Moodle - FAQ Proposals

Below are suggestions for FAQ's. Please submit further suggestions and/or corrections to moodle@bilkent.edu.tr

Important: This FAQ applies only to the integrated Moodle used for current semester courses in Bilkent.

• Moodle Accounts (can't login? wrong password?)    <<< the most common problem at the start of a new semester!
• TA Accounts (my teaching assistant needs access)
• Visitor accounts
• How can I change my photo?
• Help, I forgot my password / How can I change my password?
• How do I copy my course content from the previous semester?
• How can I get the section number in the gradebook?
• Moodle won't allow grades to be entered for a certain activity

Moodle accounts (for the current semester)

• Each semester a new Moodle server is opened for that semester's courses.
• The new Moodle server is completely separate from the previous semester's servers.
• Each semester, students & instructors MUST thus create new Moodle accounts on that semester's server.
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• The process is (hopefully) simple & consistent, but must be done once at the beginning of the semester.
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• Login to STARS (AIRS for instructors & TA's, SRS for students) using your BAIS ID number & password.
• You will see your current semester courses listed.
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• Instructors will see a MOODLE button next each one. Click the button to create your new account and the Moodle course itself.
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• Students will only see a MOODLE button next to Bilkent courses for which the instructor has created a Moodle course. Click the button to create your new account and enroll on the Moodle course.
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• In each case, the username and password are your BAIS ID number & password.
• Note:  Even after they have a Moodle account, students will not be able to see/enter the course, until the instructor actually makes the course "available for students." (via Administration|Settings, Availability).
• Note: Students will not appear in the course participants list until they click the Moodle button in SRS.
• Note: Having once created a Moodle account via AIRS/SRS, from then on you can login to Moodle directly or via STARS.

TA accounts

• Follow these Step by step details
  Note that these pages may still refer to a previous semester's server, so the urls may need updating for the current semester.

How do I copy my course content from the previous semester?

• Create a backup of your previous semester's course. If the purpose is simply to restart the course with the same basic structure and resources as before, then you do not need to include the user data.
• Download the zipped backup file to your local machine.
• Select restore on the current semester's Moodle server, then upload your backup file and restore its contents!
• Tip: If you cross your fingers during the backup and restore process, it might help!
• See these detailed guides to Moving Course Data from one Moodle Service to Another.
• Note: While restoring it says "Metacourse : Yes / No." It really means "Do you want the keep the child course data in the new Course." If you say yes then existing child courses would be replaced by the child course data in the backup file. This can lead to problems if different child courses are combined in different semesters. So, it is probably best to say no and add the child courses manually after the restore is complete!

How can I get the section number in the gradebook?

• Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be any way to do this automatically, but there is a semi-automatic work-around.
• Create a manual activity, hide it and enter the student's section number as their grade!
• Don't forget to exclude this activity from the grade calculations ;-)

Moodle won't allow grades to be entered for a certain activity

• Problem: You can see the grading form, but neither quick grading nor individual grading allows the grade to be entered/changed (no grade entry field or it is gray and cannot be used.)
• Solution: The activity has been locked. Teachers can unlock it by going to "Admin | Grades" then selecting "Edit | Categories & Settings" from the "Choose an action" box. You should see an overview of all existing activities. You will probably see a little closed lock icon next to the specific (problem) activity. Click the lock to unlock the activity and enable grades to be entered again.

Help, I forgot my username-password / How can I change my password?

• Your Moodle username is your Bilkent id number.
• Your username and password are the same as you use for STARS/SRS/AIRS.
• If you have forgotten STARS your password, you will have to go in person to BCC (or the Registrars Office?) and show your Bilkent identity card.
• To change your Moodle password, login to STARS, and change your password there. Once you have done that, login to SRS/AIRS and click the Moodle button next to one of your courses, this will (re)set your Moodle password so it is the same as your STARS/SRS/AIRS password.

Visitor Accounts

• Students and faculty who have courses using Moodle during the current semester have Moodle accounts created automatically.
• Important: Anyone not officially enrolled on a course (as a student or teacher according to SRS/AIRS) will be un-enrolled automatically. For this reason it is vital to create & assign different roles (e.g. Non-Editing Teacher or Visitor) to anyone else who needs access to a Moodle course (e.g. TAs, undergraduate tutors, or those auditing a course).
• Graduate students who will act as TAs for a current semester course can create accounts for themselves; see TA accounts.
• Anyone else (with no current semester course using Moodle) must apply for a Visitor Account
• The request for an account must be made by the instructor of the course the "visitor" will work with, and should be sent to moodle@bilkent.edu.tr?subject=RequestForVisitorAccount from a valid Bilkent email address.
• The email must include: The visitor's name, surname, a valid email address, the course-section, and any other relevant information.
• Once the account has been created the course instructor will need to assign them to the Visitor Role in their course. This is done by going to the Administration block and clicking AssignRoles. Simply select the desired role and the person you want to add to that role, and click the Add button. Note: This cannot be done in a metacourse, only in the child courses!

Last updated: Cuma Eylül 17, 2010 16:52