Category Archives: Moodle

3. Adding Grade Items

InformationA grade item is any activity or gradebook entry that is assessed via a numerical grade. In Moodle, there are two types of grade items: activities and manual items. Activities are grade items that involve some sort of online interaction (e.g. an online assignment, an online quiz, a Turnitin assignment, etc.). Any activity you create in your Moodle course will automatically generate a grade column in the gradebook. Manual items are graded entries that are not tied to an online activity (e.g. an in-class activity, a participation grade, a blue book exam, etc.). Manual items must be created directly through the gradebook:

  1. In the Administration block, click Grades to go to the gradebook.
  2. From the gradebook, click the Setup tab tab near the top.
  3. From the Categories and Items view, click the Add Grade Item button at the bottom of the page.
  4. In the Item Name field, enter a name for this grade item. The name will be visible to both you and your students, so be descriptive.
  5. Leave the Grade Type set at Value. Other Grade Types can cause problems.
  6. The Maximum grade will default to 100.00.  You can change this if you desire to.
    1. Click the Save Changes button near the bottom.

If you want to weight this graded item

  1. Under the Parent category check the box next to  Weight adjusted.
  2. Enter the weight you want to assign this graded item Weight.
  3. If using categories select the category for this graded item Grade Catagory
  4. Click the Save Changes button near the bottom.

2. Adding Activities and Resources

InformationThe primary purpose of every Moodle course page is to contain a set of activities and resources. Activities are interactive elements students participate in that you can grade (e.g.  online assignments, online quizzes, discussion forums, Turnitin assignments, etc.) while resources are read-only items you can provide to students (e.g. an uploaded file, an HTML page, a link to a URL, etc.).

  1. From your course’s main page, click the Turn Editing On button in the upper-right.
  2. With editing turned on, use either the Add a resource... or Add an activity... drop-down to add resources or activities to the section in which the drop-downs appear. Resources tend to be static information items for students while activities are typically interactive, gradeable modules.
  3. Once you select a resource or activity, you will be taken directly to a configuration page to set up the resource/activity you’ve chosen.

Cheat sheet on Resources and Activities

3. Uploading Documents

InformationMoodle has a very simple method for uploading documents and other files to course pages. You can click and drag files directly into your courses to have them uploaded. You can do this with single files or multiple files without needing a multi-step upload process.

  1. From your course’s home page, click the Turn Editing On button in the upper-right.
  2. Once editing is turned on, find where your file is located on your hard drive.
  3. Once you have located your file, click and drag (hold down the left mouse button) the file to the section of your course where you want the file to be uploaded.
  4. When you see the Add File(s) Here prompt, you can let go of the left mouse button to add your file.
  5. Once the progress bar (Progress Bar) is full, the file is uploaded.