Structure your course

To edit content in your Moodle course, enable Edit mode in the top right of your Moodle course. Edit icons and options will now appear, enabling you to add and move resources and blocks, drag and drop files, indent, duplicate and hide and delete resources.

Manage sections/topics

When editing in Moodle, it is helpful to note the following icons and their uses:

Add topics/sections

Add blocks (for more information visit the Add content blocks guide.)

Edit

Highlight / Remove highlight

Delete

Drag and drop sections

Change the name of any section, once updated press Enter to make the change.

Move right to indent within a section

Move left to remove an indent

Duplicate to copy an activity or resource

Hide / Show (click Hide and then click Make available so that hidden items can be linked to from elsewhere in the course but not be visible on the page.)

Course visibility

When new course spaces are created in Moodle they are automatically hidden from students as indicated by a message in a yellow banner at the top of the page. Users with editing rights for this Moodle course are still able to view, access and build content on the Moodle course.

To make a Moodle course visible to students:

1. Click the Actions menu in the top right-hand corner of your Moodle course.
2. Click Edit settings.
3. You will be taken to the Edit course settings page. Click on the drop-down for Course visibility and select Show.
4. Click the Save and display button.

Your course will now be visible to students and other participants on your Moodle course. To hide your Moodle course, follow the same steps but select Hide at step 3.

You can organise your sections however you want and you can add more/remove them where required. The video belows shows the various ways you can customise your course by editing sections.

The toolbar in the text editor can be used when editing content boxes in section headings, activities and resources, and the content of blocks.

The default text editor in Moodle is the TinyMCE, sometimes referred to as the 'HTML editor' and many of the functions will be familiar to anyone who uses Word or Sitebuilder. The video below gives an overview of TinyMCE and its capabilities, for example adding videos and links and H5P content.

Once your structure is complete, the next step is to add content to your course by adding resources and activities.

Put simply, resources are static content items that provide information whereas activities require interaction and engagement from your students. However, there are some types of content available to add to Warwick's Moodle that appear as 'activities' such as reading lists.

Blocks provide information and useful tools. They usually appear in the collapsible block drawer on the right-hand side of the course page and the Dashboard.

Reading lists and Lecture Capture blocks are commonly found in the block drawer at Warwick.

See the Moodle video below for more information on blocks.

Tags are a way of bringing together different content types and materials which share a common theme - they form a type of metadata that could help with linking topics across multiple sections (whether organised by weeks or topics).

Tags help to:

• Group together related content
• Highlight key themes and topics
• Improve navigation and finding associated course materials
• Create connections between different types of Moodle content

Tags can be added to a variety of items within Moodle courses, including:

• Activities and resources
• Forum posts
• Database entries
• Glossary entries
• Books (teachers only)
• Quiz questions
• Wiki pages
• Blog posts

Adding tags

Activities and resources can be tagged when they are created or by editing their settings later.

• Go to the Moodle course and select turn edit mode on.
• Either add a new activity or resource or select edit settings for an existing item.
• Expand the Tags section.
• Type a tag into the field.
• Press Enter on your keyboard. The tag will appear above the field.
• Select Save and return to course or Save and display.

Add a tags block (tag cloud)

A Tags block, sometimes called a tag cloud, provides an easy way to view tags within a course. The more items associated with a tag, the larger it appears in the cloud.

• Go to the Moodle course and select Turn editing on .
• Select Add a block from the bottom of the navigation menu.
• Choose Tags from the list of available blocks.
• The Tags block will be added to the page. If required, reposition it using the drag and drop arrows .
• Configure the block so that it displays only tags relevant to your course:
• Select the the cog within the Tags block.
• Choose Configure Tags block.
• Under Block settings, select either Course or System from the Tagged items context menu, depending on the tags you want to display.

Tags added to course content will automatically appear in the Tags block as a word cloud.