Week 2

Now that the course has been created, and the participants enrolled, it is time to setup the gradebook for the course content.

First, click the "Grades" link at the top menu (Grade 1), and then click the "Settings" link. This will open the settings wizard for the course gradebook.

In the Personal Display Options, make sure that the indicated boxes are checked (Grade 2), and that "Manage Grades" is chosen from the drop-down list.

Next, in the Org Unit Display Options, check the "Grade Details" boxes, and then click "Save" (Grade 3). In the "Calculation Options", choose "Points", choose "Calculated Final Grade", choose "Drop Ungraded Items" in order to not show zeros, and then check the box to auto update the calculations (Grade 4).

Adding Categories and Items

After setting up the gradebook, it is now time to add items and categorize them. To add a category, click on the "Grades" link at the top menu, choose "Manage Grades" and then click the "New" button to add a category (Grade 5). Name the category as needed, and then click either "Save and Close" to return to the course, or "Save and New" in order to create another category (Grade 6).

To add an item to the gradebook, return to the "Manage Grades" section, click the "New" button, and then choose to add an item. For this example, choose the "Numeric" grade type (Grade 7), name the item, choose the category it belongs in, and then click "Save and Close" or "Save and New" (Grade 8). 

In order for enrolled students to be able to participate in the course and access the content, course groups must be created, and the students enrolled into them.

To create the groups, choose the "Communication" menu, click on "Groups" (Groups 1), and then click on the "New Category folder" button (Groups 2).

Choose a name for the group category, the enrollment type, and the number of groups needed (Groups 3).

Click one of the groups to edit details and enroll students from the course participants list (Groups 4). 

Discussion forums are a great way to foster participation and engage student thinking. To create discussions in D2L, first a Forum place holder must be created.

Click on the "Communication" menu, and then choose "Discussions" (Discuss 1). Then, click the "New" button and choose "New Forum" (Discuss 2).

Name the forum, and click the "Save and Add Topic" button (Discuss 3).

In the "New Topic" window, choose the Forum that you just created, name the topic, and then click "Save and Close" (Discuss 4). 

In addition to discussion forums, live interactive web conferences can bring a whole new level of student interaction. For this example, Desire2Learn is integrated with the Blackboard Collaborate system.

To add a web conferencing session, click on the "Communication" menu, and then choose "Pilot Live" (Web 1). Then, in the "Rooms" pane, click on "New Room" (Web 2).

Next, name the room, and choose "Public" in order to have it visible for all students. (Web 3). Note that the name must not have any special characters. That was discovered after creating this example screenshot.

Further down, choose the starting and ending times, check the indicated boxes, and then click "Save" (Web 4). 

Being able to test course content as a student can help to ensure that the item settings are correct.

In this example, the ability to use a demo student was enabled for course instructors.

View the course participant list, click the small arrow beside the "Demo" student, and then choose "Impersonate" (Demo 1).

Confirm your choice by clicking "Yes" (Demo 2).

Now you can view the course as a student in order to make sure that the groups and settings are correct for the course content.

To stop impersonating the demo student, click on the little arrow beside the name at the top right corner, and then click the little "X" (Demo 3). 

Like any other LMS, a Moodle course gradebook can be customized to meet the instructor's needs. However, in Moodle the gradebook is created and setup with default options at the same time the course is created.

To customize the gradebook, click the gear icon at the top right corner, and then choose "Gradebook Setup" (Grades 1).

The name of the course is the top level category. Click the "Edit" link, and then choose "Edit Settings" (Grades 2).

This will show the top level aggregation for the entire gradebook. Each sub-category can have it's own aggregation level if needed (i.e. weighted, mean of grades, etc). For this example, the default choice of "Natural" will work, which is the same as a total number of points format (Grades 3).

To add a sub-category, return to the Gradebook Setup, and then click the "Add Category" button (Grades 4). Name the category, choose the aggregation, and then click "Save Changes". Notice that there are options that are unavailable because of the aggregation level that was chosen (Grades 5). 

Moodle is unique in that groups are not required in order for students to be able to participate and access course content. In fact, students are automatically viewed as part of the course "community" once enrolled, and can access all visible course content.

However, there are times when groups are required, like for multiple sections within a course, or multiple teachers using the same course to teach multiple sections.

Creating Groups

To create groups, click the gear icon, and then choose "More" (Groups 1). Click the "Users" tab, and then click "Groups" (Groups 2).

Click the "Create Group" button (Groups 3), name the group, and then click "Save" (Groups 4).

Next, select the group from the list, and then click the "Add/remove users" button (Groups 5). Select all of the required students, click the "Add" button, and then click the "Back to groups" button (Groups 6).

These groups will satisfy most needs, like for instructors to be able to filter the gradebook or participants, for example, or to limit discussion forum activity. However, sometimes course content needs to be completely separated, which is where "Groupings" come in.

Creating Groupings

In this example, "Group 1" is part of the first section of the course, and needs to be isolated to specific course content.

To create the grouping, return to the groups page, click the "Groupings" tab, and then click "Create grouping" (Groups 7).

Name the grouping, and then click "Save Changes" (Groups 8). Click the "Show groups" icon beside the grouping (Groups 9), and then add the required groups (Groups 10).

Now when course activities are created, the "Section 1" grouping will be available during the setup. Choosing that grouping will restrict that activity to only the students who are members of the groups within that grouping. 

The Discussion Forum activity in Moodle is designed to be used independently for each required topic. However, this example will show how one forum activity can be used for several discussion topic threads.

After turning on the course editing, and clicking on "Add an activity or resource", choose the "Forum" option, and then click "Add" (Discuss 1).

Name the forum, and choose the default standard option, which will allow for multiple discussion topics, and then click on "Save and display" (Discuss 2).

This will show the forum, and provide the option to "Add a new discussion topic" (Discuss 3).

Add a subject for the topic, type the details, and then click "Post to forum" (Discuss 4).

Students will then be able to reply to that posting, or create their own topics. For greater control, use separate discussion forum activities with the "Single discussion" option. 

Moodle has a great web conferencing tool called Big Blue Button, which integrates seamlessly into courses.

To add a live session, add an activity just like before, and then choose "BigBlueButtonBN" (Web 1).

Name the classroom session, check the box to force students to wait for the moderator, set the open and close time, and then click "Save and return to course" (Web 2).

The live session will show in the course just like any other activity, and will be automatically added to the course calendar. To join a session, students will click the activity, and then choose "Join Session". 

Moodle has provided a simple way for instructors to test course content, and that is the ability to quickly switch roles to that of a student.

For an instructor to switch roles, click the arrow beside the account name at the top-right, and then choose "Switch role to" (Demo 1).

Next click the "Student" button (Demo 2).

Now the instructor will see the course as a student will see it. Activities can be tested and viewed to see if permissions were set properly.

To return to the teacher role, click the arrow beside the account name again, and then choose "Return to my normal role" (Demo 3).