Anonymous forums in Moodle

We are occasionally asked about how staff can set up anonymous forums in Moodle. At the time of writing there is no official anonymous forum in Moodle. Moodle is designed to be, like the lecture theatre or seminar room, a safe learning space where students feel comfortable speaking in a community of learners. There are …

Word counts and Turnitin

We are often asked about Turnitin Word counts. Turnitin states that they use a word counting algorithm very similar to that of Microsoft Word but not identical. Some of the main differences include: Turnitin does not count the words in footnotes and end-notes. Turnitin does not count words in text boxes, So, if your whole …

Moodle quick wins #2: Should I add a file individually or in a folder?

You can upload files to Moodle as individual File Resources or into folders. There are generally more advantages to adding the files individually. You can do very much more with individual files that is not possible with files in folders. Folders in Moodle can only contain files (not any other kind of resource or activity). …

Advent calendar #20: The Future of Hybrid Teaching and Learning in HE (Workshop)

As the end of the year comes closer, we often reflect on the year that’s gone and make resolutions to improve or change in the year to come. Here’s a timely conference for anyone who’s thinking about moving on from blended or hybrid learning during the pandemic to see what the future looks like. You …

Advent Calendar #16: Where to get help and what to do when something goes wrong

Today in the Advent Calendar we’re hoping to give you peace of mind. What do you do when it all starts to go wrong? When you can’t make the technology do the thing you want it to, or can’t even find a technology that will do what you’d like? When you don’t know if it’s …

Advent calendar #14: Monitoring student engagement in Moodle

Santa is rumoured to be able to keep track on what we’re all doing so he knows whether we deserve our presents. If he knew about it, he’d be delighted with the possibilities for tracking activity in Moodle. Today we are going to talk about tips and tricks to monitor student activity in Moodle. You …

Advent Calendar #10: Groupings in Moodle

Getting together is traditional at this time of year, and getting together in groups is also used a lot in learning activities. Groups can be so useful in Moodle. They can be used for group activities such as: Assignments submitted one per group (e.g. presentation) Working together in a group e.g., in a forum or …

Advent Calendar #6: Q&A: a new student engagement app from Microsoft

Microsoft have rolled out a new app, the Q&A app, which enables question and answer sessions to be held in Teams meetings. Meeting organizers and designated presenters can hold moderated or unmoderated question and answer sessions at any point during a Teams meeting. They are also able to mark best answers, filter responses, moderate and …

Advent calendar #4: Ways to poll your students

Polls and simple quizzes can be used during synchronous sessions (face to face or online) and also asynchronously to support learning by: identifying gaps in learners’ understanding, providing a simple way of actively engaging students in their learning, a minimal form of feedback, stimulate conversation, establish a baseline understanding or opinion that you can then …

Advent calendar #2: How to make a Stream video available to students

So you’ve made a recordingĀ  of yourself wishing your students a seasonal greeting. How best to share it with the students? When staff make recordings of Teams meetings and learning sessions, the recording ends up in Stream. Here’s why leaving them in Stream isn’t usually the best way to make these available to students. Normally, …