Questions from our faculty about Moodle

Posted on: January 10, 2017 | By: Cheri Crabb, PhD | Filed under: Instructional Technologies, Moodle, Teaching & Learning

Teaching and Learning Technologies taught an online course titled, Making the Most of Moodle. The course covered topics such as:

• adding files
• assignments and feedback
• course communication
• grades
• quizzes
• groups

The faculty enrolled in the course had a forum they were encouraged to post questions to anonymously; facilitators responded within 24 hours.

This blog post reflects a few problems faculty were having with drag and drop, adding files, opening links in a separate window, and backing up the grade-book. Dan Reis, Instructional Technologist, researched the questions and responded to the forum.

Q. I can’t drag and drop in Internet Explorer. Is there anything I can do to fix this?

A. Drag and drop is not compatible with Internet Explorer. If you use Firefox 5 (or later) or Chrome 12 (or later) you will be able to use the drag and drop feature.

Q. I have figured out how to add files but this method is particularly slow. Is there a way I can add several files more quickly?

A. If the files you want to upload are in one folder on your computer, you can Zip that folder and upload all the documents inside the folder at once. To do this, you must create the zip file on your computer first, then add that zip file into a Moodle folder and unzip it. The important part is creating the folder on Moodle and adding the zip to the folder ( not in a topic area). Once it’s inside the folder, click on the Menu icon and select “unzip.”

Q. How do I add links that will open up in another window rather than inside Moodle?

A. To create a link that opens in a new window, highlight the text you want to make into a link. Then click on the “Insert/edit link” icon. Then, paste or type the link address in the “Link URL” box. Then, to get the link to open in a new window (or tab), under “Target”, choose “Open in a new window (_blank).”

Q. If I backup a course with all defaults, is the grade-book backed up?

A. Yes, but you must decide whether or not to include existing student data in the backup. When performing a backup, the only parameter you should change is to not include user data. If everything else is left as-is, the grade-book will transfer properly.

Cheri Crabb, PhD

I am dedicated to working with online faculty at Elon University and pride myself on designing quality curriculum advocating instructional technology usage. My career in academia is focused on instructional design and development using integrated electronic media systems. I earned my Doctor of Philosophy in Instructional Systems Design and Development from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University while representing NASA’s Office of Education as their first Graduate Studies Research Program doctoral fellowship recipient.

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One response to “Questions from our faculty about Moodle”

  1. Pushkar says:

    Moodle is really a good learning management software though it has some drawbacks.But nonetheless,some great tips above.