Moodle resource types

A resource in Moodle refers to static content that provides information or materials to participants.

Unlike activities, resources do not typically require interaction—they serve as reference points, study materials, or supporting documents for your course. Common resource types include files, folders, pages, URLs, and books.

Incorporating resources into your Moodle course ensures that students have easy access to essential content in a structured and organised way. Well-designed resources can enhance clarity, support independent learning, and complement your face-to-face teaching.

Some features that are not interactive appear in Moodle as activities even though they are more accurately described as resources. These are usually third-party tools that have been integrated with Moodle, such as Talis Apsire reading lists, EchoVideo media. See the Moodle activity types guide for more information on these.

In this guide:

How to add a resource
Resource types

Moodle guides All guides Support & training

How to add a resource

All of the resource types below can be added to a Moodle course as follows:

Enable Edit mode .
Hover between existing activities or, from the bottom of a section, click the Add content button.
Click Activity or resource.
Click the Resources tab to filter the activities from the resources.
Click on the information icons to read descriptions of the activity types.
You can also 'star' your favourite activities or resources to appear in your Starred tab to make them easier to find in future. Click the icon to favourite them.
Click on the activity type you want to add.
Follow the page instructions to add the activity settings.

Resource types

File

You can upload files such as PDFs, Word documents, and PowerPoint presentations into Moodle. Files are typically added to Moodle either by dragging and dropping them onto the course page, or by using the activity chooser.

Files in Moodle are set to be downloaded automatically once a user clicks on them. This is called 'force download'. This behaviour can be changed as required in the file's settings.

Watch the video below for a summary of file resources in Moodle:

Link opens in a new window More information on the File resource is available at MoodleDocs.Link opens in a new window

Folder Text and media area

The text & media area acts as a spacer between other resources and activities. It is versatile and can be used to embed text, images, tables and multimedia directly onto the course page.

The text and media area can be used to:

split up a long list of activities with a sub-heading or an image
add a short description or instructions for students to a course section
improve the appearance of a course
embed audio or video onto a course page

A particular use for the text and media area is to embed audio or video. Watch this video for a summary of how to do this:

More information on the Text and media area resource is available at MoodleDocsLink opens in a new window.

Page Book

The book resource is essentially a series of Pages in a book-like format, with chapters, subchapters, and a table of contents. A book can contain media as well as text and is useful for breaking down lengthy passages of information into sections.

A book may be used:

to display reading material for individual modules of study
as a handbook
as a weekly textbook

More information on the book resource is available at MoodleDocsLink opens in a new window.

Talis reading list

Using Talis Aspire reading lists will provide your students with familiar, consistent and easy access to the required reading for their programme. The use of Talis Aspire reading lists also enables the Library to ensure that an appropriate number of copies of key texts are purchased.

There are two ways to link a Talis reading list with your Moodle space; via the reading list block or the reading list resource.

See the guide on adding a Talis reading list.

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