Follow the instructions below for preparing your Moodle course using the GSC Moodle Course Template for online, hybrid and blended courses. If you need assistance or instructional designer support, please submit a service request.
Required Items
- Announcements
Important course announcements should be placed here throughout the term. You can include reminders about weekly activities, changes to due dates, new URLs, reflections, etc. Many faculty often include a welcome message in this area as their first announcement. If you find that your students are missing your announcements, contact an instructional designer for ways to make the announcement area more visible. - Syllabus
You will need to upload your current syllabus to the course. Use the Add an activity or resource link and select File, upload your current syllabus as a file (pdf or rtf is usually best). The syllabus should be the first item under Course Resources. Please include the date the syllabus was last updated in the description. SEE Add Syllabus to Course. Each time you add or update your syllabus, be sure to include the date that it was updated so it is visible to students. - General Course Questions & Discussion Forum
During the course, it is likely that your students will have questions. They might also come across information they would like to share with the group. Whatever the case, this is the place. Please take a look at the description of this required forum. - Virtual Student Lounge
This is available in every course to provide a forum for students to share non-course related conversations. It’s best to recommend that they keep it PG. - Course Format: Weekly with Collapsed Topics
Courses are set up using Moodle’s Weekly format using Collapsed Topics. This allows both the weekly module topics and dates to be visible to students. In some cases the weekly format may not make sense. If you are not sure whether weekly format with collapsed topics is best for your course, contact an instructional designer. - Module Topics and Dates
The course template is set up with 12 modules. There should be a distinct module for each week of the course. Twelve modules are required for all courses. At the top of each module is included a label for the Topic. We recommend that you include a clear and succinct topic title for every module. The dates of each topic are auto-populated based on the start date of the course. - Module Section Headings (Labels)
Please take care to leave the section headings (Overview, Read Review Watch, Activities) as is and use labels or other resources and/or activities to put items under the section headings. Do not edit the section headings.- Activities: Activities include student work. Generally these are added by using the Add an activity or resource link. Activities may include such things as assignments, forums (discussion boards), quizzes, questionnaires, etc. Most courses at GSC include at least one forum per module. For suggestions on creating and facilitating engaging discussions contact an instructional designer.
- Read Review Watch: This provides an area for you to add textbook readings, online readings, web sites to be perused, videos, and more. These are added by using the Add an activity or resource link. Please create a separate item ( label, page or url) for each Read, Review, Watch activity. This will allow students to check each item off as they complete it.
- Overview Each module has an area for you to add any or all of the following – module learning objectives, an introduction to the module, reminders, etc.
- Blocks
- Activities: This block is automatically updated with all of the Moodle tools used in the course such as forums, assignments, quizzes, and resources, as well as 3rd party tools like Turnitin, Bb Collaborate and Chalk & Wire. It in essence serves as an index page for students ( & faculty) to find activities grouped by functionality. It also conveniently displays due dates. This block is a critical resource and will always appear at the top left of the course.
- Instructor: This is automatically populated with the instructor’s name, image and Go.Granite email address as it appears in the Moodle Profile. The picture and instructor’s name link to the instructor’s Moodle Profile. This profile should be updated with biographical information at the instructor’s discretion. Learn more about updating your Moodle Profile here.
- Instructor Details Block: This block should be used to display additional faculty information that is not already included in the Instructor block such as preferred contact methods and/or expected response time.
- Resources: This block includes standard resources for all students and is established at the site level so it cannot be modified by individual instructors. The resources may include such things as Turnitin practice assignment, Video tutorials and Chalk & Wire (for graduate courses.) These resources may be updated as new resources are available.
- Research Help: This block provides a link to critical online resources and support provided by the GSC library.
Optional Items (Main Topic Area & Blocks)
- Introductory Information
While not required, we are encouraging faculty to include very little at the top of the page. You may want to include something here, but keep in mind that students will see this EVERY time they go into the class. You might want to include a small image, a quote, what the course is about in your own words, a brief welcome, etc. If it is a welcome message, you may consider updating this message throughout the term. - One-on-One Forum (also called Student-Instructor Private Forum )
This type of forum enables the instructor to provide interaction, support and assistance to individual students in a private forum. See instructions for setting up One on One Forums. - Course Resources folder
You can include important files under the Course Resources folder. You may want to include Rubrics, sample documents, files with detailed information for repeated activities (for instance, a weekly reflection) or for semester long activities (for instance, a final project or final paper.) - Other Resources
Also under the Course Resources heading you may want to include links to websites of interest throughout the course, pages that you have created, etc. This list should be limited to avoid too much scrolling. - Messages Block: If you are not using the Messages communications tool, this block can be hidden.