon you can access the the following options:

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• Edit settings - opens the settings window where you can edit the activity or resource.
• Move

• - a new window will show options to move the activity.
• Hide - this option means that the activity/resource is currently visible to students; choosing it will hide the activity from student view.
• Show - this means the activity is currently hidden from student view; choosing it will make it visible to students.
• Duplicate - choose duplicate to make a copy of the resource/activity. You will be able to edit the duplicated item.
• Assign roles - this option enables you to change the permission of the resource/activity.
• Delete - choosing this option will remove the resource/activity from the course. Note: A warning message will appear when you attempt to delete content.

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Clicking on the icon next to an activity or resource title allows you to edit the title without opening edit settings.

Question marks

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Question Marks

Image Added As you navigate around Moodle you will find question marks next to settings and other tools. Click on the question mark to find out more information

.

Add an

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Activity or Resource

At the bottom of the sections/units  you can see this selector

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Selecting Add an activity or resource opens this menu.  To see a description of an activity or resource, click on the radio button next to the activity or

resource Image Added .
Left-Click the selected activity or resource when you are ready to add

it to your course.

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Note: Whenever you add a resource or activity to a section, it will appear at the bottom of the section block. To move it,

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drag and drop it using theImage Added icon that becomes visible when you hover over the new activity or resource.

Text Editor

The text editor has many icons to assist the user in entering content.

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Many of these icons and functions

will be

similar to using a word processor.

Collapsing and expanding the editor

The TinyMCE editor first appears with just one row of buttons. Clicking the icon top left will expand it to three rows.

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collapsed view

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expanded view

Toolbar buttons

For those who are not familiar with the tool bar, here are the buttons as grouped in their rows.

Row 1

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Row 2

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Row 3

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Insert table

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To add borders to a table

Cell borders are crucial for helping readers to follow the rows across the screen. If they aren’t showing already you can add them as follows:

1. In the page containing your table, click its Edit tab
2. Carefully select all the cells of the table
3. Then right click (Macs: Command+click or Ctrl+Click) over any part of your selection to get a context menu; from it select Cell > Table Cell Properties; the cell properties dialog box then loads.
4. Click on its Advanced tab, set Border Colour to black (for instance), then click Apply, and then click Update.
5. Click Save; the page containing your table will then load displaying its borders.

Upload file using drag & drop, file picker

The text editor is used to edit content in resources and activities.

• Learn more about the editing toolbar buttons in this article. 

Insert Table

When you click on the insert table button Image Added in the text editor, there will be a number of options to configure when creating a new table. There are at least four basic settings that you will want to consider when creating a table:

• Caption: the title of your table

• Caption position: where on the table your caption will appear (top or bottom)

• Define headers on: which axis of the table will appear bolded

• Number of columns: The number of columns in the table

• Number of rows: The number of rows in the the table

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Uploading Files

When you want to upload a file to a

resource or activity that accepts file uploads you have the option to use drag and drop or the File picker.

Usually the file is copied into Moodle from wherever you have chosen it (e.g., a repository or your computer).

For example, here is is what it looks like when you want to add a file to a folder.

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If the file is accessible from your desktop, you can simply drag and drop it into the rectangular box

and then click the save button.

If you do not want to drag and drop a file you can open the File picker by clicking on the Add icon shown in the image above.

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After clicking the Add button the File picker screen appears. There are a number of links listed down the side. These are links to Repositories that hold files you may want to use. The most common repositories in use are Server files and Private files, but there could be additional repositories depending on where in the course you are accessing the File picker. There is also an Upload a file link, which you would click on to upload a file located on your computer.

Server files: This takes you to other areas of Moodle where files have been uploaded and to which you have access. You will only see files and folders for the courses you have permission to access. To view a file, drill down through the file directory. When you are in your course and add a file, that file is added to the Server files repository.

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Private files: This is a private file storage area for each user. You can upload files to your private files area from a link in your profile. You can then access those files from the Private files link in the File picker to use in your course. So you can add frequently used files to your Private files and then use them in more than one course in Moodle. 
Click on Manage my private files if you want to add, download, rename, move or delete a file.

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After clicking Manage my private files you can hover the pointer over the file and choose an action from the menu.

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Upload a file: This is where you click to upload files and folders from your computer. Browse to choose a file from your computer, then click Upload this file.

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Once you have uploaded the file you still have to save it...so make sure you click on Save changes at the bottom of the window. If you have deleted a file, you must click Save changes to make the deletion permanent.

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The File picker has two views for locating uploaded files: icons or list.

View as icon....This shows the files with their names as text:	View as list....This shows the files as icons with the name below:
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 Editing or updating uploaded files: Clicking the name of an uploaded file opens a pop window that allows file details to be altered.

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Creating an alias/shortcut: When an uploaded file (or a file from the Private files or other installed repository) is re-used elsewhere on Moodle, you have the option to make a copy (a new, unconnected version) or to create a shortcut or alias. If an alias is created, then when the original file is updated, it will change in all instances of the alias. So you might add a file called "course notes" to your private files, for example, and then add the file into a number of courses. When you make a change in the "course notes" file in your private files, this change will be reflected in all instances of the course notes.

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An alias can be recognised by its thumbnail. See the difference in the screenshot below between the original file (left) and the alias (right):

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NOTE: Before you add images or other media files to Moodle contact your instructional designer for advice. In some cases files should be uploaded to RRU's media server instead of Moodle. File size limits: 20MB per file.

Organizing the sections

In Edit mode, you can re-arrange the sequence of your course, resources and activities by using the move icon next to each item.

To begin, you need to be in Edit mode. Click Turn editing on.

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Move an Activity or Resource within a section or to a new course section

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Use the move tool to shift the activity or resource up or down within this section or to a different section in the course.

Move your mouse pointer over the move icon next to the item you want to move, the pointer changes into the move icon which you can use to drag the item to a new location.

Working with sections

Activities and resources are located in sections in your course. Course sections can be moved within the course...and when you move a section all of the content within it moves to the new location. Each course section has a default title, Unit 1, Unit 2, etc.; these titles can be renamed using the edit summary icon below the section name. The name of the section appears in the Course menu in the Navigation block.  When you move a section, the name changes to match the new destination. For example, if you move Unit 4 above Unit 2, Unit 4 will now be called Unit 2, Unit 2 becomes Unit 3, and Unit 3 becomes Unit 4, etc. Note: if you have renamed a section, the title will not change if it is moved to a new location in the course.

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Sections can be hidden from view or highlighted using the icons to the far right of the section title.

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Roles, Permissions & Enrolment

When you are logged in to RRU's Moodle site you have been assigned a Role (e.g. student, instructor, CTET admin, program associate, etc.) and each role has been assigned certain permissions. Your role and its permissions determines your capabilities in Moodle. For example, if you are in the student role you do not have permission to edit a forum, but you do have permission to post in a forum.

There are two types of instructor role: editing and non-editing. If you can access your course, but cannot edit resources and activities then you are in a non-editing instructor role. Instructors and students must also be enrolled in their courses. Students are enrolled automatically when they are registered in a course. Instructors are enrolled by CTET or their program office.

School directors, program heads, program associates and librarians have their own roles and have been assigned access to Moodle at the course category level. This means that they are not enrolled directly in a course, so their names will not appear in course participant lists or the Online user block.

Enrolling instructors

Program associates have the ability to enrol instructors into courses in their program area. Only the course instructor can be enrolled in a course. If you want to enrol a guest into a course, you will need permission of the students; this includes enroling an instructor into a course that has finished.

To enrol an instructor in a course, locate and expand Users in the Administration block. Click on Enrolled users to open the list of enrolled users.

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You will see the list of participants enrolled in the course and their respective role. Click Enrol users to open the Enrol user window.

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In the Enrol user window, follow these steps to enrol an instructor:

1. Choose Instructor from the Assign roles dropdown menu. To enrol an non-editing instructor, choose Non-editing instructor.
2. In the Search box, enter the name of the person you want to enrol and press the enter/return key.
3. Click Search to search for unenrolled users.
4. Click Enrol next to the name of the person you want to enrol.
5. Click Finish enrolling users to complete the enrollment process.
   

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NOTE: Do not use this method to enrol students in a course; students are automatically enrolled based on the course code in the course settings.

Checking permissions 

The check permissions feature provides a method to view all capabilities for a selected user based on their role assignments. These capabilities determine whether or not the selected user is allowed to perform associated tasks within the system or course.

As an Instructor you can check permissions for your course in Administration > Course administration > Users > Permissions > Check permissions and for a particular activity in Administration > Activity administration > Check permissions.  

Course and Activity permission

Role permissions for a course can be changed in Administration > Course administration > Users > Permissions and for a particular activity in Administration > Activity administration > Permissions. 

Override permission

Overrides are permissions designed to override a role in a specific context, allowing you to tweak your permissions as required. Overrides may be used to open up areas by giving users extra permissions. For example, an override may be used to enable students to rate forum posts. Overrides may also be used to prevent actions, such as starting new discussions in an archived forum. 

NOTE:  If you wish to change a user's role or override permission please contact CTET.

Web Design standards

CTET developed a set of Web Design standards for Moodle course design.

Please review these standards, and apply them when you are developing and editing course content in Moodle. When your course is ready, CTET will apply these standards during the quality check to ensure course quality.

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Moving Sections, Activities, and Resources

You can reposition your sections, activities, and resources, by using the move icon next to each. For example, you might move a Forum from week 1 to week 2 or you might move the week 4 section up to week 2.

To begin, you need activate edit mode.

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There are three methods:

Method 1. Drag and drop.

Steps

1. Turn edit mode on
2. Hover the mouse over the activity or resource you want to move, the mouse pointer will change to Image Added .
3. Click and drag the activity into the new location. You will see an horizontal line indicating the new location. 
4. Drop the activity in the desired location.
   
   

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Method 2. Use the ellipsis menu of the activity you want to move

Steps

1. Activate edit mode

2. Click on the ellipsis menu to the right of the resource or activity you'd like to move, select Move from the dropdown menu,  and then select the destination from the screen that appears.
   
   

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Method 3. Use the course index 

Steps

1. Activate edit mode

2. Click on the iconImage Added  to the right of the name of the resource or activity you'd like to move, drag and drop it in the new location.
   
   

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