SOCRATES Student Guide to using Moodle

Moodle is a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). This is an Internet tool where students can access resources unique to their course, complete assignments, join in discussion forums with other students, and contact their teachers and other students via email. The Moodle messaging system on this SOCRATES server is not available.

As your Moodle account is linked to an email address to which messages are sent, you should check your mail regularly in case your teacher has sent you important information.

Access to your course is available 24/7

How do I use Moodle?

You are eligible to participate as a student at a SOCRATES member school. You will gain entry to a course through information supplied by your school staff members.

Once you have logged into Moodle you can enrol in a Moodle Course, this is in the Using Moodle Course Category. See page 7.

Where can I access Moodle?

You can access Moodle from school, home or any computer with Internet access.

How Can I access Moodle?

Simply, connect to the Internet and type the web address in your browser:

http://www.soc6036.org

You should then see the Moodle homepage, similar to the one shown below.

How do I log in?

At the top right of the Moodle homepage there is a login link.

If you have an existing Moodle login, you should click Login and then enter your Username and Password.

If you are a student and do not already have an existing Moodle account, you should follow your teacher’s instructions exactly on how to create an account and will use the screens shown below.

Do NOT get creative with this information. Surname = Last Name

Overview of the Moodle homepage

Main Menu - This contains forum messages posted by the Moodle Administrator. It may also contain documents and resources.
Course Categories / My Courses – This is a list of categories. Once you have logged in this will change to My courses which will display a list of courses on which you are enrolled.
Calendar - Calendar displays all events inserted by your teacher(s) relating to your courses and your own personal calendar entries.
Search Courses… – Quick way of finding a particular course. (Bottom left on Main Page)

How a typical Moodle course looks

Each course in Moodle contains similar objects, but may look completely different depending upon how your teacher has set up the course and what resources the course contains.

The example below is from the American Sign Language Course. Note that some of the blocks on the left and right of the screen are similar to ones you will have seen on the Moodle homepage.

What do all those icons mean?

Below is an explanation of some of the icons you may see in your course. As each course is different, you may not see all of icons described below, or the icons may look different if your teacher has applied a particular theme to his/her course.

Moodle resources and activities
	A webpage or text page	An Object
	A discussion forum	A workshop
	A quiz/test	A directory containing files
	Link to a website	A Hot Potatoes quiz
	A chat session	Feedback questionnaire
	An assignment	A Wiki
	A choice - similar to a poll	A Glossary
	A lesson	A Survey
	A book	A Database
	A JPG slideshow

The icons below are application resources and will require you to have the relevant software application installed on your computer or viewers which can display the files. Most school machines will have this software but you may need to install some software on your home computer. Below are details of where you can download application viewers and software.

Links to application resources
	Link to a Word document	Link to a PowerPoint presentation
	Link to an Excel Spreadsheet	Link to an Adobe Acrobat file
	Link to a graphic/image	Link to a flash file or movie
	Link to a sound file	Link to a zipped file

What if I cannot open or download a file?

If you are using a school computer, ask advice from a staff member. If you are away from the school, it is possible that your computer does not have the correct software to read that particular type of file.

Is your computer telling you what type of file it is? Most people should be able to open Microsoft Word documents, but you may not have the software to open an Adobe Acrobat file.

Popup blockers: Check that your computer is not blocking pop-up windows from the Moodle site. Depending on which browser you are using you can add http://www.soc6036.org to your trusted sites.

IMPORTANT

SOCRATES does not endorse any of the following sites, nor can it be held responsible for damage caused to your computer by installing software.
Installation of software is entirely at your own risk.

Application Viewers

Some resources in Moodle require you to have specific software installed on your computer in order to view the files. Some of the original links to these sites are rather long they can be difficult to type correctly.

Adobe Acrobat - Acrobat Reader http://get.adobe.com/reader/otherversions/	Viewers from the Microsoft Website: These free viewers will allow you to view files created in all versions of Office but you will not be able to edit them.
Quicktime player http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/	Microsoft PowerPoint viewer Download MS PowerPoint Viewer
Macromedia Flash and Shockwave files http://www.adobe.com/support/flash/downloads.html - if you do not want to install the Yahoo toolbar, make sure you remove the tick. (Recommend that you do not install it as it is not easy to remove).	Microsoft Excel viewer Download MS Excel Viewer
EasyZip - free zip compression software http://www.codeplex.com/easyzip	Microsoft Word viewer Download MS Word Viewer
Open Office This is a free Office Suite similar to Microsoft Office, except that it is free. Files created in Open Office are compatible with Microsoft Office. Note, it is a very large download or you can order it on CD. http://www.openoffice.org/	Microsoft Windows Media Player Download MS Windows Media Player

How to enroll on the SOCRATES Moodle Server

If you have a Moodle username and password it is easy to enrol in courses for which a teacher has provided an enrolment key.

To enrol in the course, simply log into Moodle with your username and password, then under Course Categories click on the link to Your School from the list as shown below left.

Choose the Course in which you wish to enrol and click on that course.

The screen shown below on the right will then appear.

You will be asked for an enrolment key which your teacher provides. Complete the entry and you will then become a participant in the course.

Note: If you are already logged into Moodle and enrolled on a course, the course categories will not be displayed. Instead you will see a pane called My Courses. You can access the Using Moodle category by clicking on the link on the homepage.

Once you have entered the course, you can explore the features and resources available and work through the course at your own pace, to familiarize yourself with Moodle.

Why can’t I access all of the courses on Moodle?

There are several reasons why you may not be able to access a course in Moodle.

Some courses allow guest access; this means that a course which displays the face icon alongside the course name can be accessed by anyone who logs in as a guest.

Some courses only allow guest access to people who have the enrolment key - this is a type of password that a guest needs to type in each time to enter a course.

Most courses can only be accessed by students who have been enrolled on the course by their teacher or students who have the enrolment key.

The enrolment key is only required the first time you access the course. Students who have been enrolled by their teacher do not need an enrolment key.

If your course requires an enrolment key, contact your teacher who will provide you with this.

When a teacher is creating a course in Moodle, he/she may have chosen to not make the course available to students, in which case the course is hidden from view so you will not see it listed. Your teacher will inform you when the course is available for you to access

Navigating your course

There are a number of ways to move around a course. The example below is from the American Sign Language Course - the short name for this course is ASL1-BK. (Note: ASL1-BK is the name that would be displayed at the start of the subject line in e-mail messages you receive from a forum).

"Breadcrumbs" - this is a menu positioned below the course title which shows your position in the course, there is also a breadcrumb trail at the top of each course page. The notes below will make this clearer.

SOCRATES: Clicking on this link would take you to the SOCRATES homepage

ASL1-BK: This is the shortened name for this course, clicking on this will take you the homepage of your course.

Assignments: Clicking on this would display a list of all of the assignments in this course.

Assignment 1: This is in a different colour and indicates that this is the activity currently being viewed.

The above is only one example of how the breadcrumbs menu may appear; it will be different in each course. Keep any eye on this as you navigate around your course, you will notice that it changes to reflect your current position.

Jump to If your course contains a lot of topics it can be tiresome having to scroll up and down the page. You can collapse all of the topics by clicking on the square box to the right of the topic heading
Opposite is an example of the topics collapsed, this will then display a jump-to box, which you can use to navigate to another topic. The topics can be fully restored by clicking again on the squared box to the right of the current topic. Course Menu
Some courses may contain a course menu; this is an additional way to navigate topics and content. The topics can be expanded by clicking on the + next to the folder icon. The course menu works in a similar way to the above method, in that it only displays the topic you have selected. The remaining topics become hidden. Note: if you use any of the above methods, or click on the links in the breadcrumb trail to navigate to another area of the course your input may not be saved. To avoid this always ensure that you complete what you are doing within the activity first e.g. post to a forum, completing a quiz, make sure you save or submit changes before clicking on the breadcrumb trail. Finally, it is possible to navigate between pages by using the navigation buttons on your web browser. This is not recommended; you will obtain more consistent results by using the navigation options within Moodle and the course pages.

How do I check my progress/grades?

If your course has been set up with an Activities block, you can click on each of the activities and view your progress.

For example, if you click on Assignments you will be able to view all of the assignments available in your Moodle course; you will also be able to see your grades.

By selecting the link to Assignment 1, this will display the feedback from your teacher. If the assignment needed amendment or had to be resubmitted, you could upload a new version.

You can also check your grades by clicking on the link to Grades in the Administration block.

Can members of my course access work I upload to Moodle?

The short answer to this is no. When you submit assignments, only your course teacher can see what you have submitted and feedback delivered to you by a teacher is confidential.

All of your results to tests and quizzes are also protected and cannot be viewed by other students.

However, you must be aware that your teacher can track where you have been in the course and can view all of your activities.

If your teacher has set your course into groups on Moodle, say to work on a particular project and you upload work to a forum as an attachment to a message, this can only be accessed by other members of your group and your teachers.

Every activity in Moodle is recorded and can be accessed by the Moodle Administrators if necessary.

How do I edit my profile?

Once you have logged into Moodle, you can access your profile from almost anywhere, by clicking on the link to your name at the top or the bottom of the screen.

When you are in your profile, click on the Edit profile tab if necessary. You will then see the following screen.

On this screen you can change your email address along with other options. If you disable your email address you will not receive forum messages sent by your teacher or other learners on your course. Forum messages can be viewed in the forums and are also generally sent to students via email.

You should write some basic information about yourself in the description box, so that other users know who you are. Do not include personal details such as your home address and phone numbers.

Click Update profile when done.

How do I change my picture?

You can upload a picture from your computer to Moodle; this picture will be used in various places to represent you. For this reason, the best images to use are a close-up of your face, but you can use any image you like. When using images you should be aware of copyright law.

The picture must be in JPG or PNG format (ie the names will usually end in .jpg or .png).

You can get a picture file using one of four methods:

1. Using a digital camera, your photos will most likely already be on your computer in the right format.

2. You can use a scanner to scan a printed photograph. Make sure you save it as JPG or PNG format.

3. If you're artistic, you might draw a picture using a paint program.

4. Lastly, you can "find" images from the web. http://images.google.com is a superb place to search for images. Once you find one, you can "right-click" on it with the mouse and choose "Save Picture As..." from the menu (different computers may vary slightly)

To upload your picture, open your profile and if necessary click on the Edit profile tab.

Scroll down the page until you see area which displays the default smiley picture.

To upload the image, click the "Browse" button on this editing page, and navigate to where the picture is stored on your computer.

NOTE: Make sure that the file is not larger than the maximum size listed, or it will not be uploaded.

Then click "Update my Profile" at the bottom - the image file will be cropped to a square and resized down to 100x100 pixels.

When you are taken back to your profile page, the image might not appear to have changed. If this is so, just use the "Reload/Refresh" button in your browser; also check that you have written a description about yourself.

When you return to your profile you should see your new picture.

IMPORTANT: Make sure that any picture you upload is not copyrighted, rude or offensive as your picture can be viewed by all users of Moodle.

What if I have forgotten my password?

If you forget your password, contact your teacher who will have it reset by SOCRATES.

If you request a password from the login page:

In order to read the email message, Bill has to access his home or webmail email account. The instructions in the message provide instructions to confirm that he has requested a new password.

He has to click on the link contained in the message. This link is just to confirm that he has asked for a new password. (This is for security reasons as someone else could have tried to get his password). At this point he does not yet have a new password.

When Bill clicks on the link in the email, he is returned to Moodle and receives another message. This message is telling him that another email has been sent to his home/webmail account.

This time the message he receives informs him of his username and his new password. There is a link in the message which when clicked will take him back to Moodle where he will have to login with his username and the new password provided.

Once he has logged into Moodle he will then be taken to the change password box where he can change the new password to something that he will remember.

He will then receive confirmation that the password has been changed.

Bill will now use his new password when he next logs into Moodle.

Using the Communication Tools in Moodle

There are two types of communication tools in Moodle, Forums and Messages. The Messages feature is not active on this server.

While in a course you can read messages sent to the forum(s) and reply to messages. Messages posted to forums may also be sent to all course members via email, depending on how the forum has been set up.

If you receive an email message from a forum, you will see that the course short name is shown at the beginning of the email subject line, this is so you can identify which course/forum the message has come from, if you click on the reply option, you will be prompted to log into to Moodle and taken to the reply section of the forum.

Using Forums

Depending on the theme of your course, icons in course may vary, below is an example of different icons which may be in a course but all do the same thing.

Forum Types

There are essentially four different types of forum:

News/Announcement forum - This type of forum is used by the course teacher(s) to post messages to everyone on the course. Generally, this forum is for announcements only and you cannot reply to these messages.

General Forums - This type of forum can be named as anything, there is no limit to the number of forums which can be in a course. This type of forum is for discussion with your teacher and other course members. Anyone can start a new topic at any time.

Each person posts one discussion - Each person can post exactly one new discussion topic (everyone can reply to them though). This is useful when you want each student to start a discussion about say, their reflections on the week's topic and everyone else responds to these.

Q And A Forum - The Q & A forum requires students to post their thoughts/answers before viewing other students' postings. After the initial posting, students can view and respond to others' postings.

Forum Subscription

The term subscription does not mean that you have to pay to belong to a forum; it simply means that you are part of a group of people who will be able to see and possibly reply to messages in a forum.

When you are subscribed to a forum it means that you will be sent email copies of every post in that forum (posts are sent about 30 minutes after the post was first written – this time delay gives the author sufficient time to change or edit their original posting before the message is sent out).

People can usually choose whether or not they want to be subscribed to each forum – see more on pages 19 for more information.

However, if your teacher chooses to force subscription on a particular forum then all course users will be subscribed automatically, even those that enrol at a later time.

How to control forum messages

If your teacher has forced everyone to subscribe to a forum you can see all of the messages in the relevant forum, you will also receive the messages via email. If your course has several forums to which you are subscribed and course members are also posting messages, this means your in-box can fill up with lots of messages if the forums are very active. There are ways in which you can control your subscriptions and the way/amount of messages you receive.

A course in Moodle might have a forum called Announcements. When you click on the forum name you will be able to see if you are subscribed to this forum.
In this instance everyone is subscribed to this forum by the teacher so you cannot unsubscribe. Luckily there are no messages in this forum, if there were then everyone on the course would receive all of the messages posted by teachers.
When in a forum look at the top right of the forum to see your subscription status. To subscribe to a forum, click on the link Subscribe to this forum you will see a message saying that you will receive forum messages by email.
You can unsubscribe from a forum at anytime by clicking on the link to Unsubscribe from this forum

Note: if you unsubscribe from a forum the only way you will be able to view messages is by logging in and viewing them in the forum.

Understanding Forums

When you enter a forum you will see a list of discussions topics. Each message should have a subject heading so that the reader will know what the discussion is about. Clicking on a subject heading will open the original message where you can view the message and any replies. (Replies to a message are known as a thread).

The front page of a forum also gives details on the name of the person who started the discussion, the number of replies and the date of the last posting; this is useful when checking to see if there are new messages

When you view a message you will see the replies. You can click on the dropdown menu at the top of the screen to determine the order in which you would like to view the thread.

To add your own reply to a thread, click on the reply link in a message. This will open the editor, some of the toolbar icons are similar to those found in most word-processing programs. Type your reply to the message.

If you need to attach a file there is an option at the bottom of the page. You can also select whether you want replies of the message emailed to you.

When you have finished, click on Post to forum. You will then get a message informing you that you have 30 minutes to edit your post before it is posted to the forum and emailed to everyone.

Replying to forum messages received via email

When you receive a forum message via email, it will contain the text of the message and any attachments. The example below is a message from a course called Blended Learning. The various elements of the message are explained below.

This message is being viewed in Webmail. Your email software may not display your messages exactly the same as the one below.

Rounded Rectangular Callout: Short name of course, name of forum and message subject heading.

Main body of the message

If you click on any of the links below the message, your web-browser window will open and you will have to log into Moodle. This will take you to the forum from which the original message was posted.

Show parent – this will display the parent message to which this reply relates.

Reply – this will open the message you are viewing with a reply box below the message, where you can post your reply to this message.

See this post in context – will display the whole thread of messages relating to this topic.

IMPORTANT

Opposite is a copy of the same message, this time it is being viewed in Outlook.

It is important to remember that when replying to forum messages you should use the reply link at the bottom of the message so that you are taken back to Moodle to create your reply.

Do not use the normal reply button on the toolbar as this reply will go directly to the personal email address of the person who posted the message via the forum. Therefore your reply would not be seen in the forum.

Notice that this time the content is not blocked, ie you can see the picture of a duck.

Setting up forum preferences

If you are on a course(s) which uses forums, you can sometimes be overloaded with forum messages coming to you via email. Especially if you only check your email occasionally. Fortunately there is a way you can control this.

If you want to be subscribed to the forum so that you are notified via email when there are new messages, you can set this up in your profile.

While logged into Moodle, click on your name at the top or bottom of the page. This will take you to your profile. Click on the tab marked Edit Profile.

Email display - this allows you to select your email preferences. Generally if you want your email address displayed it is best to only allow other members of your course to see it.
E-mail activated - here you can disable your email address, however if you do this you will not receive any forum posts or messages.
E-mail format - you would normally not change it from Pretty HTML format.
Email digest type - this is where you can set up how you want to receive forum email postings. The default is No digest this means that you will get every single individual message posted to your email account. As previously said, this can be a lot of messages if there are lots of postings to a forum. Complete - is one single email containing all of the messages sent to you in one message per day.
Subjects - one daily email with the subject headings only, this gives you the opportunity to view the subject headings and if you want to read the messages in full you will have to read them in the forums. Opposite is an example of a daily digest.
Forum auto-subscribe - you can select if you want to be automatically subscribed to a forum when you post a message.
Forum tracking - keeps track of what messages you have read and highlights next to the forum name the number of unread messages in the forum. When you are in a forum you can quickly see which messages you have not read.

Warning: All messages, logs and actions are recorded in Moodle and can be traced if the system is misused or abused.

FAQs and Troubleshooting

What does Moodle stand for?

The word Moodle was originally an acronym for Modular Object-Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment.

It's also a verb that describes the process of lazily meandering through something, doing things as it occurs to you to do them, an enjoyable tinkering that often leads to insight and creativity. Anyone who uses Moodle is a Moodler.

Why am I not receiving messages from the forums?

You have either not entered your email address correctly in your profile, or you have disabled your email address. See page 10.

I am getting overwhelmed with messages from forums, what can I do about it?

Read the section Using the communication tools in Moodle pages 13 – 17

I see that some people have pictures next to their name, how can I have a picture?

See page 11 on how to upload a picture to your profile.

Word documents keep opening in Internet Explorer, how can I make them open in Word?

This is due to the way your computer is set up. See viewers on page 6.

I’m having problems downloading and opening files

If you are unable to download it at home contact your instructor or email cjohnson@projectsocrates.org for assistance.

I am working online from home and I am having problems with my Moodle course, what should I do?

In the first instance you should contact the teacher of the Moodle course. If the teacher is unable to help you due to technical difficulties then email the Administrator at cjohnson@projectsocrates.org