You are on page 1of 15

Cheat Sheet

Created by Taylor Lapierre


3-27-2019
Moodle Cheat sheet

Contents
Welcome to Moodle 3

Role Description 3
Administrator 3
Manager 3
Editing Teacher 3
Non-editing Teacher 3
Student 3

Adding Users 4
Add New Users to Moodle - Individually 4
Add New Users to Moodle – Bulk 4
Add Users to Course 4

Adding Courses 5
Create a New Course 5
Adding Assignments 5
Add New Users to Course 5

Creating a Moodle Quiz 6


Creating a Question Bank 6
Importing Questions from File 6
Write Questions in the Aiken Format 7
Import Questions into the Moodle Question Bank 7
Moving Questions to new Category 8

Instructor Tips 8
Granting Extensions 8

Administrator Tips 8
Define existing role 8
Defining a new role 8

Course Backup 9
Backup Settings 9
What is included in a Backup? 9

Created by Taylor Lapierre


Moodle Cheat sheet

Backup logs 9
Course Restore 10
Backup Troubleshooting 10

McGraw Hill 11
Adding McGraw Hill to a Course 11
Connect Gradebook to Moodle 11
Getting Students Ready to Sync 12
Troubleshooting Gradebook Sync 12

VitalSource 13
Program an External Tool 13

References 14

Created by Taylor Lapierre


Moodle Cheat sheet

Welcome to Moodle
What is Moodle LMS? Moodle LMS is the world’s most popular and most used learning management
system. Why? Because the Moodle Learning Management System is a flexible, open source, and free to
download learning management solution. With 68 million users and 55,000 Moodle sites deployed
worldwide, Moodle is a user-friendly eLearning platform that serves the learning and training needs of
people from all types of organizations.

Role Description
All listed roles are the default roles provided by Moodle. To learn how to edit an existing role or to
define a new role, click here.

Administrator
Administrators can do almost anything and go anywhere. It is recommended that there are one or two
people with the administrator role. Administrators can browse every course without being required to
enroll and without being listed as a course participant. Click here for more notes on the role of an
Administrator.

Manager
Managers can access course and modify them, they usually do not participate in courses.

Editing Teacher
Given name: Editing Instructor

Editing teachers can do anything within a course, including changing the activities and grading students.
Enrol/unenroll students from a course, Edit and add course material (assignments, files…), edit grades,
give feedback to students, and edit and add blocks (McGraw Hill). Click here for more notes on the role
of an Editing Teacher.

Non-editing Teacher
Given name: Instructor

This role cannot add activities or resources but can view and edit grades. Non-editing instructors can
also make announcements and email students.

Student
Students can submit assignments for grading, make posts to forums, and generally participate in a
course. Students cannot edit any of the course settings. Students see their own grades only.

Created by Taylor Lapierre


Moodle Cheat sheet

Adding Users
Add New Users to Moodle - Individually
Dashboard > Admin > Users > Add a new user > Manual enrolments > Fill in information

You must change: Username, generate password and notify user, first name, Surname, Email address,
Time zone (America, Edmonton), Interests (Enter their program tags – e.g. BAM), Optional (insert
student ID number and institution).

Add New Users to Moodle – Bulk


Dashboard > Admin > Users > Accounts > Upload users > upload CSV file > Upload users

Once uploaded, “upload users preview page” will appear which show the number users uploaded. Scroll
down the page choose city/town and click the “Upload users” button. The next page will show you the
result of Users uploaded. If there are any user with the same name they will be skipped, and the
remaining will be created.

You must upload a CSV file


here which contain user
information. The file should
have the following columns
and should be saved as “CSV
(Comma delimited) (*.csv)” format only. Click here to view the current CSV file.

You must include:

• Username
• Password
• Firstname
• Lastname
• Email

Once uploaded into Moodle, “upload users


results” page will load (See image on the
right for example).

Add Users to Course


Dashboard > Courses > BAM > Economics > Participants > Users > Enrolled users > Manual enrolments
> Select users > assign as student/teacher role > click “Add”

• Note: You can enrol students in future classes by changing the “Starting from” dropdown menu
to a future date. This is beneficial as students can be enrolled pre-emptively for the month
ahead rather than having an Admin manual enrol new students each week.
• Note: This is where you will add your students and instructors.

Created by Taylor Lapierre


Moodle Cheat sheet

Adding Courses
Create a New Course
Dashboard > Courses > Add a new course > Fill in information > Save and return *you do not want to
add participants until the course is fully organized

You must include: Course full name (Economics), Course short name (Economics – this is the name that
can be found in your navigation bar), Course Category (Business Administration Management), Course
start and end dates, Course ID number (BECN), Course Summary, under Appearance change Number of
announcements to 1, under Role renaming change Your word for ‘Teacher’ and ‘Non-editing teacher’ to
preferred names (example: Admin Instructor and Instructor), under Tags add the appropriate tag (BAM
and BECN).

Adding Assignments
Dashboard > Courses > Select program > Select course > Turn editing on > Add an activity or resource >
Select the type of activity or resource > follow prompts to set up activity.

Assignment – You must add any in-class assignments that are taken in for marks. Even though students
do not submit anything online, the addition of an assignment acts as a placeholder for a grade. Include a
note in assignment description stating that “This assignment is to be completed on McGraw Hill (or in
class). No further submission is required. Your instructor will update your grade here once submitted.”

External tool – This activity is used for VitalSource. Click here to see how to set up an external tool

Forum – Good for discussion questions for both on the ground and online students. Ensure you choose
the correct Forum type (example: Q and A Forum allows the Instructor to post a question for students to
answer), under Activity completion change completion tracking to “show activity is complete when
conditions are met” and edit conditions (such as require posts) if this activity is for marks.

Quiz – All quizzes from an external source (McGraw Hill) are automatically synced. However, you may
choose to create a new quiz as opposed to using a Moodle Quiz. Click here to see how to set up a new
Moodle Quiz.

File – This includes PowerPoint and pdf.

• PowerPoints – must be formatted to ensure students cannot download the file, but instead
simply open in presenter mode.
• PDF – After uploading your file, ensure you change the display. Under Appearance change
Display to “in pop-up”.

Add New Users to Course


Once your course is organized, the final step is to add your students! Click here for instructions.

Created by Taylor Lapierre


Moodle Cheat sheet

Creating a Moodle Quiz


To create a Moodle Quiz, you must first create the question bank and then you can create a new quiz
assignment. Click here for instructions on how to create a question bank.

Once you have your question bank, follow instructions to create your Quiz in Moodle.

Dashboard > Courses > Select Course > Turn editing on > Add an activity or resource > Quiz > Fill in
information as directed > Save and return to course

Once you have your quiz frame, select and edit your quiz to add questions. Questions can be added
three different ways – by creating a new question, from your question bank, or randomly added. Follow
on-screen instructions for adding questions.

• Note: ALWAYS PREVIEW QUESTIONS before you assign to students.

Creating a Question Bank


Dashboard > Courses > Choose course > Course Administration (righthand side) > Question Bank (click
dropdown arrow) > Select action

Questions – allows you to write a new question right into Moodle. This should only be done if you are
creating a quiz from scratch. To do this, follow the prompts to “Create a new question….”

Import – allows quizzes to be uploaded from an existing file. Files must be formatted properly, follow
direction below to ensure proper formatting.

Importing Questions from File


There are several file formats that can be chosen when importing. Follow the instructions related to the
question type you are wanting to upload.

Aiken format – most common, easiest to use, best for multiple choice questions.

Embedded answers (Cloze) – enables the import of a passage of text, best for short answer questions.

Gift format – most complicated, enables multiple-choice, true-false, short answer, matching, missing
word, numerical and essay questions.

Created by Taylor Lapierre


Moodle Cheat sheet

Write Questions in the Aiken Format


1. Write your questions in a word-processing application (e.g., MS Word) or a text editor such as
Notepad (Windows) or Text Edit (Mac OS X), and format as follows:
• The question must be all on one line.
• Each answer must start with a single uppercase letter, followed by a period "." or a right
parenthesis ")", then a space.
• The answer line must immediately follow, starting with "ANSWER: " (with a space after the
colon) and then give the letter for the correct answer.
• Note: The word "ANSWER" and the answer letters (A,B,C etc.) must be capitalized as shown,
otherwise the import will fail.
2. Use Save As and save your questions as a .txt (plain text) file in UTF-8 format.

Example of Aiken Format:

The Loch Ness Monster is a type of?


A. Homonid
B. Lizard
C. Ape
D. Plesiosauria
ANSWER: D

The Coelacanth was considered a cryptid until 1938.


A) True
B) False
ANSWER: A

Import Questions into the Moodle Question Bank


Once you have saved your text file, you can import your questions into the Moodle Question Bank:
1. Log into Moodle and open the course where you would like to add questions.
2. In the Administration block, under Course Administration, click Question Bank, then click
Import. The Import questions from file page will open.
3. For File format, select Aiken Format.
4. Click the General heading to expand the settings and for Import category, select a Category (or
use Default for course). Note: To create a new category, return to the Administration block and
under Question Bank, click Categories. Click here for more information about categories.
5. Under Import questions from file, drag and drop your .txt file onto the blue arrow in the Import
box, or alternately, click Choose a file.... to browse for the .txt file on your computer.
6. Click Import. You will see a page with the message "importing (# of) question(s) from file," with
a list of the questions.
7. Click Continue. Your Question Bank will open. You can now further edit the questions or include
the questions in a quiz.

Created by Taylor Lapierre


Moodle Cheat sheet

Moving Questions to new Category


Dashboard > Courses > Select course > Admin Block > Course administration > Question bank

Once the question bank page is open, select the category that contains the questions you want to move.
Select the question(s) you want to move by clicking the check box to the left of the question(s). On the
bottom of the page, in the Move to >> dropdown menu, select the category you want to move the
questions to. Click Move to >>.

Instructor Tips
Granting Extensions
All assignments can be granted extensions. If you are using an assignment on McGraw Hill (or a similar
platform), the extension for those assignments will be completed in McGraw Hill. Once changes are
made to McGraw Hill assignments, make sure you sync these changes. Click here for instructions.

For all assignments created in Moodle, follow the instructions below to grant extension.

Dashboard > Courses > Select your course > Select assignment > View/grade all submissions (or View
all submissions) > Find student who needs extension > Click Edit dropdown menu > Grant extension >
Enter an extension due date > Save changes.

• Note: You do not need to change original assignment settings


• Note: Assignments without due dates cannot be granted extensions.

Administrator Tips
Define existing role
Roles, such as Instructors, have a list of specified permissions and capabilities. To view the permissions
associated with each role, go to

Dashboard > Site administration > Users > Permissions > Define roles

Defining a new role


From here, you can view all capabilities of each role. If there is an aspect about a role that you would
like to change you can edit these permissions in this page. However, sometimes the best thing to do is to
create a brand-new role that can better satisfy your requirements. To define a new role, go to

Created by Taylor Lapierre


Moodle Cheat sheet

Dashboard > Site administration > Users > Permissions > Define roles > Add a new role > Insert
required information

• Note: All permissions by default are “not set”.


• Note: In most cases it would be more efficient to duplicate an existing role and change
permissions rather than having to define all permissions.

Example roles: Online Course Administrator, Teaching Assistant

Course Backup
Backup Settings
Typically, Moodle is set to run a scheduled backup of all courses Monday – Saturday at 17:00. This
means that a record of all course backups can be found in your backup log. To view any backup settings,
follow instructions below,

Dashboard > Site administration > Courses > Backups > Automated backup setup

What is included in a Backup?


Backup settings can be edited, currently the following is configured to be included in backups:

• Users
• Role assignments
• Activities and resources
• Blocks
• Filters
• Comments
• Badges
• Calendar events
• User completion information
• Logs
• Questions bank
• Groups and groupings
• Competencies

Backup logs
To access Moodle backups, follow instructions below

Dashboard > Site administration > Reports > Backups

This page will show all Course backups as well as any errors that might arise during a backup.

Created by Taylor Lapierre


Moodle Cheat sheet

Course Restore
Dashboard > Site administration > Courses > Restore course > scroll down to “Course backup area” >
Select backup file

When restoring a course, you may choose to either restore as a new course or into an existing course. If
you choose to restore as a new course and your new course has fewer sections than the course you are
restoring, the extra sections will appear as "orphaned activities". Increase the number of sections in the
new course to make them visible.

Backup Troubleshooting
Following a backup, you may get a message that reads “Some of your courses weren’t saved!!” There
are three possible causes of this problem:

1. Error - this happens when the backup procedure has found an error and so hasn't finished the
backup of a course. These are "controlled" errors and the scheduled backup continues with the
next course.
2. Unfinished - this happens when the backup procedure dies without knowing why. When the
cron is next executed it detects that the last execution went wrong and continues skipping the
problematic course. A possible solution would be to raise the PHP/Apache limit in your
installation (memory, time of execution...). By looking to your log tables, you should be able to
see if the "crash" is happening at exact time intervals (usually a problem with the
max_execution_time php's variable), or if there is some exact point were all the courses are
breaking. Click here to learn how to access your log tables.
3. Skipped - this happens when a course is unavailable to students and has not been changed in
the last month (31 days). This isn't an error situation - it's a feature, especially useful for sites
with many unavailable old courses, saving process time. See below for system skip settings.

For more troubleshooting help go to


https://docs.moodle.org/35/en/Backup_and_restore_FAQ#What_data_is_not_contained_in_course_ba
ckups.3F

Created by Taylor Lapierre


Moodle Cheat sheet

McGraw Hill
Format: McGraw-Hill AAIRS Block

Programming: McGraw Hill is programmed using a plugin. This means that it was downloaded and
programmed through the administration access and that all edits will have to be made through the
admin > plugins page. This plugin allows students, instructors, and administration to access student
grades through Moodle via online syncs.

Adding McGraw Hill to a Course


1. First, you must be in editing mode
2. go to the left side of the page
3. add a new block.
4. Select McGraw-Hill AAIRS.
5. Search for your textbook
• You can search by Title, Author, or ISBN
• Note: *If you are brought to the wrong textbook, click “not your book?” and follow the
prompts to remove the current book and search for a new one.
6. Once you have added your textbook, click “Connect” to load your course.

Connect Gradebook to Moodle


When creating a new course that is paired with McGraw Hill, the first thing you want to do is to ensure
all McGraw Hill assignments are linked properly. You will first have to add a McGraw Hill block click here
for instructions. Once you have your McGraw Hill block set up, you will need to complete the pairing
process.

1. Go to Moodle and follow your McGraw-Hill AAIRS block’s link to McGraw Hill Connect.
2. Go to Performance > Reports. You will see your section performance (this appears as a bar
graph if you have students completing assignments)
3. Follow the “view gradebook sync list” link on the right
4. Select any assignments you would like to sync to your Moodle page.
• Ensure you have the attempt selected (see dropdown option next to sync button)
5. A message will pop up telling you that your sync is in process.
• This process can take longer depending on how many grades you are syncing
6. Once your sync is complete, instructors and students will be able to view updated grades. For
each assignment in the gradebook sync list, you’ll see its name, type, sync status, due date, and
the attempt score you last synced.
• Note: Students must be “ready to sync”. Click here to see how to go about this step.
• Note: If you are unable to complete sync, click here to troubleshoot.
• Note: As grades are taken from McGraw Hill, ALL WEIGHTING associated through
McGraw Hill will also come through. This means that it is important to check the
points to ensure the course is being weighted properly. Otherwise, students will see
an incorrect score.

Created by Taylor Lapierre


Moodle Cheat sheet

Getting Students Ready to Sync


To be able to sync, your students need to be paired with McGraw-Hill Campus. To do this, go to your
student roster on McGraw Hill and check the “gradebook sync-ready” column to see which students are
paired. A green checkmark means the student is paired and ready to sync. The red stop sign means the
student is not paired and not ready to sync.

Here’s how your students can get ready to sync:

1. Sign in to your school’s


learning management
system.
2. From the learning
management system, find
and click your course.
3. Click the link for McGraw-Hill
Campus.
4. Click the Connect button.
5. Follow the steps to sign in to
Connect (either signing in
with an existing account or
registering for Connect).

At this point, students with active licenses will be paired with McGraw-Hill Campus and taken to your
course. Students without active licenses will be asked to renew their registrations, and then they will be
taken to your course.

Troubleshooting Gradebook Sync


There are several factors that may affect your gradebook sync. If unable to complete gradebook setup,
ensure the following is enabled.

Enable the REST protocol (web service interface)

1. Log into Moodle as admin


2. Go to Site Administration > Plugins > Web Services > Manage Protocols
3. Click on the closed eye to the right of the REST protocol option (to enable/turn on)
4. Click Save Changes
5. Go to Site Administration > Advanced Features to check (verify) that the Web Services option
has been enabled (if not, enable and save changes)

Enable MHAAIRS Gradebook Service web service

1. Go to Site Administration > Plugins > Web Services > External Services
2. Locate the Web Service, MHAAIRS Gradebook Service
3. Click on the Edit link (to the right of the MHAAIRS Gradebook Service option)
4. On the next page, enable and click Save Changes

Created by Taylor Lapierre


Moodle Cheat sheet

Create a new token

1. Go to Site Administration > Plugins > Web Services > Manage Tokens
2. Click Add
3. Select or enter your admin user account
4. Select MHAAIRS Grade Book Service as the Service
5. Click Save Changes
6. Your token is now listed, please copy it and paste in an email to Jeremy at McGraw Hill (he will
setup your Gradebook Connector using this token) Partacz, Jeremy
Jeremy.Partacz@mheducation.com

VitalSource
Format: External Tool

Programming: VitalSource is programed using what is called an LTI package. This means that when a
user clicks the link, it will go directly to their account. This external link allows students to access their
textbook without having to input a code. Instead, they follow a link that will automatically redeem the
generated code on behalf of the user.

Adding a new textbook: Contact VitalSource - Paulson, Gordon Gordon.Paulson@vitalsource.com


Gordon helped set up our external tool and can help add a new textbook into our automatic system.

Program an External Tool


Admin > Plugins > External Tool > Manage tools > Configure a took manually > Default Launch
Container > New window > Save changes

Examples of external tools: McGraw Hill AAIRS; VitalSource

You will need: Tool URL, Consumer key and Shared secret

*The tool URL, consumer key, and shared secret must be provided by the tool provider. The method of
obtaining a consumer key varies between tool providers. For VitalSource, contact Paulson, Gordon
Gordon.Paulson@vitalsource.com, for McGraw Hill, contact Johnston, Jordan
jordan.johnston@mheducation.com

Created by Taylor Lapierre


Moodle Cheat sheet

References
http://createwp.customer.mheducation.com/wordpress-mu/success-academy/using-gradebook-sync/

http://createwp.customer.mheducation.com/wordpress-mu/success-academy/getting-your-students-
ready-to-sync/?new_window=1

http://moodleanswers.com/index.php/information/instructor-tutorials

https://it.umn.edu/moodle-30-32-grant-extension-assignment

https://docs.moodle.org/35/en/Roles_and_permissions

https://docs.moodle.org/35/en/Theme_settings#Theme_designer_mode

https://www.lambdasolutions.net/resources/the-complete-moodle-user-guide/how-to-set-up-
moodle/how-to-enroll-students-into-a-moodle-course/

https://docs.moodle.org/35/en/Assign_roles#System_context

https://docs.moodle.org/19/en/Administrator_role

https://docs.moodle.org/19/en/Automated_backup_setup

https://docs.moodle.org/35/en/Course_restore

https://docs.moodle.org/35/en/Backup_and_restore_FAQ

https://teaching.unsw.edu.au/moodle-quiz

https://www.umass.edu/it/support/moodle/overview-quizzes-moodle

https://www.vidyamantra.com/blog/index.php/2013/06/create-multiple-users-account-in-moodle-in-
just-few-minutes/

Created by Taylor Lapierre

You might also like