Moodle = the Course Management System that replaced WebCT at Dawson College starting Fall 2009.
Warning: User names - MUST be all lowercase
Your Profile in Moodle
Login to
Click on your course.
On the left side, under "Administration", click on "Profile".
Click on the "Edit profile" tab.
Email address: Enter your e-mail address here
Email activated: This email address is enabled
Any other changes you like.
Please do not use MyDawson/MIO to send me e-mail. (This is because the MIO messages are not forwarded to my real e-mail automatically. Only a notification is forwarded to me.) I will not regularly check MyDawson/MIO e-mail.
(However, Moodle Quickmail is OK because it does forward the complete message. I will get your Moodle mail message.)
Rafael Scapin
Coordinator of Educational Technology
Office of Instructional Development
Dawson College | Montreal (QC), Canada
E-mail: rscapin@DawsonCollege.qc.ca
Phone: (514) 931-8731 - Ext. 1404
Office: 4B.3A-3
Jason Maur
Pedogogical Support Technician
Dawson College | Montreal (Qc), Canada
E-mail: jmaur@dawsoncollege.qc.ca
Phone: (514) 931-8731 - Ext. 1432 Office: 4B.2
Groups & Groupings
This information is for Teachers who want to set up Groups for each Activity and allow students to see their groups and interact with their groups and use Moodle to upload the assignment for each separate Activity.
Topic Outline (page) > Turn editing on
Add an activity ... > Assignments (Advanced uploading of files) > Common module settings > Group mode -- Separate groups > Grouping -- Grouping name > Available for group members only > ID number
Administration > Groups > Groups (tab) > Create Group -- Group name > Add/Remove users
Add yourself (Teacher) to a group,
Otherwise it will be impossible to "Switch role to ... -- Student". (So that you can see what any student would see.)
Administration > Groups > Groupings (tab) > Create Grouping (button) -- Grouping name > Edit (column) > Icon ("Show groups in grouping") > Select the Groups you want for this Activity > Add
Be sure to add "Teacher" to the Grouping.
Administration > Settings > Groups > Group mode -- Separate groups
Students can access their groups by clicking on "Participants" in the "People" block at the top left corner of the Topic Outline page.
Note that it is not necessary to set up a Forum.
Unfortunately, it does not seem possible to use Moodle to create random groups (per section) if you have more than one course section set up for the course. You must create all groups manually.
Unfortunately, it does not seem possible to allow students to use the system's photo in their personal profile. However, they can upload any picture to the profile.
upload the ZIP from your PC to your Web Host (using FTP) into the public_html folder (Linux server)
extract the file contents (unpack the archive) using the cPanelx File Manager
the folder public_html/moodle will be created automatically and all the files will be extracted to the subdirectories
you may also need to CHMOD this folder to 777 (required?, recommended?)
use cPanelx's "MySQL Databases" to create a database called "moodle"
create the folder /moodledata
because it is not below public_html, this directory is NOT accessible directly via the web, for security reasons
you will need to CHMOD this folder to 777
create the file /public_html/moodle/config.php - only if you get a warning message telling you to do so
access Moodle directly on your own server - (installation required)
Suggestions for Setting up and Using Moodle
Uploading files
Limit of only one (1) file per group.
Limit of only one MegaByte (1 MB) per file.
Administration > Grades
> User Report
The item will not show up for any user until there is at least one item graded.
This will work even if the Teacher submits some work or provides a grade.
Note that the "Update this questionnaire" or other similar section will not provide a "Grade Category" (e.g. Uncategorized or Participation) unless there is a grade.
Teacher - must be in one of the groups, otherwise items will be missing when "Switching role to ... Student".
Overriden flag in gradebook (= Administration > Grades > Grader report > Turn editing on)
Overridden = "When on, the overridden flag prevents any future attempts to automatically adjust the value of the grade. This flag is often set internally by the gradebook, but can be switched on and off manually using this form element." (Moodle Help)
Warning! - If you remove the Overridden flag, the grade is often deleted. You will then have to enter the grade again.
"Overridden" option is checked, can be read as: "The grade entered here is the one I want, and I don't want Moodle to meddle with it in any way."
Warning!! - Before entering any grades (anywhere in Moodle) check that none of the cells has the "Overridden" flag. (= highlighted in beige in the "Grader report") You must uncheck the "Overwritten" checkbox, and click save. The pain is that you need to do this for each overwritten grade: there's no way to do it all in one shot.
There's no way to turn off Overridden as a default in Moodle. It's there because, if you manually update someone's grade, Moodle makes sure that the system does not override the grade with something calculated by the system.
Problem: quizzes having a grade of zero.
Solution: Go to the gradebook, edit the grade and uncheck the "Overriden" flag. Moodle will now calculate the grade automatically according to the questions and answers you've set up for the quiz.
Problem: being able to edit some assignment grades but not others.
Solution: If you can't edit a grade normally, go to the gradebook and edit the grade there. The "Overridden" flag should be left alone here (i.e., it should be checked). If you uncheck it, Moodle will try to automatically grade the assignment, and because Moodle may have no way of automatically grading that item, the grade is wiped out.
If you do a "Regrade" command for a quiz, Moodle can't change the grade if there is an "Overridden" flag. Overriding the grade prevents Moodle from changing it. Make sure that none of the students' quiz grades is overridden. Uncheck "Overridden" and save, then "Regrade" the quiz. You will have to do this for each and every student, one at a time. Painful!!
Administration > Assign roles > Override permissions (tab) , or
Administration > Settings > Quiz administration > User overrides
You must be logged in as an Administrator (not just a Teacher) to have these features.
Moodle will sometimes change the Overriden flag even if you do not enter the mark directly (in the gradebook). Sometimes one student in a group will get the Overridden flag. There seems to be no logic at all to how this flag is applied.
Removing the "Overriden" flag is not easy.
Moodle > Gradebook > "Turn editing on" button > click on the "Edit grade" icon (a little hand with a pencil) > Overridden - change the þ to a ¨ > "Save changes" button.
Repeat again and again and again until it finally works.
Participation mark in Moodle
Grades
The Participation section in Moodle Grades was corrected.
Moodle was (incorrectly) not giving 0% to work that was not done or submitted.
þ (checked) Aggregate only non-empty grades - Nonexistent grades are not included in aggregation.
¨ (unchecked) Aggregate only non-empty grades - Nonexistent grades are treated as minimal grades.
It may at first seem that your mark is lower than before. This will be corrected as soon as you submit all the work that is due in the upcoming weeks.
Suggestion. Always leave this item unchecked. Students will get very confused if you change this item during the term.
Gradebook
Class average (for categories and items) is not available for students.
Wish List for Moodle
It would be nice to be able to change the date format to something logical (i.e. YYYY-MM-DD).
Groups & Groupings
There must be an easier way to do this. (see above)
Why can't the group see the other members of the group and see if a file has been uploaded, etc.
