The Activities Block in Moodle

The Activities block lists content by the types currently available to students in your course, such as Forums, Assignments, Quizzes, Resources, etc. 

Links are automatically added to the Block

The list of types of Activities displayed in the Activities block will grow as you add activities and resources to your course. The first time you enter a new course, the only item in the Activities block is Forums because your course is created with only one forum in it, Announcements (previously called News forum).

When you add a new type of activity or a resource to your course, an icon and link will appear in the Activities block. Click a link for a list of all the instances of that type of activity that appear throughout the course. For example, selecting Assignments displays a list of all Moodle assignments in your course, grouped by the course Section they are in.

Add the Activities Block to your Moodle Course

The Activities block is added by default to new courses, but if it is not in your course, you can add it:

1. On your course page, click Turn editing on (green pencil icon , top right).
2. At the bottom of the right sidebar, in the block titled Add a block, click Add...
3. From the list of blocks that appears in the drop-down menu, select Activities. The Activities block appears at the top of the right sidebar. We recommend keeping the block near the top because it provides an easy and useful way for students to find items and activities in your course. 

Re-order Blocks

1. On your course page, click Turn editing on (green pencil icon , top right). 
2. Select the gear icon associated with the block you want to move. From the drop-down menu, select Configure UMass Course Surveys block. The Configure a UMass Course Surveys block page opens. 
3. Select On this page to display the settings. Select a Weight for your block (-10 is first, 0 is neutral, and 10 is last).
4. Select Save changes.

Note: If the Region for all blocks are set to Right, they will respect the Weight to put them in the order you want. If all blocks are not set in this way, the Weight will not change the block order. To check if your blocks are set correctly, check the Region setting found in the Configure UMass Course Surveys block page within the On this page settings.