Moodle F.A.Q. for Instructors [1]
I am having trouble logging into Moodle. What should I do?
- Anyone with an active IT Account should be able to log in to Moodle. Make sure you are using the correct NetID [2](IT Account user name) and password.
- Make sure the computer you are using meets IT's Recommended and Minimum Computer Configurations (Windows [3], Mac [4]).
- Make sure you don’t have any viruses or malware (a.k.a. spy and/or adware) on your computer. To learn more about malware, visit the IT Security Center [5].
- If you have a firewall enabled (or you are not sure whether you do or not), ask your IT administrator or your Internet Service Provider (ISP) how to set it up so you can access Moodle.
If these steps do not resolve your problems, instructors and TAs can contact the Instructional Media Lab at instruct@umass.edu [6] or 413-545-2823. (Students should contact the IT Service Desk [7])
I can log in to Moodle, but why don't I see my course listed under My Courses?
- You must request a new Moodle course every semester you wish to teach a class using Moodle. For more, see Request Your Moodle Course - Overview [8].
- Make sure you are trying to log in to the correct learning management system. UMass Amherst instructors and students may have courses in more than one system:
- Legacy Moodle [9] - The system for most on-campus courses through spring of 2021
- Moodle in the Cloud [10] - The system for most courses beginning in the summer of 2021
- Online Learning in Blackboard Learn [11]: Some on-campus courses, and most fully online courses offered by University Without Walls through UMassOnline.
- To find your course before it is released to students:
- In Legacy Moodle, you can access your Navigation Tray or click Show hidden courses (at bottom of My Courses block) to access unreleased courses. For details, see Working in a Moodle Course that is Hidden from Students [12].
- In Moodle in the Cloud, courses that are hidden from students appear in the My Courses block below your active courses, and at the bottom of the Navigation tray.
How do I get a course in Moodle?
Primary Instructors can request a Moodle course [8] in SPIRE. The request form must be filled out each semester you wish to use Moodle for a class.
Once your request has been processed, you will be informed via email. Courses appear in Moodle in the Cloud about an hour after they are requested.
Some things to keep in mind when requesting a Moodle course:
- Only Primary Instructors may request Moodle courses. If you are not a Primary Instructor for a course, the course will not appear on your list of Moodle-eligible classes [13] in SPIRE.
- The Moodle course request form in SPIRE gives you the option to combine multiple sections into one Moodle course or ask for a single-section Moodle course.
- Moodle course request opens at the start of the registration period for each semester (midway through the previous semester) and remains open until the close of the semester taught.
How do I reuse a Moodle Course?
In Moodle, you do not reset a course to reuse it; you must request a new Moodle course each semester you teach a course, then you can import course content from a previous semester into the new course. For more, see Request Your Moodle Course - Overview [8] and Reuse a Moodle Course Using Import [14].
For Fall 2021 courses, starting Summer, instructors will be able to request to have their course content moved automatically from the old version of Moodle to the new. UMass IT will contact instructors when this option is available.
For Summer 2021 courses, instructors will back up their courses in the current version of Moodle, then restore them manually to the new, cloud-based version of Moodle. See Restore a Course in Moodle [15].
To reuse a course that is already on Moodle in the Cloud, instructors can use the Import tool (see Reuse a Course Using Import). Note, however, that the Import tool cannot copy courses between different Moodle installations.
How long will my course remain on Moodle?
Courses are deleted from Moodle 18 months after the close of the semester taught to make room for future courses. Unfortunately, it is not possible for us to maintain long-term storage of Moodle courses due to limited physical space and resources. This allows ample time for students to resolve an Incomplete grade, and for faculty to make their own archives of course work for future reference.
How do co-instructors or other instructional staff get access to my Moodle course?
- Graduate and Undergraduate Teaching Assistants must be enrolled in SPIRE. See Access to Moodle for Teaching Assistants [16].
- Co-Instructors must be enrolled in the class in SPIRE as a Primary or Secondary Instructor.
- Librarians or other faculty who do not have teaching responsibilities but need to coordinate student activities or grade must be enrolled in the course in SPIRE as Section Assistants.
- For staff assistants who are helping you design your Moodle course but are not associated with your course in SPIRE, the instructor can request Course Designer access. See Request Course Designer Access to Moodle [17].
How do students get enrolled in my course on Moodle?
Once a Moodle course has been requested and created, students who are enrolled in the class in SPIRE, including 5 College students, are automatically added to the Moodle roster. Moodle rosters are updated each hour with enrollment data from SPIRE. For more, see Access to Moodle for Students [18].
When does student access to a Moodle course begin and end?
- Courses requested before the start of Preview Week are automatically released to students at the start of Preview Week.
- If a course is requested during Preview Week, it will be released to students the business day before the semester starts.
- If requested after the business day before the semester starts, instructors must release the course to students themselves.
- Student access is removed two weeks after grades for the term are released.
Instructors can hide courses that are not ready for use, or open courses prior to the beginning of the semester. See Make Your Moodle Course Available to Students [19].
Why is a student who appears on my SPIRE roster unable to access my Moodle course?
There are a few possible situations that could be causing a student who is registered in SPIRE to be unable to access a Moodle course. Some troubleshooting to consider:
- Make sure the student is logging in to Moodle and not Blackboard Learn.
- Consider how long ago the student officially registered for the course in SPIRE. Moodle course rosters are updated automatically every hour with student data from SPIRE. There may be up to a one hour delay between when a student registers for a course and when that student is enrolled in a Moodle course.
- The student must have an active IT Account. Students can get help with their NetID and password by coming in person with their student ID card to the IT Service Desk [7]
Note: Professors should direct student problems to User Services [20].
How do 5-college students access my Moodle course?
5-college students who are enrolled in a UMass course will be sent a NetID (IT Account user name) and password via email as soon as their enrollment appears in SPIRE. More about IT Accounts [21].
To access a Moodle course, 5-college students must:
- Be registered in SPIRE for the course.
- Log in to Moodle using their NetID (IT Account user name) and password.
Can my teaching assistant(s) get access to my Moodle course?
TAs must be listed in SPIRE as a Teaching Assistant or Undergraduate Student Assistant (Student Assistant Moodle Only) in order to have access to the Moodle course for the class.
By default, TAs and Student Assistants automatically receive access to Moodle in the role of Non-Editing Teacher, which allows them to access student resources and activities, as well as read and grade student submissions. If a TA needs to upload materials or add activities to a Moodle course, the instructor can add the Course Designer role for that individual. For more, see Access to Moodle for Teaching Assistants [16].
How do I add an auditor or guest to my Moodle course?
- An individual who is registered for a class in SPIRE as an Auditor will be automatically enrolled in the Moodle course for that class.
- For visiting scholars, on-campus guest speakers, student assistants who are not registered in SPIRE, students repeating the online component of a course, or students participating in the course as part of an Independent Study, instructors can request Contributor Access [22]. Contributors must have an IT NetID and are allowed to participate in course activities and interact with students.
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Instructors can request Temporary Speaker [23]access for guest speakers who do not have an active IT Account. Temporary access is granted for a maximum one (1) week and enables a guest to participate in online discussions or chats.
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Instructors can enable limited Guest access [24] to their own courses. Guests have read-only privileges and cannot interact with students or view student contributions to a course. Guests do not need to have an IT NetID.
I have a student who is working on an Incomplete. How can the student get access to my Moodle course?
- To allow a student to access a Moodle course from a previous semester that is currently unavailable to students, do not reopen the course for all students. You can give a particular student who had been enrolled in the course a special role, Student - with Incomplete. See Assign Roles to Individuals in your Moodle Course. [25]
- To enroll a student with an Incomplete in a current semester's course so that the student can participate in activities with the current semester's students, complete the Request Contributor Access [22] form.
I am co-instructing a course or have a Course Designer in my course. What happens if we both edit something in Moodle at the same time?
Moodle does not warn users who are both editing the same item—the last person to Save will overwrite the other person's work. We recommend coordinating with your co-instructor or designer to avoid editing items simultaneously. Either plan which activities and resources "belong" to each of you, or e-mail each other when editing.
Note: Exception: In a Wiki activity, only one person at a time is able to edit a Wiki page.
Why do I (or my students) get an error message when attempting to upload a large file?
Each Moodle course has a course-level upload-limit that the instructor can control in the Course settings. The default Maximum upload size is 50 MB but you can increase it if needed. For details, see Important Settings for your your Moodle Course [26].
In addition, some activities such as Assignments, have an upload-limit determined in the activity Settings. For example, the default Assignment maximum size of 1 MB is generally adequate for text-based documents, but if students are submitting video or audio files you may need to increase the file size allowed. If your students are experiencing errors when trying to upload files, check to make sure the upload limit is adequate for the type of assignment.
Note: The upload limit for an activity cannot be set higher than the limit for the course, so you may need to change the course settings first.
When I (or my students) try to open files I posted on Moodle, nothing appears to happen. How can I fix this?
The results of clicking on a link to a File in Moodle will depend on the options you chose when you added the file, the configuration of the browser you are using, and the file type.
- When an instructor adds a File resource to a Moodle course, there are several options for how the file will Display. We have made Forced download the default action for links to files because it behaves the most consistently between browsers. (The file will download to the location on your computer where the browser is configured to save downloaded files).
- Check your browser preferences/options to see where files are saved.
- If your browser is set to prevent files from downloading automatically unless you approve, you may need to confirm the download in a notification bar or pop-up. Where this notification appears will vary from browser to browser. Check the bottom or top of the page, as notifications may appear there.
For more troubleshooting tips, see Download Files in Moodle [27].
Where is the File Manager in Moodle? Is there a way to download all the files I've posted to a course at once?
- There are multiple ways for an instructor to add files to a course. When you add a file, it is stored in the Moodle System files. For more, see Add a File to a Moodle Course [28].
- To download all files added to a Moodle course by an Instructor or Course Designer, use the Download instructor files tool. For details, see Download All Instructor Files from a Moodle Course [29].
Note: As a best practice, we recommend keeping a copy of student submissions and the files you have uploaded, on your own computer or cloud-based storage. See Online File Storage & Collaboration [30].