Page Comparison

...

This FAQ is to support staff with their use of Moodle at UCL. See also: Student FAQs and Moodle Guides . If your question is not answered here please contact the ISD Service Desk Digital Education Team.

...

• Make sure you do not have CAPS lock selected
• type Type in your userID and password manually.  Auto-complete can become out of synch, while Cut & Paste can include an extra blank space, which will invalidate your details.
• Check if you are able to log into other UCL systems, e.g. Staff WTS or live@ucl email?
  • If not contact the ISD Service Desk to reset your UCL password.

Please note: UCL's Computer Security Policy requires that passwords are changed on a regular basis. Notification of the requirement to change your password is sent to your UCL email address before it is automatically reset.  If your password is not changed it is automatically reset. You will need to reset your password via the website: https://myaccount.ucl.ac.uk/ If you have any issues with resetting your password, please contact the ISD Service Desk.

• • If yes, it might be the case that your account in has not yet been added onto to Moodle's database, please contact UCL's Digital Education Teamthe ISD Service Desk.

[Back to top]

How do I request a new Moodle course?

...

...

Have a look the other pages on this Moodle Resource Centre, or visit the world wide Moodle Community on moodle.org.
[Back to top]

How do I update the name or description of my Moodle course?

1. Log in to Moodle.
2. Navigate to your Moodle course.
3. Click Settings -> Course Administration -> Edit course  settings
4. In the General area, change the text as desired.
   • Full name: appears in the top banner
   • Short name: appears in activites, in the breadcrumb after My Home > 
   • Summary: appears when students search for your course and in the course description block (if added to your course home page)
5. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click Save changes.

...

How do I add more topic areas (or sections) to my course page?

1. Log in to Moodle.
2. Navigate to your Moodle course.
3. Click Settings -> Course Administration -> Edit settings
4. In the 'Course format' area, change the number of weeks/topics to however many you require.
5. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click Save changesScroll to the bottom of the page.
6. Click the "+Add a topic" link.

[Back to top]

Access

Why can't students access my course?

You need to make your course available. Courses are set to be unavailable to students at the beginning of the semester to provide you with a private space to develop your course.
When you are ready to open your course(s) up to students, you will need to turn on availability through your settings:

1. Log into Moodle and click on your course.
2. Click Settings -> Course Administration -> Edit course settings.
3. In the General area, change the Visible toChange the Course visibility setting to: "Show".
4. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click Save changesand display.

[Back to top]

How do I add people to my course?

We have four main enrolment options:

• Portico enrolment.
• Enrolment key (or password).
• Bulk upload.
• Manual enrolment.

Portico enrolments are generally a good way of enrolling students on courses, but early in term 1 student data in Portico module lists may be incomplete and/or inaccurate as students take time to make and modify module selections, and departments deal with large numbers of requests.  Therefore you may want to use a combination of Portico enrolments and the Enrolment key to ensure that all students can access your course. Click here to find out how to set an enrolment key.

To add staff to courses manual enrolment is the easiest option.
[Back to top]

...

See Setting up guest access.
[Back to top]

Why can't I find a person that I am trying to enrol on my course?

There are a number of common reasons.

1. First, make sure the person is not already

...

1. enrolled. 

...

1. Enrolled users will not appear in the Search result.
2. Second, make sure students and Vistitors have signed into

...

1. Moodle and accepted our T&C's.  If they have not done this, they will not appear in the Search results.

The Search is literal, so be careful to check the spelling of names, such as John vs Jonathan, Andy vs Andrew, Bob vs Robert, etc.  Alternatively, you can search for people using their UCL email address.
[ Back to top ]

...

It is possible to provide 'guest access' to a Moodle course - guests don't need UCL accounts in order to access a course. This will give them read-only access to documents, links, videos etc, but they will not be able to participate in activities such as forums, quizzes, assessments, nor view videos in Lecturecast or MediaCentral which need a username.  See guest access, above.

If the user needs to participate in activities such as forums or assessments then ask your Departmental Administrator or Computer Rep  to register them as an official Visitor. This will provide them with a UCL username and password, plus a UCL email address.  Once they been issued a UCL username, they will appear in the list of potential users, and can be manually enroled into any role by a Tutor or Course Administrator.

[Back to top]

How

...

Navigate to the Moodle course homepage that you wish to unenrol from and in the Administration block choose 'Unenrol me from this course'. You will then need to confirm that you really wish to unenrol.  
[Back to top]

How can I gain access to an existing course?

...

can I gain access to an existing course?

Digi Ed cannot grant access to existing courses.  If you need to be enrolled onto an existing Moodle course as a course administrator or tutor, please contact your departmental colleagues already enrolled on the course.  Their names will be listed beneath the course title when you search for it in Moodle.

...

How do I reset my course at the end of the year?

Reset allows you to empty a Moodle course of user data, while retaining content, activities and other settings - you will need to do this before the start of term. If you wish you can view a guided tour (screen-cast) to this in Moodle at: http://moodle.ucl.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=5537
Also see the miniguide M26 - Resetting your Moodle course
If you have any problems resetting your course or would like further information please contact Digital Education.
[Back to top]

Does resetting my course remove the content (files, website links etc)?

No, when you reset your course, all of your links to files, websites etc. are maintained. A course reset only removes user data from your course and is usually done at the end of an academic period, before a new cohort of students are enrolledYou do not need to reset your course. You should keep the students and content as is, to fit UCL's retention policy.

However, refer to the Course Rollover guidance to made a fresh copy of your course for its next occurrence.

Troubleshooting

How do I stop receiving so many emails from Moodle?

Change your email settings so that Moodle sends you a daily email digest containing all of the email notifications from that day. To do this:

1. Log in to Moodle.
2. Click your profile icon on the top, right-hand corner of the page.
3. Select Preferences.
4. Select Forum preferences.
5. Under 'Email digest type' choose 'Complete (daily email with full posts)'.
6. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click ‘Save changes'.

[Back to top]

Troubleshooting

How do I stop receiving so many emails from Moodle?

Change your email settings so that Moodle sends you a daily email digest containing all of the email notifications from that day. To do this:

1. Log in to Moodle;
2. Click your name on the top, right-hand corner of the page;
3. Click the preferences tab;
4. Click Forum preferences;
5. Under 'Email digest type' choose 'Complete (daily email with full posts)';
6. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click ‘Save changes'.

You may also wish to un-enrol yourself from any Moodle courses that you no longer need access to. To do this, navigate to the Moodle course homepage that you wish to un-enrol from and in the 'Administration' block, choose 'Unenrol me from this course'. Note that if you have been enrolled at category level, this option will not be available. Contact Digital Education should you need any further assistance.

[Back to top]

When I upload a new version of a file it still shows the old version

Moodle caches files for a short time so they don't need to be downloaded every time an individual tries to view the same file. This means that it can take up to 5 minutes for new versions of the file (with the same name) to be updated in Moodle.
If after 5 minutes the file is still not updating it may be getting cached by your web browser. You will need to clear the cache to see the new version. To do this: Internet Explorer 8+:

• Tools > Delete Browsing History...
• Select Preserve Favorites website data and Temporary Internet Files only
• Click Delete

Firefox 3+:

• History > Clear Recent History...
• Time Range to Clear : Everything
• Expand 'details' and Select cache only
• Click Clear Now

[Back to top]

Some of my students (or I) can't open files in Moodle

Sometimes browsers try to open files in the wrong program or one that is not working correctly and this prevents you from opening the file at all. To get around this you can tell your web browser to always ask you what program to use (in Firefox) or check the default program is correct (if you are using Internet Explorer). To do this follow the instructions for the web browser you are using. If you aren't sure what web browser you are using click Help > About to find out (PC only).
Firefox 3.6+:

• Options > Options... > Applications
• In the left column, locate the file type that you are having problems opening (e.g. Microsoft Word Document or PDF File)
• In the right column choose Always Ask from the drop-down list.
• This will let you save the file to your computer so you can open it directly from your computer, instead of from Firefox directly.

Internet Explorer:

• Launch Windows Explorer (e.g. Open a folder on your computer such as My Documents)
• Tools > Folder Options > File Types
• In the left column, select DOC in the list (to find it quickly type Doc)
• Click Change...
• Ensure the correct program is selected in the list of programs
• Click OK
• Click Close

Try to view the file again. If this still doesn't work, try using a different web browser.

[Back to top]

My enrolled students have disappeared!

Sometimes, you may accidentally hide your course enrolments, which can result in students disappearing from your course.  To fix this, click on *Users > Enrolment methods.  *Ensure the eye icon is open.

If you accidentally lock yourself out of a course, please email Digital Education for further assistance.

Flash content on my Moodle course doesn't work

Adobe Flash is a technology that will no longer be supported in the near future. Support for this technology within web browsers is already being phased out and currently you'll have to enable Flash within a browser on a site-by-site basis.

It may be good if you put a set of instructions at the top of your courses which have Flash enabled content which require users to go into their browsers settings. Please note that this is NOT actually something we control as it is a browser permission rather than a Moodle permission.

• Internet Explorer 11: Flash works without any permission changes
• Microsoft Edge: https://helpx.adobe.com/uk/flash-player/kb/flash-player-issues-windows-10-edge.html
• Google Chrome: https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/6258784
• Safari (macOS only): https://helpx.adobe.com/uk/flash-player/kb/enabling-flash-player-safari.html

...

When I upload a new version of a file it still shows the old version

Moodle caches files for a short time so they don't need to be downloaded every time an individual tries to view the same file. This means that it can take up to 5 minutes for new versions of the file (with the same name) to be updated in Moodle.
If after 5 minutes the file is still not updating it may be getting cached by your web browser. You will need to clear the cache to see the new version. To do this: Internet Explorer 8+:

• Tools > Delete Browsing History...
• Select Preserve Favorites website data and Temporary Internet Files only
• Click Delete

Firefox 3+:

• History > Clear Recent History...
• Time Range to Clear : Everything
• Expand 'details' and Select cache only
• Click Clear Now

[Back to top]

Some of my students (or I) can't open files in Moodle

Sometimes browsers try to open files in the wrong program or one that is not working correctly and this prevents you from opening the file at all. To get around this you can tell your web browser to always ask you what program to use (in Firefox) or check the default program is correct (if you are using Internet Explorer). To do this follow the instructions for the web browser you are using. If you aren't sure what web browser you are using click Help > About to find out (PC only).
Firefox 3.6+:

• Options > Options... > Applications
• In the left column, locate the file type that you are having problems opening (e.g. Microsoft Word Document or PDF File)
• In the right column choose Always Ask from the drop-down list.
• This will let you save the file to your computer so you can open it directly from your computer, instead of from Firefox directly.

Internet Explorer:

• Launch Windows Explorer (e.g. Open a folder on your computer such as My Documents)
• Tools > Folder Options > File Types
• In the left column, select DOC in the list (to find it quickly type Doc)
• Click Change...
• Ensure the correct program is selected in the list of programs
• Click OK
• Click Close

Try to view the file again. If this still doesn't work, try using a different web browser.

[Back to top]

My enrolled students have disappeared!

Sometimes, you may accidentally hide your course enrolments, which can result in students disappearing from your course.  

To fix this, in your Moodle coure, click on Participants. Select Enrolment methods from the "Enrolled Users" drop down menu at the top of the page. Ensure the eye icon is open next to the enrolment method.

If you accidentally lock yourself out of a course, please email Digital Education for further assistance.

Other questions

What is the difference between the Survey and Questionnaire activities in Moodle?

...

If you need to clarify the difference between other Moodle activities switch 'Turn editing onEdit mode', click on the 'Add an activity or resource' link and simply click to select one of the items listed without 'Add'-ing it, just to see a description of the tool to the right of the pop-up menu.
[Back to top]

...

The easiest way to link to the UCL Common Timetable is to add the Common Timetable block to your course.
By default this block links to the personal timetable (which requires users to log in) and the Module Timetable. By configuring the block you can also link to a second module (useful if you are running a postgraduate and undergraduate offering of the same course), a degree timetable or a department timetable.
While the block will initially read in the course ID (from the course settings) to display the Module Timetable link, you can override this in the configuration options.
If you want to know how to add or configure a block please see our see our 'Organising blocks' mini-guide.
If you want to link to the timetable within text in your Moodle course, insert the following link (we suggest you place this in a prominent position):
https://timetable.ucl.ac.uk/tt/moduleTimet.do?firstReq=Y&moduleId=*XXXXnnnn*
where XXXXnnnn is the module code (e.g. BIOL1001 or ANTHG307 etc.).
If you want to know how to add a link in Moodle please see our 'How to add links and files' mini-guide.  
[Back to top]

How do I bulk download Moodle assignments?

Please see:  https://wiki.ucl.ac.uk/display/MoodleResourceCentre/M11a+-+marking+and+giving+feedback+in+Moodle+Assignment#M11a-markingandgivingfeedbackinMoodleAssignment-Offlinemarking-downloadinganduploadingmultiplefiles,feedbackandgrades.  
[Back to top]

How do I bulk download Moodle assignments?

Please see the M42-M09a - Moodle Assignment guide.

[Back to top]

How do I make my Moodle course less cluttered?

...

What's the difference between a book and a page? Books are similar to pages, but can contain multiple pages (to help chunk longer, related content). Books have a menu of pages to the side and students can navigate to the next (or previous) page, and download the current page, or all the pages.

The  Collapsed topics format can also be used to The default Topics format is a useful to present the course in an accordion style layout, giving students control over which sections of the course they see, by expanding and minimising each section.

...

Use of Moodle is in accordance with the terms and conditions detailed in the Service Level Definition. A copy of this document can be requested by contacting Digital Education.

How can I delete my Moodle course?

The short answer is as As a tutor or course administrator you can't, : this is something that can only be done by ISD. 

If you would like a course to be deleted, please go into Edit Settings and make sure the course is hidden. Then send an email to the ISD Service Desk and ask for the course to be deleted.

...