Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) for Teachers

Frequently Asked Questions for Teachers on Moodle is a resource for English CEGEP teachers created by DECclic corporation.

Note:     Some users may have to click on the heading name and choose the link below containing the “#heading=”   and some may get into the question with the answer right away.

Keyword search in the FAQ: press down [Ctrl] + [f] and enter your keyword.

1. Enrolment in Moodle

1.1. Why does the user’s email have to be confirmed to enrol in Moodle?

1.2. Where does the student find the access code and password to use for authentication?

2. Course enrolment

2.1. How can I update the class groups in my course?

2.2. In a co-taught course, how can I add a teacher?

2.3. How do I enrol my class groups in a course?

2.4. Why is it that after the class groups are enrolled, I no longer see any students in my course?

2.5. Are class groups created automatically as Moodle groups?

2.6. How to enrol students in an unofficial course

2.7. The teacher created the course and enrolled the class groups, but the students cannot see the course. Why not?

2.8. How to enable or disable self enrolment for a course

2.9. A teacher has set up enrolment keys for each group, but nothing has changed. Is something wrong?

3. User profile

3.1. I use the forums and blogs a lot and I receive a lot of email notifications. Can I receive a single daily email?

4. Course

4.1. How can I re-use an existing course in another session?

4.2. How can I inform the administrator that one of my courses can be deleted?

4.3. How to make courses accessible to everyone or to a group of people who are not an official group

4.4. How to duplicate an activity or resource

4.5. How to choose a course theme

4.6. How to allow students from one course to access the meta-course

4.7. In a co-taught course, how can I share files with other teachers?

4.8. How does file management work in a Moodle?

4.9. How to use a calendar in a course

4.10. How to add a YouTube video to Moodle and see its thumbnail

4.11. Why can’t my students see the answer button in the separate group forum?

4.12. How to combine two courses with different codes into one course and enrol students from both original courses

4.13. How can I create teams in a course?

5. Site home and Dashboard

5.1. What is the difference between the Site home page and Dashboard?

5.2. How to move from the Site home to Dashboard and back?

5.3. Can the My home page and default contents be changed?

5.4. How to put the Admin CEGEP block at the top of the Dashboard?

5.5. Can I add an HTML block for the students on the Home page or on all visible pages?

6. iPAD

6.1. What iPad browser can use the Moodle HTML editor?

6.2. How can students download course files to an iPad?

6.3. Is there an application that can read Flash on an iPad?

7. Test and grade management

7.1. How to assign a test to different groups without duplicating it?

7.2. How can I see whether my test is available to the students in a specific class group?

7.3. How can I change the order of the tests in the grades (or gradebook)?

7.4. Why can’t the student see the test mark?

7.5 How can I change the number of students shown in the gradebook?

7.6. I have students who did not submit their test before the deadline. Can I force the submission?

7.7. What do the “How questions behave” options mean in the quiz settings?

7.8. What to choose in the review options for an online test

7.9. Can I create an activity that lets students evaluate other students, in a team, for example?

7.10. How to set quizzes so they are automatically submitted for correction?

7.11. What happens if a student submits a quiz after the closing time?

7.12. How to block automatic glossary links during a quiz?

7.13. Can Moodle create fill-in-the-blank texts or tables?

8. Communication

8.1. How does a student send a message to a teacher and/or classmate?

8.2. Is there a way of notifying students automatically when a new file is uploaded to the course?

9. HTML editor

9.1. How to make the HTML editor appear when it is not where it should be?

1. Enrolment in Moodle

These are the DECclic Corporation’s instructions.

As each college functions differently, enrolment process may vary from college to college. To get the answer to this question, please consult your college’s Moodle administrator.

1.1. Why does the user’s email have to be confirmed to enrol in Moodle?

This is actually a Moodle default that can be changed. When the data provided by the CEGEP (files or COL.net web service) already contain the users’ email addresses, this isn’t a problem.

If the email is not provided, then the user, on their first visit, must:

3. Enter their email in their profile and wait for Moodle confirmation, which will be received at the email address entered. 
4. Click on the confirmation hyperlink in the Moodle email. This returns the user to the Moodle profile. 
5. Save the profile, even if nothing was changed. 

This is a very common way for many online services to confirm enrolment.

This confirms that every user has a valid email address, which ensures the teacher can communicate with the students. This is also how the password recovery function works. 

1.2. Where does the student find the access code and password to use for authentication?

The Moodle connection instructions for students are sometimes displayed on the Moodle connection page. See the example on the image:

2. Course enrolment

2.1. How can I update the class groups in my course?

It depends how your college has decided to proceed, as a teacher you may think that your groups are automatically enrolled in Moodle, which may not be the case in your college. We encourage you to contact your Moodle Admin to get more information on this. 

2.2. In a co-taught course, how can I add a teacher?

The teacher must have a Moodle account. To open a Moodle account, the teacher must access Moodle as explained in the question about Moodle access codes. 

In your course, go to Administration/ Course Administration/Users/Enrolled Users, and then: 

click on Enrol users. A new window opens. 

1. In the dropdown list next to Assign roles, select Teacher. 
2. Find the name of the person you want to Enrol.

If necessary, use the Search field at the bottom of the window.

3. Enter the person’s name and then hit Enter or Search. 

                                  

When you have found the person: click on  to the right of the person’s name and repeat until everyone is enrolled. 

4. Click on Finish enrolling users to finalize the enrolment.

Warning: If you grant a teacher privileges to another teacher, this user can do everything (add, delete items, enroll, unenroll users).

2.3. How do I enrol my class groups in a course?

The teacher enrols the groups using the Enrolments link in the Admin CEGEP block. However, this feature maybe different in your college, please consult with your Moodle Administrator first.

In a co-taught course, each teacher enrols their own class groups.

2.4. Why is it that after the class groups are enrolled, I no longer see any students in my course?

Enrolling is not the same thing as authenticating. When a teacher enrols a class group, the students in the group will not automatically appear in Enrolled Users under Administration/Course Administration/Users. They have to connect to Moodle at least once (see Moodle access codes) and be entered in the course for their account to be created and visible under enrolled users. In the beginning, you will register “ghosts” who come to life one by one. Ask your Moodle Administrator if this is the case in your college, as it can vary from college to college.

2.5. Are class groups created automatically as Moodle groups?

Yes, if the groups are added using the Admin CEGEP block. Moodle Groups appear under Administration/Course Administration/Users.

2.6. How to enrol students in an unofficial course?

For an unofficial course (e.g., student assistance), the teacher creates the Moodle groups and then:    

2. For groups with no key: the teacher manually adds the students to the group by click on add or remove. 
3. For groups with a key and the “self-enrolment method,” the students add themselves to their own group by entering their group key. 

Note:  This occurs only when self-enrolment is used for this specific course. A student cannot self-enrol in a group. 

The course key must be different from the group keys.

To find out more, see the question on Group enrolment key and the question on Self-enrolment.

2.7. The teacher created the course and enrolled the class groups, but the students cannot see the course. Why not?

By default, new courses are not available to the students. They have to be opened to the students in the course settings, in the Administration/Course Administration/Edit settings/General/Visible

2.8. How to enable or disable self enrolment for a course

It can be useful to enable self enrolment to allow students to access unofficial courses. The student can just click on the course link in an HTML block to register.

This is how the teacher can enable self enrolment for a course for Moodle users: 

Go to Administration/Course Administration/Users/Enrolment methods

1. If the Self-enrolment is displayed 
2. Open the eye to allow allow self-enrolment.
3. If not select Self-enrolment from the dropdown menu.

To find out more, see How to make courses available to unofficial groups and How to use group enrolment keys.

2.9. A teacher has set up enrolment keys for each group, but nothing has changed. Is something wrong?

Yes, enrolment keys are only for controlling self-enrolment access to a course. 

When you enrol class groups using the Admin CEGEP block, you use the external database, not self-enrolment. Enrolment keys have no effect on students enrolled using this method. 

For more information, see the questions on self enrolment and creating Moodle groups.

3. User profile

3.1. I use the forums and blogs a lot and I receive a lot of email notifications. Can I receive a single daily email?

Yes, just modify your profile to receive only one daily email notification.

1. At the top right corner of the page click the arrow button.
2. In the dropdown menu select the Preferences.

In Preferences/User account select Forum preferences  

In the Email digest choose the option that suits you most.

4. Course

4.1. How can I reuse an existing course in another session?

 

4.2. How can I inform the administrator that one of my courses can be deleted?

Very carefully! If the administrator deletes an important course (or other object), recovering it can be difficult and can lead to additional costs for the CEGEP. That’s why, by default, teachers cannot delete their own courses. 

To make it easier to identify courses that should be deleted, we recommend that the teacher change the name of the course (in Settings / Course administration / Edit settings) by adding XXXX in front of the name. Then they can send an email to the administrator to provide the exact name of the course to be deleted. To ensure there are no errors, copy-paste the name of the course you want to have deleted.

If you are co-teaching, make sure you do not order course deletion for a course your colleague might still use. 

4.3. How to make courses accessible to everyone or to a group of people who are not an official group 

Let’s take the example of a virtual support centre. It is open to all students at the CEGEP or to a particular group. Ideally, students should be allowed to self-enrol.

Go to Administration/Course Administration/Users/Enrolment methods

1. If the Self-enrolment is displayed 
2. Open the eye to allow allow self-enrolment.
3. If not select Self-enrolment from the dropdown menu.

Follow this link to see How to enable or disable self enrolment. Then communicate the information to the administrator so the course can be added to an HTML block.

Information to communicate to the Moodle administrator:

Write an email to the administrator to provide this information: 

1. Create an HTML block that will be visible to the students, in other words, to all users. 
2. Give the exact name of the course to be added to an HTML block. 
3. Give the URL of the course. This can be found in the browser’s address bar when you are on the home page. It should end as follows: .../course/view.php?id=1. (Note that the ID number is unique for every course.)

4.4. How to duplicate an activity or resource?

Here’s what to do:

1. and give it a distinctive name so you can identify it easily.

Select the right dates and times, if applicable.

Save the activity.

  

4.5. How to choose a course theme?

This option is only available if the rights are enabled in your institution. If this is the case teacher will go to 1. Administration/Course administration 2. Edit settings

3. In Edit course settings click on Appearance.
4. Go to Force theme.
5. Select from the drop down menu the theme.
6. Save changes

4.6. How to allow students from one course to access the meta link?

To know more about what is a meta link please refer to this link https://docs.moodle.org/23/en/Course_meta_link

This option must be enabled by your institution.

If this is the case, 1. go to Administration/Course administration/Users/Enrolment methods.

2. In the dropdown menu, choose Course meta link method.

 

3. Select from the dropdown box 1. choose the course you wish to bring enrolments from and click 2. Add method.

If you need to add several courses to the course, 4. "Add method and create another" button allows you to quickly repeat the process without having to return to the main screen and start again.

For each linked course, the users may be added to an existing 3. group in the new course, or a new group may be created for them.

This option must be enabled by your institution. If this is the case, this is what the teacher must do:

In the Metacourse, the teacher must:

Click on Course administration/Users/Enrolment methods. 

In the dropdown menu, choose Course metalink method. 

Then, under Course metalink, choose the “child” course from which the users can access the metacourse.

4.7. In a co-taught course, how can I share files with other teachers?

We suggest you create a folder in the course that will be hidden from students.

1. Turn on the editing by clicking the button top right or the link in Settings > Course administration.
2. Click Add an activity or resource to open the activity chooser. Select Folder then click the Add button, or double-click on the activity or resource name.
3. Adding new folder/Common settings you can hide files from students.

4. Adding new folder/Restrict access you can limit the access to your folder by choosing the options from the Add restriction dropdown box.

Teachers can store their files there and download them whenever needed.

Warning: This method is at your own risks. If you accidentally make the files available, then students can access them.

4.8 How does file management work in a Moodle course? 

You may add a file or a folder to your course.

Adding a file to your course

1. Click the Turn editing on button at the top right of the course page.
2. Click link, then in the activity chooser; select and click the Add button.
3. For General Section: Add name and description of the folder you want to 

display to your students. 

There are two methods how you can add a folder to your course.

Adding a folder – 1st method

1. Click the Turn editing on button at the top right of the course page.
2. Drag and drop the folder onto the course section where you'd like it to 

appear.

3. Click the button of the action you would like to take with the folder (in this

case, "Unzip") and click "Upload".

4. If necessary, edit the title of the folder by clicking the pencil icon and 

you’re done.

Adding a folder – 2nd method

1. Click the Turn editing on button at the top right of the course page.
2. Click link, then in the activity chooser; select and click the Add button.

3. For General Section: Add name and description of the folder you want to 

display to your students. 

See the link https://docs.moodle.org/29/en/File_handling. 

4.9. How to use a calendar in a course?

By default, the dates of all dated course activities are highlighted in the calendar for enrolled users. 

Turn editing on and then choose Add a block from drop down box choose Calendar to the course to add an event to the calendar.

This block displays the calendar page of the current month. The calendar can display, course, group and or user events in addition to assignment and quiz deadlines, chat times and other course events using colour coding.

Create an event.

 

1.    Go to Dashboard/Upcoming events/New event and complete the form.

2.    Go to Dashboard/Upcoming events/Go to calendar/New event.

 

Complete the New event 

At General, Choose the Type of event, Type the Event title, Set the Date and Click 

  

User: will be visible only by the one creating the event

Group: visible to a particular group (you need to have groups to use it)

Course: visible to all users enrolled in the course

Site: visible in every course on the calendar homepage

On the page, highlighted days display the event if you point the mouse to the date. 

Create an event on the calendar 

4. Access the course related to the event.
5. Click on the month to access the event editing window. 
6. Click on New event.
7. Complete the form.

4. Enter the name of the event. 
5. Select the start and end dates. 
   The duration and repetition settings are optional. 
6. Click Save changes.

4.10. How to add a YouTube video to Moodle and see its thumbnail?

You can paste the YouTube URL in any place where the formatting palette is displayed for organizing.

4.11. Why can’t my students see the answer button in the separate group forum?

Students are unable to post to a forum because the student is not a member of any group in the course. They will see the message "Adding discussions to this forum requires group membership". In this case, either add the student to a group.

4.12. How to combine two courses with different codes into one course and enrol students from both original courses

In this case, you have to choose one of the two courses and enrol the students from the other course using a meta link as explained in question 4.7. You have to do the following steps:

2. Create course groups of students enrolled by meta link. 
3. Add students to their respective groups.

4.13. How can I create teams in a course?

To create teams, go to Administration/Course administration/Users/Groups.

1st option is through Create groups 

Add a group Name such as Team, optional Description and Enrolment key and Save changes.

1. Add a group Name such as    Team, optional Description and Enrolment key and Save changes.

2. Select from the 1. Groups, the one to which you want to add participants, then click the 2. Add/ remove users button.

2nd option is through Auto-Create Groups

1. Naming scheme: change the term group @/# to team @/#

@ generates groups names with letters: Group A

      # generates groups names with numbers: Group 1

2. Number of groups: if the number of teams is known 

Members per group: if the number of people per team is known

3. Group/member count, enter the number of teams or     members per team.

4. Select members with role: choose student.

5. Select members from group: choose from roles assigned within the course such as groups, cohorts or groupings.

6. Allocate members: choose from the dropdown box what fits you best.    

7. Save.

8. Follow step 2 from 1st option.

5. Site home and Dashboard

5.1. What is the difference between the Site home page and Dashboard?

The Site home provides general information for all users of the Moodle site, whereas Dashboard shows all the courses the individual user is registered for. Only the teacher sees the Admin CEGEP block that allows courses to be added. 

5.2. How to move from the Site home to Dashboard and back

In the Navigation block, the user can choose either Site home or Dashboard.

5.3. Can the Dashboard and default contents be changed?

You can add, move, hide or delete some blocks on their Dashboard. 

Click on  to access the block editing buttons:   

Click onto move blocks. 

Click on to get the  , ,  ,

5.4. How to put the Admin CEGEP block at the top of Dashboard?

Here’s what to do:

1. Click on  to access the block editing buttons. 
2. Click the editing icon in the Admin CEGEP block. 
3. In the “Configuring an Admin CEGEP block” page, under “On this page

3. Visible: select Yes 
4. Region: select the side you want 
5. Weight: select -10 (first) 

4. Click Save changes.

5.5. Can I add an HTML block for the students on the Site home or on all visible pages? 

No, only the administrator can create HTML blocks that are visible on the Site home, Dashboard, or all other pages visible to users. You have to ask the administrator to do it for you and provide the information to display in the block.

6. iPad

6.1. What iPad browser can use the Moodle HTML editor?

To use an HTML editor in Moodle to edit resources and activities, you need CHROME or TERRA, which are both free. There is no editor in Safari. 

For CHROME, there are no settings to adjust, but for TERRA, in Settings under Search Engine, choose Firefox 3.6 or 12 or Internet Explorer 10 or Google Chrome.

In Moodle, the writing section is sometimes displayed in HTML language, but be patient: the HTML editor will appear. If you are using MoodlEZ or mTouch+ for iPad, you will not have an HTML editor. Be patient – it will come.

6.2. How can students download course files to an iPad?

It only works with MoodlEZ or mTouch+ for iPad. When you click on the document name, an OPEN and OPEN IN menu allows the document to be downloaded to DROPBOX or elsewhere for a WORD document. For a PDF file, the menu offers iPad PDF applications, such as iAnnotate PDF. For this, DROPBOX must be installed on the user’s iPad.

To use DROPBOX, it must be installed by your Moodle administrator. If DROPBOX is there, it will be accessible to the users in the File selector.

6.3. Is there an application that can read Flash on an iPad?

Some applications can help bypass Flash restrictions on iOS, such as iSwifter.

There are multiple applications that can facilitate this task. See the link. 

7. Test and grade management

7.1. How to assign a test to different groups without duplicating it?

Use the Group overrides command. 

While the quiz is displayed, go to Administration/ Quiz administration/Group overrides. Click on 

    

The User override command allows you to set override settings for a single user. It works the same way as the group override function.

7.2. How can I see whether my test is available to the students in a specific class group?

1st step: Enroll in the class group.

Go to Administration/Course Administration/ Users/Groups.

1. Select a Group. 
2. Click on Add/remove users.
3. Find your name under Potential members.
4. Add your name.

 

2nd step: Select student’s role. 

Go to Administration/Switch role to …/Student.

Now you see the course components the same way as the students of that group.

Once you have finished checking, revert to your normal role and follow the above steps 1 to 3 and click the Remove button to delete your name from the class group.

7.3. How can I change the order of the tests in the grades (or gradebook)?

7.4. Why can’t the student see the test mark?

1. Go to Course administration/Grades. 
2. Go to Grade administration/Setup/

Categories and items. 

3. Under Actions click on Show.

Note: If you are using group overrides, apply the same conditions.

7.5 How can I change the number of students shown in the gradebook? 

You can reduce the number of students shown per page for easier access.

1. Course administration/Grades. 

2. Go to Grade administration/Setup/My report preferences: Grader report. 

3. In General, enter the number of students you want per page.

4. Save changes.

  

7.6. I have students who did not submit their test before the deadline. Can I force the submission?

No, you can not force the submission. But, you can change the date in the Close the quiz, then the student submits the quiz. When it is done, you can change back the quiz to the original close date.

7.7. What is the “How questions behave” option in the quiz settings?

1. Deferred feedback: Formative comments will be available to the students after the quiz is closed. 

2. Immediate feedback: The students enter an answer to each question. If the answer is right, the Check button is not functional. If the answer is wrong, the Check button can be clicked for a chance to correct the answer. 

3. Deferred or immediate feedback with CBM: For each question, the students enter the answer and select their level of certainty. After the test is submitted, the students see the answers and their score for the questions, e.g., certainty indicator: [How certain are you? Not very (less than 67%) Fairly (over 67%) Very (over 80%)]

4. Interactive with multiple tries: The students check the answer to the question and get a clue to help find the right answer. There are as many tries as clues to the question. 

5. Adaptive mode (no penalties): The students can try repeatedly to correctly answer the question with or without suffering penalties. 

6. Manually graded: The students answer the questions. After the test is submitted, they see their answer and formative comments but they do not see the right answers or the test grade.

7. Conditional questions: If using the Interactive with multiple tries or Immediate Feedback behaviour and with the navigation method set to 'Free', it is possible to make the display of a question dependent on a previous question being answered first. The question editing page will display padlock icons to the right of each question.

7.8. What to choose in the review options for an online test?

The options selected in the “Review options” table define the information that the students will see when they look at the answer sheet or their grades.  

1. During the attempt: If you chose a behaviour other than “Deferred feedback” in How questions behave, the student can see the selected information (feedback, marks and right answer) under this option. 

2. Immediately after the attempt: Immediately after the student clicks on “Submit all and finish,” the information selected under this option (feedback, marks and right answer) is shown. 

3. Later, while the quiz is still open: Two minutes after clicking “Submit all and finish” and before the test is closed, the students can see their grade and the information selected under this option (feedback, marks and right answer). 

4. After the quiz is closed: the student sees the information selected under this option (feedback, marks and right answer) after the close date of the quiz. If the test has no close date, this condition does not occur.

Note: When there are test overrides, the close date of the override applies, not the date shown in the test settings.

Teachers and administrators are not affected by these settings. They can always review all the information about all student attempts at any time.

7.9. Can I create an activity that lets students evaluate other students, in a team, for example?

You can create a quiz that includes questions preceded by a description question that includes the name of the student to be evaluated and then duplicate these description questions for all students you need to evaluate. Or you can make as many quizzes as there are students to evaluate and names each quiz after the student.

7.10. How to set quizzes so they are automatically submitted for correction

In the quiz settings, limit the time that the test is available. When the available time runs out, the test is automatically submitted with the answers given so far. 

While Editing is on, go to Edit/Edit settings/Timing. 

7.11. What happens if a student submits a quiz after the closing time?

It is possible for a student to submit answers after the quiz is closed (for example, if they started before the closing time but waited too long to submit it). The answers are saved in the quiz, but the student will not be evaluated for their responses. 

You can see the answers by viewing the student’s attempt and decide to evaluate them manually. 

You can also change the quiz close date or time, even if the date is past, and re-evaluate the attempt. Late answers will then be evaluated. 

7.12. How to block automatic glossary links during a quiz?

For more information refer to the link https://docs.moodle.org/23/en/Using_Glossary

In Administration/Quiz administration, click on Filters. Here, you can disable filters for this quiz alone.

 

7.13. Can Moodle create fill-in-the-blank texts or tables?

Yes. You need to use the Cloze question and write a test or table in which you insert Cloze questions for the answers. 

8. Communication

8.1. How does a student send a message to a teacher and/or classmate?

1. Contacts: click on the name of the person to open a message window.

1. Recent conversations: a list of messages exchanged with the contact.
2. Recent notifications: a list of notifications with the contact.

2. Curses: click on the name of the course.
3. Search peopled and messages: by using names and keywords for messages.

to add a contact, to block a contact,  to display message history.

8.2. Is there a way how students can be notified when a new file is uploaded to their course?

There is no quick method to notify students. However, teacher can send notifications through the News forum that has all participants subscribed to it.

Add a new topic to News forum.

1. Choose a specific name for News forum
2. Forum description
3. Add a new topic to a forum

Reply to a forum discussion.

1. Click on the Discussion name or the number of Replies.
2. Click on Reply.

Note: there is an automatic option that is called event monitoring. For more information, see the link.

9. HTML editor

9.1. How to make the HTML editor appear when it is not where it should be?

Text editors can be enabled, disabled or a different one set to default from Administration>Site administration>Plugins>Text editors>Manage editors. The order of priority may also be specified here.