Creating Moodle Courses for Semester 2, 2016/17

If you are teaching on modules starting in Semester 2, the instructions below will walk you through how to set these up. If this is the first iteration of the module this academic year, then you’ll need to follow both section 1 and 2 exactly to get your module set up and import content from last year.

If your module has already ran once in Semester 1, and you are keeping the module content roughly the same, then you can simply delete the ‘blank’ template after your module has been activated and import across the module content from your Semester 1 version.

To keep your course hidden from students while it is under construction, go to Course administration > Edit Settings and in the ‘Visible’ section you can choose the option to ‘Hide’ the course.

You can contact the TEL Team at tel@yorksj.ac.uk if you need any assistance.

Section 1:  Activating your 2016/17 course area(s) in Moodle

What is Moodle Modules?

Before the start of each academic year, we need information about which credit bearing modules require corresponding spaces in Moodle. We use a system called Moodle Modules to capture this information. Moodle Modules is a web application which allows us to gather information about which credit bearing modules require corresponding spaces in our Learning Management System, Moodle.

In other words, it lets you tell us whether or not you want a module space setup in Moodle. It’s clever too! It knows who you are and who the students taking your module are, so it will automatically make sure all participants, whether staff or student, have access to the module spaces they need.

Please note:  You must take responsibility for making your module selections in Moodle; otherwise you will be without a Moodle course for the start of the academic year, 2016/17. If you are unsure about the type of course you need to create for a module in Moodle then please contact a member of the TEL team – we’re happy to help!

SEGI Modules

If you’re teaching on a module that is also being delivered by one of our International partners (at their institution) it is important to create both instances of this module at the same time. Due to the limitations of the Moodle Modules application, it’s very difficult to retrospectively create a SEGI version of a module once the YSJ version has been created! Again, please contact the TEL Team if you require any support or advice – it maybe that you don’t have the course type available to you in Moodle modules but this can be easily changed.

Three-Step Guide for Creating Moodle Courses

Follow these condensed instructions for creating Moodle courses:

Step 1: Log in to Moodle Modules (http://intranet.yorksj.ac.uk/MoodleModules) with your YSJ username and password.

Step 2: On the All Modules page you’ll find a long list of modules. Either scroll down the page, or use Ctrl+F on your keyboard to quickly find the module code you need to activate. Once you’ve located the module, click on the module code to get to the next screen.

Step 3: Activate the module in Moodle by:

• selecting what type of course you want setup in Moodle. Use the Course Type descriptions to guide your decision. If in doubt about the type of course you want in Moodle, contact the TEL team.
• adding yourself to a module by clicking Add Tutor in the Tutors field – DO NOT add administrative staff to the list of tutors. They have a different way of accessing modules in Moodle.

If you can’t find your module in the list, the Add Module page lets you add a module code to the list of modules which requires a space in Moodle. Only official credit bearing module codes will lead to courses automatically being generated in Moodle.

It’s really that simple. This gives us the information needed to automatically create new courses in Moodle and to ensure that all your students are enrolled on them, ready for the 2016/17 academic year.

Please note: Moodle Modules syncs with Moodle twice every day, at midday (12.00pm) and midnight (12.00am). If you went into Moodle Modules at 9am to activate your modules, they would appear in Moodle if you logged in after midday, but not before. If your modules are showing in the ‘My Modules’ tab in Moodle Modules but not on your ‘Home’ tab in Moodle itself, it may be that you need to wait for the systems to sync up before they appear.

Detailed step-by-step guide for creating Moodle Courses:

If you require more step-by-step guidance, you can find it in the video and helpsheet below:

[gview file=”http://blog.yorksj.ac.uk/moodle/files/2016/07/Moodle-Modules-Guide-16-17.pdf”]

 

For further help or support when setting up your modules, please don’t hesitate to contact a member of the TEL team.

Section 2: Working with the template and importing last year’s content

 

 New Minimum Standards template

The video and guide below give an overview of what’s in the new Minimum Standards template and address some FAQs. The video at the bottom of this page is the practical guidance on how to import content into the template.

[gview file=”http://blog.yorksj.ac.uk/moodle/files/2016/07/Moodle-Minimum-Standards-Template-FAQ_V2.pdf”]

Importing content into the new template

When you import your content from the 2015-16 version of your module into the new module, you will need to spend a bit of time moving around the content so it fits within the new template. This is because the top four topic areas of your old module will ‘merge’ with the top four sections of the template when you import the content.

Three step guide for importing content

Step 1: Navigate to the module you want to import the content FROM and create four blank topic areas using the ‘Increase the number of sections’ button at the bottom of the page.

Step 2: Drag the four blank sections to the top of the Moodle page.

Step 3: Navigate back to your new module, go to ‘Course Administration’ and select ‘Import’. Search for the module you want to import from and follow the steps by clicking ‘Next’ to choose the content you want to import. We recommend that Announcements and Assessments are NOT imported.

The short screencast below walks you through the process of importing content into the new template.

If you need any help or support when importing content into the new template, please don’t hesitate to contact a member of the TEL team.

Rosie