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We hope you had a relaxing summer. It’s hard to believe, but it’s almost time to start the fall semester with good old face-to-face teaching!  

Moodle is a great tool for sharing syllabi and readings, as well as sharing videos and providing asynchronous activities and assessments. This message is long and covers the following important Moodle topics:

Important tips and reminders about Moodle for Fall 2021

IITS launched our 2021/2022 Moodle server on June 8. This new server, running Moodle 3.10, has a number of usability improvements and new features. We have also changed the login process for Swarthmore students. 

Most notable among the changes:

  • Log on has changed. After you click the button to log on from Haverford, you will be redirected to a page where you will enter your userid and password. Note that  “@quaker.haverford.edu” will be appended to your userid as you authenticate.
  • Swarthmore students no longer log in via their Swarthmore username and password. Instead, they will be assigned a userid for Haverford and receive an email with further instructions. If you have Swarthmore students unable to log in or find your course, please refer them to ProDesk.
  • “Turn editing on” button is now front and center (as it was several years ago).
  • New activity chooser makes it easier to find and select commonly used resources and Moodle activities.
  • Search course participants by multiple selection criteria.
  • Back to top arrow helps you navigate quickly through long course pages.
  • Expanded support for H5P lets you create and use interactive activities in your course.
  • Better mobile support, including updated apps for iOS and Android.

Students’ Bionic enrollments are populated in Moodle. However, students will not see your course until you want them to see it. Once you have your course set up to your liking, MAKE THE COURSE VISIBLE to students.

  1. Click on the course administration gear icon (course administration gear) dropdown
  2. Select edit settings.
  3. Change visible to show.
  4. Scroll to the bottom and click save changes.
NOTE: If Bryn Mawr or Swarthmore students do not see your course, make sure they are looking on moodle.haverford.edu. For Swarthmore students, make sure they are using the right log-on information; refer them to ProDesk for help.

Moodle lets you email enrolled students easily. There are two ways to do this.

Option 1: Use a special type of Moodle discussion forum, Announcements, to email all students. Students can also see these messages, at any time, in your Moodle course site. Click on the Announcements link at the top of your course to create an announcement with this tool.

Moodle announcements link

Option 2: Send mail to some or all of your students with the Quickmail tool on the side of your course. Although you can see a history of the messages that you sent from Quickmail, students only see the messages via their email.

Moodle Quickmail block

Each course shell has a link where you and your students can record your names and listen to those recorded pronunciations. Look for the purple microphone icon next to the link named Record your name/Learn other names.

Record your name/Learn other names Moodle link

You can see a photo roster that helps you match names and faces. It’s hard to find, but worth looking for! Photos for returning students are in Moodle now; new students' photos will be added the first or second week of classes.

  1. From the course administration gear icon (course administration gear) select More...
    Course administration/More
  2. That brings up a new window. Find the Reports tab. If you do not see a separate tab, look for the Reports section under the Course administration tab. Either way, select the Roster report from the Reports section.
    Roster report
Moodle has a number of features that can help you assess students and privately share grades or other types of feedback. See our blog posts to learn about the following options on Moodle:
If you want to share videos with your students, please DO NOT upload videos directly to Moodle. Instead, follow these instructions for sharing videos on Moodle.
Academic courses are typically named COURSEID – CourseName.  However, if you teach a course with multiple sections, you should see all your sections, plus a course named something like COURSEID – CourseName (A01+A02 Combined). If you teach a course with multiple sections, you have the option of using the individual sections, the combined course, or both. Students will only see the course(s) that you make visible. See our website for more information about combined courses.
Courses taught in previous semesters are still available on our archive servers—linked from the menu bar on the top of your Moodle window. illustration showing moodle archives on menu bar Moodle – Backup, Restore, and Import explains how to copy materials from previous semester courses into your current course shells. If you would like us to copy course materials for you, just ask. NOTE: Contact IITS for help restoring courses over 250 MB or for courses taught before Fall 2017. Use VPN for off-campus access to courses taught before Fall 2020.
By default, self-enrollment is on at the start of the semester. Bryn Mawr and Haverford students will be able to self enroll in your course, even if they are not yet enrolled through Bionic. Swarthmore students can also self enroll, but they may need to ask a professor to contact IITS and request Moodle access before they can log onto Moodle. If possible, ask Swarthmore students to formally register for your class, so they get the proper access via our automated system. These self-enrollments will expire after 14 days. At that time, students that are not formally enrolled after drop/add will lose access to your course.
See our Moodle web page for tutorials and additional information. It has a Quick Start Guide as well as a longer Moodle tutorial and a video showing you how to build courses. We also have a lot of useful information on this instructional technology blog. Look in the Moodle category.

The last two sessions of the Moodle and its friends workshop series is this week. This series familiarizes you with Moodle and it’s most popular features. This week we look at quizzes, group work, and the Moodle gradebook.

  • August 24, 10 – 11 AM:  Moodle Quizzes and automatic grading
  • August 25, 10 – 11 AM:  Group work and grading
Learn more and register!
The IITS Instructional Technology Services staff, as well as the Research & Instruction Librarians, are happy to meet with you. Email hc-techlearn@haverford.edu or use the more detailed contact information on our website.

Have a great semester!