On this page:
- I am having trouble logging into Moodle. What should I do?
- I can log in to Moodle, but why I don't see my course listed under My Courses?
- How do I get a course in Moodle?
- How do I reuse a course Moodle Course?
- How long will my course remain on Moodle?
- How do co-instructors or other instructional staff get access to my Moodle course?
- How do students get enrolled in my course on Moodle?
- When does student access to a Moodle course begin and end?
- Why is a student who appears on my SPIRE roster unable to access my Moodle course?
- How do 5-college students access my Moodle course?
- Can my teaching assistant(s) get access to my Moodle course?
- I have a student who is working on an Incomplete. How can the student get access to my Moodle course?
- I am co-instructing a course, or have a Course Designer in my course. What happens if we both edit something in Moodle at the same time?
- Why do I (or my students) get an error message when attempting to upload a large file?
- When I (or my students) try to open files I posted on Moodle, nothing appears to happen. How can I fix this?
- Where is the File Manager in Moodle? Is there a way to download all the files I've posted to a course at once?
I am having trouble logging into Moodle. What should I do?
Anyone with an active IT Account should be able to log in to Moodle.
- Make sure you are using the correct NetID (IT Account user name) and password.
- Make sure the computer you are using meets IT's Recommended and Minimum Computer Configurations (Windows) (Macintosh)
- Make sure you don’t have any viruses or malware (a.k.a. spy and/or adware) on your computer. To learn more about malware, visit the IT Security Center.
- If you have a firewall enabled (or you are not sure whether you do or not), ask your IT administrator or your Internet Service Provider (ISP) how to set it up so you can access Moodle.
If these steps do not resolve your problems, instructors and TAs can contact the Instructional Media Lab at instruct@umass.edu or 413-545-2823. (Students should contact the IT Service Desk).
I can log in to Moodle, but why I don't see my course listed under My Courses?
- You must request a new Moodle course every semester you want to teach a class using Moodle. For details, see Request a Moodle Course through SPIRE.
- Make sure you are trying to log in to the correct learning management system. UMass Amherst instructors and students may have courses in more than one system:
• Moodle - The current system for most on-campus courses
• Online Learning in Blackboard Learn: Some on-campus courses, and most fully online courses offered by University Without Walls (CPE) through UMassOnline. - At the beginning of the semester before courses are open to students, access your Navigation Tray or click Show hidden courses (at bottom of My Courses block) to access unreleased courses. For details, see Working in a Moodle Course that is Hidden from Students.
How do I get a course in Moodle?
Primary Instructors can request a Moodle course in SPIRE. The request form must be filled out each semester you want to use Moodle for a class.
Once your request has been processed you will be informed via email. Because this is a manual process (your course is not automatically created when you submit the form), it may take a day or so before your course is ready. Please plan accordingly.
Some things to keep in mind when requesting a Moodle course:
- Only Primary Instructors may request Moodle courses. If you are not a Primary Instructor for a course, the course will not appear on your list of Moodle-eligible classes in SPIRE.
- The Moodle course request form in SPIRE gives you the option to combine multiple sections into one Moodle course, or ask for a single-section Moodle course.
- Moodle course request opens at the start of the registration period for each semester (midway through the previous semester) and remains open until the close of the semester taught.
How do I reuse a course Moodle Course?
In Moodle, you do not reset a course to reuse it; you must request a new Moodle course each semester you teach a course, then you can import course content from a previous semester into the new course. For more, see Request a Moodle Course through SPIRE and Reuse a Moodle Course Using Import.
How long will my course remain on Moodle?
Courses are deleted from Moodle 18 months after the close of the semester taught to make room for future courses. Unfortunately, it is not possible for us to maintain long-term storage of Moodle courses due to limited physical space and resources. This allows ample time for students to resolve an Incomplete grade, and for faculty to make their own archives of course work for future reference.
How do co-instructors or other instructional staff get access to my Moodle course?
- Graduate and Undergraduate Teaching Assistants must be must be enrolled in SPIRE.
- Co-Instructors must be enrolled in the class in SPIRE as a Primary or Secondary Instructor.
- Librarians or other faculty who do not have teaching responsibilities but need to coordinate student activities or grade must be enrolled in the course in SPIRE as Section Assistants.
- For staff assistants who are helping you design your Moodle course but are not associated with your course in SPIRE, the instructor can request Course Designer access.
How do students get enrolled in my course on Moodle?
Once a Moodle course has been requested and created, students who are enrolled in the class in SPIRE, including 5 College students, are automatically added to the Moodle roster. Moodle rosters are updated each hour with enrollment data from SPIRE.
When does student access to a Moodle course begin and end?
Moodle courses are automatically made available to students one business day before the start of the term, and student access is removed two weeks after grades for the term are released. However, instructors can hide courses that are not ready for use, or open courses prior to the beginning of the semester. See Make Your Moodle Course Available to Students.
Note: Moodle courses requested after the release date at the beginning of the semester are not automatically released and must be made available to students by the instructor.
Why is a student who appears on my SPIRE roster unable to access my Moodle course?
There are a few possible situations that could be causing a student who is registered in SPIRE to be unable to access a Moodle course. Some troubleshooting to consider:
- Make sure the student is logging in to Moodle and not Blackboard Learn.
- Consider how long ago the student officially registered for the course in SPIRE. Moodle course rosters are updated automatically every hour with student data from SPIRE. There may be up to a one hour delay between when a student registers for a course and when that student is enrolled in a Moodle course.
- The student must have an active IT Account. Students can get help with their NetID and password by coming in person with their student ID card to IT Service Desk.
Note: Professors should direct student problems to User Services.
How do 5-college students access my Moodle course?
5-college students who are enrolled in a UMass course will be sent a NetID (IT Account user name) and password via email as soon as their enrollment appears in SPIRE. More about IT Accounts.
To access a Moodle course, 5-college students must:
- Be registered in SPIRE for the course.
- Log in to Moodle using their NetID (IT Account user name) and password.
Can my teaching assistant(s) get access to my Moodle course?
TAs must be listed in SPIRE as a Teaching Assistant or Undergraduate Student Assistant (Student Assistant Moodle Only) in order to have access to the Moodle course for the class.
By default, TAs and Student Assistants automatically receive access to Moodle in the role of Non-Editing Teacher, which allows them to access student resources and activities, as well as read and grade student submissions. If a TA needs to upload materials or add activities to a Moodle course, the instructor can add the Course Designer role for that individual.
I have a student who is working on an Incomplete. How can the student get access to my Moodle course?
- To allow a student to access a Moodle course from a previous semester that is currently unavailable to students, do not reopen the course for all students. You can give a particular student who had been enrolled in the course a special role, Student - with Incomplete.
- To enroll a student with an Incomplete in a current semester's course so that the student can participate in activities with the current semester's students, complete the Request Contributor Access form.
I am co-instructing a course, or have a Course Designer in my course. What happens if we both edit something in Moodle at the same time?
Moodle does not warn users who are both editing the same item—the last person to Save will overwrite the other person's work. We recommend coordinating with your co-instructor or designer to avoid editing items simultaneously. Either plan which activities and resources "belong" to each of you, or e-mail each other when editing.
Note: Exception: In a Wiki activity, only one person at a time is able to edit a Wiki page.
Why do I (or my students) get an error message when attempting to upload a large file?
Each Moodle course has a course-level upload-limit that the instructor can control in the Course settings. The default Maximum upload size is 50 MB, but you can increase it if needed. For details, see Important Settings for your your Moodle Course.
In addition, some activities, such as Assignments, have an upload-limit determined in the activity Settings. For example, the default Assignment maximum size of 1 MB is generally adequate for text-based documents, but if students are submitting video or audio files you may need to increase the file size allowed. If your students are experiencing errors when trying to upload files, check to make sure the upload limit is adequate for the type of assignment.
Note: The upload limit for an activity cannot be set higher than the limit for the course, so you may need to change the course settings first.
When I (or my students) try to open files I posted on Moodle, nothing appears to happen. How can I fix this?
The results of clicking on a link to a File in Moodle depend on the options you chose when you added the file, the configuration of the browser you are using, and the file type.
- When an instructor adds a File resource to a Moodle course, there are several options for how the file will Display. We have made Forced download the default action for links to files because it behaves the most consistently between browsers. (The file will download to the location on your computer where the browser is configured to save downloaded files).
- Check your browser preferences/options to see where files are saved.
- If your browser is set to prevent files from downloading automatically unless you approve, you may need to confirm the download in a notification bar or pop-up. Where this notification appears will vary from browser to browser. Check the bottom or top of the page, as notifications may appear there.
Where is the File Manager in Moodle? Is there a way to download all the files I've posted to a course at once?
- There are multiple ways for an instructor to add files to a course. When you add a file, it is stored in the Moodle System files. For details, see Add a File to a Moodle Course.
- To download all files added to a Moodle course by an Instructor or Course Designer, use the Download instructor files tool. For details, see Download All Instructor Files from a Moodle Course.
Note: As a best practice, we recommend keeping a copy of student submissions and the files you have uploaded on your own computer or cloud-based storage. See Online File Storage & Collaboration.