Did You Know?

Did you know you can dock your blocks in Moodle?

There are a variety of blocks used in every course in Moodle, they are hanging out on the left side of your Moodle window with a green bar at the top. For example Quickmail is a block. When you click the icon in the upper right hand corner, you can dock this block so that the Quickmail block is "out of the way".

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When you point to a docked block the block will flyout & you can click a link in the block. The icon on the upper right hand corner of the docked block, will un-dock the block. You can dock all of your blocks to gain valuable real estate on the Moodle pages.

Last Updated: 10/31/2018

Did you know that you do not have to "Turn Editing On" to edit activities or resources?

The Administration block is dynamic, meaning that depending on where you are in your course, the tools available in the block change.

If you are in an Assignment activity, you will have the tools to edit that assignment settings within the Administration block.

If you are in a Quiz activity, you will have the tools to edit that quiz in the Administration block.

Note: there are many additional tools available in the Administration block specific to the activity or resource. Please contact your campus LSS staff if you are interested in learning more about these tools.

Last Udated: 10/30/2018

Did you know could attach files to an "Activity" in Moodle rather embed them into the instructions?

While it is possible to embed files into the instruction area of many activities, it is not always the best option.
In the old days we didn't have the option to add (attach) a file to an activity. The work around became to embed the file into the instruction area (type out the file name, select the text & navigate to the file on your computer), so there would be a file for the students to access within the activity.
There are many disadvantages to this method: Every semester links to files need to be checked, when updating with new files each semester a new document has to be linked, it can be time consuming & problematic if your file name is not changing, often times the links to the file are lost & they don't work. Sometimes the option to open it a new window doesn't get selected & the document opens in the same window as Moodle, then when students close the document, they are closing out of Moodle. With the increasing use of tablets such as Chromebooks, the embedded links are difficult for students to open, often times they can't find a way to save the file because they don't have the software on the tablet.
A better option: Moodle has since added the ability to attach file within activities and it is so much easier to update each semester. You can easily edit the activity, remove the old file, drag and drop a new file in and save. No more worries that link can be lost since the file is attached to the assignment, there is no link to get broken. When a student clicks the file they are prompted to save.

Embedded File Example:

Attached File Example:

Student View Attached File Example:

Last Updated: 11/02/2018

Did you know you could open a folder on your computer that contains your course documents, and just simply "drag & drop" these documents into your Moodle course?

In Topics

Just open the folder on your computer that contains the documents you want in Moodle, then in Moodle with Editing turned on and your topic expanded or open arrange both windows (Moodle & the file folder on your computer) so you can access them at once. Click the file or files you want from your computer folder and drag to the Moodle window, when you see the dotted lines with the text Add file(s) here & the →Move help text, just drop the file. It will take a minute or so to process, then you will see the files are added at the bottom of the topic you drag them to.

Refresh your browser (depending on the browser, you should have a circle arrow similar to this near the address bar) . Then you can move the file into place in your topic, or even move the file to another topic using the move handle .
When uploading or dragging & dropping a document into Moodle, it is always a good idea to go into the settings of the document to check the Appearance settings after dropping them in. The default Display option Automatic is not always the best option.

For Example: It is a good idea to Force download a PDF document. Otherwise the students' browser or computer security settings can decide how it wants to deal with the document. It could open in the browser window, or just not open at all. It could also open in the same window as the student is viewing the Moodle course, when they are done viewing the document, they hit close and they end up closing the Moodle window. Sometimes that makes them think they just got thrown out of Moodle. When you force download the student is prompted to save the file to their computer to open it, thereby bypassing the browser interference. This is also helpful when you are providing a PDF form, the student needs to fill out, but when that opens in a browser, they can't because they don't have the document open in the Adobe Reader to use the tools.
The Display setting, together with the file type and whether the browser allows embedding, determines how the file is displayed. Options may include:

For Example: It is a good idea to Force download a PDF document. Otherwise the students’ browser or computer security settings can decide how it wants to deal with the document. It could open in the browser window, or just not open at all. It could also open in the same window as the student is viewing the Moodle course, when they are done viewing the document, they hit close and they end up closing the Moodle window. Sometimes that makes them think they just got thrown out of Moodle. When you force download the student is prompted to save the file to their computer to open it, thereby bypassing the browser interference. This is also helpful when you are providing a PDF form, the student needs to fill out, but when that opens in a browser, they can’t because they don’t have the  document open in the Adobe Reader to use the tools.

The Display setting, together with the file type and whether the browser allows embedding, determines how the file is displayed. Options may include:

• Automatic - The default display option for the file type is selected automatically
• Force download - The user is prompted to download the file
• Open - Only the file is displayed in the browser window
• In pop-up - The file is displayed in a new browser window without menus or an address bar

In the Assignment Activity

When creating a new or editing an existing assignment activity you may also drag & drop file into that assignment activity. Open the folder on your computer that contains the documents you want to attach to the assignment, then in Moodle within the Assignment Activity settings scroll down to the Additional files area & locate the You can drag and drop files here to add them box with the blue down arrow & a dashed border. Arrange both windows so you can access them at once. Click the file or files you want from your computer folder and drag to the Moodle window, over the Drop files here to upload box when you see the blue dashed border & the →Move help text, drop the file.

Wait for the upload to process, you will see the file in the box once it it is uploaded. At this point you can open to make sure it is the correct file, continue adding files as needed, or delete if a wrong file is uploaded

Once all files are uploaded, continue with editing any other settings you may need to edit in the Assignment Activity, then click the preferred Save and display option at the bottom to preview the assignment acticity with the attached file.

Last Updated:11/02/2018

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