ThisguidehasbeenreproducedforYSJUwiththekindpermissionoftheLearningTechnologyTeamattheUniversityofEssex

eLearning
astudentguidetomoodle
http://moodle.yorksj.ac.uk

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ThisguidehasbeenreproducedforYSJUwiththekindpermissionoftheLearningTechnologyTeamattheUniversityofEssex

TableofContents

INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................................... 3 1.1 WHATISMOODLE?.........................................................................................................................3 1.2 HOWDOIACCESSMOODLE?............................................................................................................4 1.3 WHATWILLIFINDINMOODLE?........................................................................................................5 2 3 4 ACCESSINGACOURSE ............................................................................................................ . 6 THEMAINPARTSOFTHEHOMEPAGEOFACOURSE............................................................... 7 GETTINGAROUNDMOODLE.................................................................................................10 4.1 NAVIGATIONBAR(BREADCRUMBS)...................................................................................................10 4.2 JUMPMENU.................................................................................................................................10 5 6 EDITINGYOURPROFILEINMOODLE.....................................................................................12 TROUBLESHOOTING.............................................................................................................15 6.1 ICANTLOGINTOMOODLE..........................................................................................................15 6.2 ICANTOPENORDOWNLOADAFILEINMOODLE..............................................................................16

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Introduction
ThepurposeofthisdocumentistoassistyouintheearlystagesofusingMoodle, particularlywhenaccessingyouronlinecourseforthefirsttime.

1.1 WhatisMoodle?
Moodleisawebbasedlearningenvironmentthatallowsyoutoaccessyourcourse materialsonlineandmakeuseofanumberofusefulbuiltinfacilitiestoenhance yourlearningexperience. ItbringsthedynamicsofaclassroomenvironmenttotheInternet.Itallowsteachers andstudentstointeractinavirtualclassroominmuchthesamewayasina standardclassroom.Thedifferenceisthatitcanbedonefromanyplaceinthe world,atanytimeandwiththeresourcesoftheInternetassupport. Moodlecoursescanbedevelopedasfullyinteractiveclassroomswhereyoumaybe involvedinonlinegroupdiscussionsorcollaborativegroupwork.Othercoursesmay notinvolvealotofonlinediscussionandcoursematerialmaybepresentedasa structuredsetoffiles(suchasWorddocumentsandPowerPointpresentations).It dependsonthelearningmaterial,yourtutor,andthebestwaytodeliverthecourse. SomeoftheadvantagesofMoodletosupportyoureducationatYorkStJohn Universityinclude: Increasedaccesstoimportantcourseinformation Additionallearningsupportwherematerialsandtoolsareavailable Undertakingaspectsofstudyinganytime,almostanyplace. Tomakethemosteffectiveuseofthissystem: EnsureyouknowhowMoodleistobeusedwithinaspecificcourse Exploittheopportunitiesprovided(followlinkstoreadings,participatein discussionforums,completequizzes,etc.) SeeMoodleasadditionalsupport,notafailsafetomissingclasses Dontleaveonlineworktothelastminute. Witheachmodulestudied,Moodlewillbecomeamorefamiliarandwelcoming learningenvironment.Eventually,Moodlewillsimplybecomeanothertoolusedto supportlearning.Aswithanyclassroom,itisachangingenvironmentexpecteach moduletoapplydifferenttoolsandtechniques.Joinin,askquestions,and participateasyouwouldinanyclassroom.

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Important:asYorkStJohnUniversityhasonlystartedusingMoodlefrom2010,you maydiscoverthatsomeofyourmodulesarenotavailableonMoodle.Yourtutor shouldinformyouifhe/sheisusingMoodletosupportyourlearning.Ifindoubt, pleasecheckwithyourtutororyourcourseadministrator.

1.2 HowdoIaccessMoodle?
YoucanaccessMoodlethroughawebbrowser(suchasInternetExplorerorMozilla Firefox)onanyinternetconnectedcomputer.Thismeansthatyoucanaccess MoodlefromhomeaseasilyasyoucanfromtheYorkStJohnUniversitycampus. (1)ToaccessMoodle,openawebbrowserwindowandtypeinthefollowingweb address:http://moodle.yorksj.ac.uk1 (2)YoushouldnowseetheMoodlehomepage(asshownbelow).

(3)Ontherighthandsideofthescreen,youshouldseealoginbox.Type yourUniversityusernameandpasswordintotheappropriatetextboxes andthenclickontheloginbutton.

ItisagoodideatobookmarktheMoodleweblinksoyoucanreturntoitatalatertime.Tosavethe link,clickontoFavourites(inInternetExplorer)orBookmarks(inFirefox)atthetopofthescreen. ClickAddandthenOK.TofindthesiteagainsimplyclickontoFavourites/Bookmarksandscrolldown untilyoufindyoursavedlink.

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1.3 WhatwillIfindinMoodle?
Afterloggingin,youshouldseeyournameatthetopofthescreenandhaveaccess toallthecoursesthatyouareenrolledin. Youwillseealistofcourses thatyouhaveaccessto,in Youwillseeyour themaincontentareaofthe nameatthevery screen(Mycourses). topoftheright handsideofthe screen.
Note:ifyoudonotseeanycourseslistedundertheMycoursesheading,itmightbethatyouhave notcompletedyourenrolmentfully.PleasecontacttheRegistrydepartmenttoconfirmyouare properlyenrolledandifyoucontinuetohaveproblems,getintouchwitheLearning@yorksj.ac.uk

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2 Accessingacourse
ToaccessacourseinMoodle,simplyclickonthenameofthecourseintheMy courseslist.Thisshouldtakeyoutothehomepageofthecourse. EachcourseinMoodlecontainssimilaritems,butmaylookcompletelydifferent dependingonhowyourtutorhassetupthecourseandwhatresourcesthecourse contains.TheexamplebelowshowswhatatypicalMoodlecourselookslike:

(1)Navigationbar (breadcrumbs)

(2)Coursetopicsareas

(3)Sideblocks (controlledbytutors)

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3 Outlineofthecoursehomepage
(1)ThenavigationbareachMoodlepagehasahorizontalnavigationbaratthe top.Thenavigationbartellsyouwhereyouareinthecourseanditallowsyouto returntothecoursehomepage(ifyouclicktheshortnameforthecourse)atany time. (Formoredetails,seethesectiononGettingaroundMoodle). (2)Coursecontentsareathisislocatedinthemiddleofthescreenandconsistsof coursetopics.Thefirstsectionusuallyhasgeneralinformationaboutthecourse.The remainingtopicscontaincourseresources,suchastextdocuments,PowerPoint slides,webpages,images,etcandactivities,suchasforums,quizzes,glossariesetc.

Course topics

(a)Resourcesaremeanttobeperusedorreadwithoutfurtherinteraction.Theicon bythesideoftheresourcetitleindicateswhattypeoffileitis.Yousimplyclickon thetitle(oricon)ofaresourceand,dependingonthefiletype,itwilleitheropen directlyinthewebbrowser,inaseparatebrowserwindow,oryoumaybegiventhe optiontodownloadthefiledirectlytoyourcomputer.

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Youwillneedtohavetherelevantsoftwareapplicationinstalledonyourcomputer toaccessthefiles. Theresourcesinacoursecaninclude: Webpages PowerPointslides PDFfiles Soundfiles Videoclips

Worddocuments Excel spreadsheets Imagefiles Flashfiles(e.g.animations) Zippedfiles

YoumayalsoseetheDirectoryresourceicon( ).Thisisalinktoafolderoffiles, ratherthandisplayingeachfileindividually.Asastudent,youcanopenordownload thefiles,butyoucannotuploadyourownfilestothefolder. (b)Yourtutormayincludeanumberofactivitiesinyourcourse.Themostcommon Moodleactivitiesinclude: Forumthisislikeabulletinboardin

thatitallowsuserstopostmessages andrespondtoeachothers contributions.

Chat allowsforrealtimetext
exchangesbetweenusers.

Glossarycanbeusedtolistdifficult

termsrelatedtothesubjectofacourse andprovidedefinitions/explanations.

Wiki agroupworktoolthatallows

studentstoworkwiththeteacheror withclassmatesonthecreationof documents,suchasprojectreportsor papers. ofvariousquestiontypes.

Choiceusedforsimplepollsconsisting
ofaquestionwithmultipleanswers.No gradeorfeedbackisgiven.

Quiz onlinetests,whichcanconsist Survey ameansofgettingstatistical

Lessonthispresentslearningmaterial

(e.g.text,picturesorsound/video) whichislinkedtoaquestion.Ifyou answerthequestioncorrectlyyou moveontothenextpart.Ifyouanswer incorrectly,youarereturnedtothe lessonmaterialortoapagewith additionalinformation.

feedbackaboutthewayMoodle coursesarereceivedandexperienced bystudents.

(3)SideblocksmostMoodlecoursepageshavealeftandrightcolumneitherside ofthecoursecontentsarea.Thesecontainsmallboxescalledblocks.Thesecangive youadditionalinformationrelatingtoyourcourseorallowyoutonavigateto differentpartsofthecourse.Youwillseedifferentblocksdependingonwhatyour

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tutorhassetupinyourcourse.Examplesinclude: TheActivitiesblocklistsandallowsnavigationbetween thedifferentactivitiesavailableinyourcourse

ThePeopleblockcontainsalinktothelistofcourse participants TheCalendarblockcanbeusedtosignalforthcoming eventsatcourselevelorbystudentstoremindthemselves ofcoursedeadlines.

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4 GettingaroundMoodle
TherearetwomainwaystomovearoundaMoodlecourse.

4.1 Navigationbar(breadcrumbs)
Youcannavigateusingthenavigationbarthatispositionedbelowthecoursetitle. Thisnotonlyshowsyourlocationinthecourse,butyoucanclickonthelinksto returntodifferentpartsofthecourse.

Goesbacktohome pageofMoodle

Goesbacktohomepage ofMoodlecourse

Goestotheresources areaofyourcourse

Givesthetitleofthe currentpageyouareon.

4.2 Jumpmenu
Ifyourcoursecontainsalotoftopics,itcanbetiresomehavingtoscrollupand downthepage.Youcancollapseallofthetopicsbyclickingonthesquarebox( )to therightofthetopicheading. YoucanthenusetheJumpto dropdownmenutonavigateto differentsectionsofthehomepage. Toreturntothedefaultview(i.e. restoreallthecoursessections), clickonthedoublesquareicon( ) totherightofthecurrenttopic heading.

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OnsomepagesinMoodle,youwillseeajumpto...menuthatonthetoprighthand sideofthescreen.Justclickonthesmalldownwardarrownexttothetitleofthe currentresourceandthenclickonatitlefromthedropdownmenu.

Thearrowbuttonsoneithersideofthejumpto...menuallowtoyougotothenext orpreviousresourceinthecourse.

Itispossibletonavigatebetweenpagesbyusingthenavigationbuttonsonyourweb browser.Thisisnotrecommendedyouwillobtainmoreconsistentresultsusingthe navigationoptionswithinMoodle.

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5 EditingyourprofileinMoodle
OnceyouhaveloggedintoMoodle,you canaccessyourprofilefromalmost anywhere,byclickingonthelinktoyour nameatthetopofthescreen. Whenyouclickonyourname,youare presentedwithyouruserprofilesummary (whichotheruserscansee).Thisscreen includesanumberofoptions,oneofwhich includesallowingyoutochange informationaboutyourself. Inthescreenthatappears,youcanmakea numberofchanges:

ClickontheEdit profiletab.

Itisrecommendedthatyou allowothercoursemembersto seeyouremailaddress.

Typeadescription aboutyourselfinthe Descriptiontextarea. Forobviousreasonsit isnotagoodideato includepersonal detailssuchasyour homeaddressand telephonenumbers.

Ifyoudisableyouremail address,youwillnotreceive forummessagessentbyyour tutororotherstudentsonyour course.

Typethecity/townthatyou liveorworkin.

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TheDescriptiontextareaconsistsofaHTMLeditor,whichhasatoolbaralongthe topthatusessimilariconstothoseyouseeinmostwordprocessingorwebeditor programs.Ifyouhoverovereachoftheiconswiththecursor,youwillseeapopup thattellsyouthecommand.YoudontneedtoknowHTMLcodetousetheeditor simplytypeinthetextareaandusetheformattingtoolstocustomiseit. Note:theHTMLeditoronlyworksinInternetExplorerandMozillaFirefoxbrowsers.If youuseanotherbrowser,asimplereditorwillbeavailabletoyou. InthenextpartoftheEditprofilescreen,youcanuploadaphotoorpicturethat representsyou.Thisimagewillappearnexttoyourpostingintheforums. Toaddanimage: ClickontheBrowsebutton

Apopupwindowwillappear. Usethiswindowtonavigatetotheimagefile thatyouwishtouse.Thiscouldbeinyoure MyDocuments,onamemorystick,yourlocal harddrive,etc.MoodlewillacceptJPG,GIF andPNGimagefiles. Makesuretheimagefileyouchooseisan appropriateoneandnotlargerthanthe maximumsizelisted(oritwillnotupload) Whenyouhavelocatedtheimagefile youwanttouse: Clickonthefilename

Then,clickonOpen

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The pop-up window will close.

Typeadescriptionfor yourpicture

IMPORTANT: please make sure that any picture you upload is not copyrighted, rude or offensive as it can be seen by all users of Moodle.

Whenyouhavefinishedmakingchangestoyourprofile,clickonUpdateprofileat thebottomofthescreen. Thiswillreturnyoutoyourprofilesummarypage.Youshouldnowseethechanges youhavemade,butifyoucant,justusetheReload/Refreshbuttoninyourweb browser.

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6 Troubleshooting

6.1 IcantlogintoMoodle
Firstly,checkthatyouaredefinitelytryingtologintothecorrectversionofmoodle. Thecorrectversioncanbefoundatthiswebaddress:http://moodle.yorksj.ac.uk DoyouknowyourYorkStJohnUniversityusernameandpassword? Yes No

Trylogginginagain.Checkthatyou areenteringyourusernameand passwordcorrectly.Remember,you donotneedtoadd@yorksj.ac.uk totheendofyourusername.

Haveyouofficiallyenrolledonyour coursethroughRegistry?

Yes

No

Ifyoustillcantlogin

Trychangingyour passwordatthe followingpage: https://secure.yorksj.ac. uk/changepass/

ContacttheRegistry Officeon01904 876849or registry@yorksj.ac. uk.

6.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1 University?

Haveyourecentlyenrolledwiththe

Yes Youmayhaveto wait24hoursto logintothe Moodlesite.Try logginginthe nextday.

No

Canyouloginto otherYSJIT servicessuchas email? Yes No

Note:yourtutormayhaveset upaguestloginthatyoucan usetoaccessMoodlefora temporaryperiodoftime. Pleasecontactyourtutorto seeifthisisenabledforyour course.

ContacttheeLearningTeam: Contact the IT Help Desk: elearning@yorksj.ac.uk helpdesk@yorksj.ac.uk Pleaseprovideyourfullname,your username,thenameandcodeofthecourse youareattemptingtoaccess,andwhereyou areattemptingtoaccessMoodle(e.g.atthe 15of16 UniversityorawayfromtheUniversity).

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6.2 IcantopenordownloadafileinMoodle

(1)IfyouareusingaUniversitycomputer,pleaseseekadvicefromamemberofstaffinthe libraryorITservices. (2)IfyouareusingacomputerawayfromtheUniversity,itispossiblethat: (a)Yourcomputerdoesnothavethecorrectsoftwaretoreadthatparticulartypeoffile. OnthehomepageoftheMoodlesite,thereisausefuldownloadsblockthatgives youaccesstofreedownloadsthatwillenableyoutoviewavarietyofcontentfiles outsideofyourbrowser. or (b)Yourcomputerisrunningapopupblockerthatisblockingyoufrom downloading/openingfiles. IfyouareusingInternetExplorer,youmayseeayellowbarbelowyourInternet Explorertoolbar(asbelow) Clickontheyellowbarandselectallowcontent. Alternatively,youcanaddthewebaddressoftheMoodlesitetoyourtrustedsites inInternetExplorer.Onlydothisifyouarecomfortablealteringsettingsonyour computer. (i)ToaddtheMoodlesitetoyourtrustedsitesinInternetExplorer,openInternet Explorer,clickonToolsandthenInternetOptions. (ii)ClickontheSecurityTab.ClickonthebuttonSites(nexttoTrustedSites). (iii)Ifnecessary,removethetickfromtheRequireserververification(https:)forall sitesinthiszone. (iv)InAddthiswebsitetothezone:textboxtypein:http://moodle.yorksj.ac.uk (v)ClickonAdd,thenclickOK,andOKagaintoexittheoptions. Foradviceondisablingotherpopupblockers,pleaserefertothiswebsite:Guideto disablingpopupblockers:http://chat.ohiolink.edu/popups.html Pleasenote:theUniversitydoesnotendorseanyofthewebsitesmentionedinthis guide.Italsocannotbeheldresponsiblefordamagecausedtoyourcomputerby installingsoftwareorchangingyourcomputersettings.

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