Loading...

Moodle

Introducing Moodle

Moodle is an open-source Learning Management System (LMS) for blended and online courses. Install it on your web server or contact us for hosting support.

We support Moodle version  4.1x+

Still on an old Moodle version and want to upgrade? Learn More about our Moodle Upgrade process.

Why Moodle?

  • Open Source software
  • Use anytime, anywhere, on any device
  • Easy to learn and use
  • Simple interface
  • Drag and Drop features
  • Highly flexible and fully customisable

1. Set Up and Configure

Required Access: Moodle Administrator

As your Moodle host, we will install a blank Moodle site for you to set up and configure. You will receive the site details once it’s ready.

IMPORTANT NOTES:

  • Only Moodle Administrators can access Site Administration settings. These settings control the appearance and functionality of the entire Moodle site.
  • Edit Site Administration settings with caution.
  • Access Site Administration through the Side Navigation. Its location may vary by theme—it may appear on the left, right, or under a tab.

1.1 Create, Edit, Manage Role Permissions

Moodle has several user roles, each with different access permissions. The most common are student and teacher. Understanding these roles allows you to manage access and perform advanced tasks effectively.

LEARN MORE: Roles and Permissions

1.2 Site Appearance

  • Theme – Themes control the overall look of your Moodle site and typically include a settings page for branding options like custom colors and logos. In the Theme Selector, you can set a default theme and assign different themes for legacy browsers, mobile devices, and tablets. The setup process is always the same.
  • Front Page Setup – Configure front page settings under Site Administration. Update the full name and short name (shown in the navigation bar) if needed. Choose what to display on the front page — news items, courses, course categories, or none. You can set different views for logged-in and non-logged-in users. These settings can be adjusted later.
  • Default Language – Go to Site Administration > Language > Language settings to set the default language. Moodle defaults to common English. To use US English or another language, first install it under Language > Language Pack, then set it as the default.
  • Default Time Zone – Set your default time zone and country in Site Administration > Location > Location settings.

LEARN MORE: Site Appearance

1.3 File Upload Size Restrictions

File upload sizes are restricted at multiple levels, with each level imposing limits on the ones below it:

  • Server Level – As your host, we set a maximum file upload limit at the server level. This limit cannot be modified by site administrators.
  • Moodle Site Level – By default, the maximum file upload size for your Moodle site is 100 MB. To request an increase, submit a support request specifying the required limit and reason. Additional costs may apply if approved.
  • Course Level – At the course level, you can set the maximum file size that students can upload, up to the 100 MB site limit. Site Administrators and Teachers can adjust this in Course Administration > Edit Settings > Files and Uploads.
  • Activity Level – The activity-level upload limit applies to individual student file submissions. Admins and Teachers can adjust this in Assignment Settings:
    • Turn on Editing on the course page.
    • Click Edit > Edit Settings for the relevant assignment.
    • Expand Submission Types and adjust Maximum Submission Size (cannot exceed the course-level limit).

LEARN MORE: Managing Files in Moodle

1.4 Custom and Third-Party Plugins

You can extend the core functionality of Moodle via plugins. Moodle provides you with a directory of custom plugins that you can try and install if required. You may also purchase and install third-party plugins compatible with your version of Moodle.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Wisenet does NOT install custom and third-party plugins for you, however, as your Moodle host, if you encounter installation issues with a custom plugin that is in the Moodle directory or a third-party plugin that you have purchased, we can help you with installation. Simply log a support ticket and provide us with details of the plugins and what issues you are facing with the installation process. For third-party plugins, you need to provide us with the purchased files.

While we may help you with the installation process, what we do NOT help with, are:

  • To configure the plugins
  • To troubleshoot issues with the plugins

For any configuration and troubleshooting of custom and third-party plugins you will need to contact the plugin developers.

NOTES:

  • Some plugins are very simple to upload and some are quite complex. There generally will be no charge for simple plugins; however, we may charge you to upload more complex plugins due to the time involved.  We will always provide you with a quote before installing a plugin that we require payment for.
  • Wisenet cannot provide support or training on third party/contributed plugins. You can get community help at Moodle.org forums or contact the plugin developer/maintainer. For Moodle plugin directory plugins, there will be a contact link on the plugin download page.

LEARN MORE: Installing Plugins

Basic Course Set Up

Required Access: Moodle Administrator OR any of the following roles depending on access level set: Course Creator; Manager; Teacher

PLEASE NOTE: Wisenet is NOT responsible for your Moodle content, however we can provide guidance with some best practices for setting up Courses and Course Categories in Moodle.

IMPORTANT THINGS TO CONSIDER BEFORE SETTING UP A COURSE IN MOODLE:

  1. How do you want your Learners to access units/modules?
    • If you want your Learners to be enrolled into only one unit at a time, then create each unit as a course.
    • If you want your Learners to be enrolled in clusters / units of study, then create each cluster / unit of study as a course.
    • If you want your Learners to be enrolled into the entire course but have restricted access into units, then create the entire qualification as a course. Then, apply restrictions to each topic/assessment. See Restrict access settings
  1. How do you want to organise your Courses? See Course categories.
    • Note: If you are creating your units as courses, then create your course/qualification as the category. You can also create your faculty as the category and course as your sub category.
  1. What is your delivery strategy/format? See Course Formats
  2. Do you have trainer resources that require to be hidden within a course? See Enabling Stealth Activities

2.1 Set Up your default Dashboard

Dashboard is the default home page for logged in users and it can be customised by an Administrator. This is where your Learners will see their Course overview, details of their progress, any upcoming deadlines and other important information you would like to publish on your dashboard.

LEARN MORE: Dashboard

2.2 Set Up your Moodle Courses

A Course in Moodle is an area where you can add content consisting of both resources and activities for Learners to complete. A Moodle Course can look very different according to the theme and course format. As a course teacher and/or administrator, you have control over the layout of the course homepage and can change it at any time.

  • Courses – how to set up your courses.
  • Editing text – how to use the text editor and what the icons mean.
  • Activities – how to involve students actively in their learning.
  • Resources – how to add static materials to your course.
  • Blocks – how to add extra items and information to the sides of your course page.
  • Questions – how to create questions for use in quizzes and Moodle’s lesson module
  • Course enrolment – how to give students access to your course.
  • Grouping users – how to put students into groups and why this is useful.
  • Grades – how to use the gradebook, scales and advanced grading methods.
  • Tracking progress – how to control and display progress through a course.
  • Reusing activities – how to copy or recycle elements of your course.

LEARN MORE: Moodle Courses

2.3 Group your Moodle Courses into Categories

Course Categories are where you can group your courses to make it easier for your teachers and learners to easily find their online courses. For example you can organise your courses by qualification type or level; by intake date and year, etc.

LEARN MORE: Moodle Course Categories

2.4 Adding Users to Moodle

A Moodle User is one with access to your Moodle site. So before you can give Teachers, Managers and Learners access to a Moodle course you first need to add them to your Moodle site. 

Users can be added to your site in several ways. The process of creating a User in Moodle is called Authentication, and there are many methods to authenticate a User in Moodle, including using Wisenet’s Authentication method.

When a User is given access to a Moodle Course, they become an Enrolment (see more details about Enrolment in section 2.5 and 2.6 below).

NOTES:

  • Only administrators are allowed to add Users to a site.
  • Course Teachers can only add Learners to their course and do not have permission to add Users to the site.

IMPORTANT:

  • To use our Elearning Integration features to authenticate and enrol Learners into Moodle, we suggest reading Step 3 below.
  • To use other authentication methods, learn more about Adding Users in Moodle

2.5 Add Moodle Teachers and Course Managers

Teachers can do almost anything within a course, including adding or changing the activities and grading learners. By default, teachers can also assign a Non-editing teacher role and a Learner role to other users.  By default users are not assigned the role of Teacher throughout the site, but are only assigned (enrolled) as a teacher to a single course/class at a time. The same applies to learners. Teachers can only teach in the courses they have been enrolled in.

The Manager role allows a site Administrator to give very powerful roles to others who are assigned a Manager role, but without having to give them a full Administrator role.  They can access courses and modify them, as well as perform certain administrative level tasks related to courses, users, grade settings, etc.

LEARN MORE: How to Add and Remove Moodle Teachers and Course Managers

2.6 Enrol Learners into Moodle Course

The process of adding Learners into Moodle courses is called Enrolment and there are various methods of enrolling Learners. 

If you are using Wisenet LRM and already have Learners into the system, we then recommend you look at our Elearning Integration to learn how you can simplify managing Elearning Users, Enrolments, Groups (see more details in Step 3: Integration below)

If you are using Moodle LMS as a standalone product, you can learn more about Moodle Course Enrolment.

Integrate Moodle with Wisenet

Required Access: Moodle Administrator AND Wisenet LRM Owner

3.1 Set Up Moodle Connector

This step is within the Wisenet Marketplace section of Wisenet and it should be a one time process. It is important to follow the steps comprehensively to establish a two-way integration to sync Elearning Courses, Elearning Enrolments and Grades.

LEARN MORE: How to Set Up Moodle Connector

3.2 Set Up Elearning Enrolments Rules

Elearning Enrolment Rules are set against Course Enrolments and Unit Enrolments.  You will use the rules to automate the Elearning enrolment process. For example, you can set rules around enabling Elearning access with reference to Course Enrolment or Unit Enrolment Start and End Date.

LEARN MORE: How to Set Up Elearning Enrolment Rules in Wisenet

3.3 Link Elearning Courses to Wisenet Course Offers

With the help of the WebHooks plugin installed in your LMS, you will be able to:

  1. Retrieved Courses from your LMS and link them to their respective Course Offers in Wisenet
  2. Sync changes that occur in your LMS Courses to auto-update in your Wisenet Course Offers, such as: Course Name, Course Start and End Dates

LEARN MORE: How to Link Elearning Courses to Wisenet Course Offers

3.4 Add, Edit or Delete Elearning Enrolments in Wisenet

Once Elearning Courses have been linked to Wisenet Course Offers and Unit Offers you can then manage the Elearning Enrolments. Elearning Enrolments can be managed from either

  1. Course Offer > Elearning > Enrolments
  2. Learner > Learner Access > Elearning

Here you can add, edit, delete or resync Elearning Enrolments.

LEARN MORE: How to Add, Edit, Delete Elearning Enrolments

3.5 Set Up Auto Grade (For Premium Edition only)

LRM Owners can define multiple Auto Grade Rules and configure conditions to automatically update certain Unit Enrolment fields when a grade is submitted to Wisenet from Canvas. The Unit Enrolment field called ‘Final’ will be automatically set to the received grade value.

LEARN MORE:

  1. About Auto Grade
  2. Set Up Auto Grade Rules
  3. Link Auto Grade Rules to Unit Offers
  4. Set Up Moodle Grade Categories in Moodle for Auto Grade
  5. Monitor and Process Grade Activities in Wisenet