Explore

EXPLORE

Most tools can support activities within any learning type. What determines the choice of tool is pedagogic purpose in each context. EXPLORE is just a framework to guide decision making.

Key

Tools in Moodle

A guide for academic staff

Further tools supported by UoP

Learning types

Investigation

Practice

Discussion

LinkedIn Learning

Gmail

Google Forms

Nearpod

Vevox

Production

Collaboration

Google Docs

Adobe CC

SCORM

Jamboard

Padlet

Peer Assessment

Advanced Forum

Survey

Google Meet

Google Sites

Workshop

Zoom

Lesson

Forum

Database

Glossary

MS Office

Chat

H5P

Wiki

Questionnaire

Assessment

Acquisition

Box of Broadcasts

eFolio

Panopto

Assignment

Google Sites

Label

Quiz

Book

Turnitin

YouTube

Page

Need help?

Hover over the learning types to view a description of each.

Click on each tool for further information and support.

PDF version of EXPLORE

Professor Alejandro (Ale) Armellini (Dean of Digital and Distributed Learning),

Dr Stephen Webb (Head of TEL),

Thomas Langston (Digital Learning and Teaching Specialist) and

Marie Kendall-Waters (Senior Educational Technologist)

- with input from the University of Portsmouth's TEL Team

Page

Learning types

Media

Key features

What is it?

• Opens directly – no need for the student to download and open with proprietary software (e.g. MS Word or Adobe Reader).
• Can be easily accessed by mobile devices.
• Easy to maintain.
• Much more accessible for the student than a file download, and is readily configurable for reading (easier to resize text, change colours, etc, in the web browser).
• Can contain links - e.g. to files, web pages, or Glossary entries.

You can use Moodle's text editor to create a Page resource that can display many different types of content: plain text, images, audio, video, embedded code – or a combination of some or all of these. A student simply has to click the icon to view the page, and can then use any device (PC, tablet or phone) to access the text or media provided by the teacher. Typical uses might be to give a summary of a course syllabus, or to group several videos together with some explanatory text. For lengthier, more extensive content, a Moodle Book resource might be more appropriate.

Top tips!

Pages are more accessible than uploading word-processed documents, particularly if the document just contains text to be read and not downloaded.Be careful when pasting from a word-processed document (such as MS Word): copy-and-paste can add unwanted code to your Page and potentially cause problems.

How to access

In your Moodle module, with editing turned on, simply press the “Add a resource or activity” button and then choose Page. Give it a name and, if you want, a description. (Check the box if you want the description to be displayed on the course page.) Add your content. You can specify certain requirements in Appearance. In particular, you might want to display the last modified date – extremely useful if you update the resource frequently, less good if the resource is static and rarely changed! When you are done, click ‘Save and display’.

Quote

It’s great for (page-long) information that you plan on updating, such as schedules, lists of resources, instructions, and more.

Guidance and training

Teaching@NMC

The Page resource is a basic Moodle tool, and thus is well documented.

You can find more information on the elearning tools site.

Back

Visit the DCQE Training Calendar for sessions on Moodle.

Book

Learning types

Media

Key features

What is it?

• You can change the appearance of your books by formatting its chapters. Options include none (chapter and subchapter titles are not formatted), numbers (chapters and subchapters are formatted 1, 1.1, 1.2, 2), bullets (subchapters are indented and displayed with bullets) and indented (subchapters are indented).
• You can amend the style of the navigation, and enable students to navigate via images or text links. Or you might want no navigation – just the titles of the chapters.
• Students are able to print books or chapters as PDFs by clicking on the cog icon at the top-right of the book.
• You can edit a book from the Table of Contents. When a page is hidden, it will still be visible to you as a teacher but students will not be able to see it.
• You can tag book chapters with a specified tag collection, or standard tags may be suggested at course level.
• Books can be imported and exported between courses. This creates a zip folder of HTML files, including optional multimedia files and folders.

A Moodle Book offers a simple way to create multi-webpage resources in a book-like format, complete with chapters and subchapters bound together with a table of contents and navigation system. Students can print a Book by chapter or in its entirety.

How to access

In your Moodle module, with editing turned on, simply press the “Add a resource or activity” button and then choose Book. Give it a name and, if you want, a description. (Check the box if you want the description to be displayed on the course page.) In Appearance, set the chapter formatting, style of navigation and custom titles. Use the help icon at this point if you need more information. Various other settings can be configured, if you wish. Once you are happy with the settings, click ‘Save and display’. You can now add content to your first chapter. (Note that what Moodle calls a ‘chapter’, you might prefer to call a ‘page’. But this is a minor point.) Once you have added your content, save the changes. To add another chapter, go to the Table of Contents (which will either be at the side or underneath the chapter); click the + icon; and repeat the process. When you are done, click ‘Save and display’. Students access the book by clicking the icon on the course page. They navigate through the pages either with an arrow, text link or simply via the Table of Contents.

Top tips!

As a Moodle “teacher” developer, I recently had one of those “aha” moments. While working on a series of help pages that became unruly, I decided to condense the Pages into a Moodle Book. I had been avoiding the Moodle Book resource for years as I thought of it more as a resource than an activity. Once I started migrating the pages into the Book format, my apprehension lessened.

Make your book more engaging by embedding multimedia videos, images, sound and H5P content to its chapters!

Guidance and training

John Allen

The Page resource is a basic Moodle tool, and thus is well documented.

Back

You can find more information on the elearning tools site.

Visit the DCQE Training Calendar for sessions on Moodle.

Label

Learning types

Media

Key features

What is it?

• A Label’s main function is to divide and highlight sections on a Moodle course.
• You can add banners or descriptions to Labels in order to create different areas on the course.
• Excessive use of multimedia (sound and video) in Labels can slow down the loading of a course page.
• What a student sees depends on how you configure a Label. A Label appears as part of the course page, so students will not need to click any icons to view the content.
• You can set access restrictions to Labels, which only those with teacher-level access will be able to see. This can be useful for gamifying a Moodle course – for example, you could reveal an image in a label when a student completes an activity. Please see restrict access settings for further information.

The Label tool allows you to create a spacer on your Moodle course page. You can use Label to add text, images, audio, video or code in between other resources in different sections. If you use Label thoughtfully, this versatile resource can really improve the appearance of your module.

How to access

In your Moodle module, with editing turned on, simply press the “Add a resource or activity” button and then choose Label. You will now be able to add your Label text in the General settings area. Label text is the only required field. The other fields can be left at their default settings.When you are done, click ‘Save and display’.

Don’t think outside the box, think like there is no box!

Top tips!

Labels are your best friend when it comes to course creation. You can use them to add content of various types, to separate and highlight different sections, and in general to improve the visual appearance of a course. Remember, though, that excessive use of sound or video in Labels can slow down the loading of a course page.

Anon

Guidance and training

The Label resource is a basic Moodle tool, and thus is well documented.

You can find more information on the elearning tools site.

Back

Visit the DCQE Training Calendar for sessions on Moodle.

YouTube

Learning types

Media

Key features

What is it?

• Users can search for and watch videos.
• You can create your own YouTube channel and upload videos to it.
• You can share videos with your students by embedding them in your Moodle site or by sending them the video link.
• You can create playlists of your videos and of other users’ videos.
• YouTube lets you subscribe to/follow other users.

YouTube is an online video sharing service, offering you a way to share engaging disciplinary content with your students to bring a subject to life visually. Users can upload, view and share videos either publicly or privately. You can group content together in topics that link to the structure of your teaching.

How to access

Go to www.youtube.com and click on the ‘SIGN IN’ button in the top-right corner. Sign in with your University email address and password.

YouTube is useful for sharing your videos publicly and privately. Having a presence online can be really great for marketing your courses to potential students, as long as you keep it current and up-to-date. Remember to watch through any videos that you create before making them public and make use of the automatic captioning service that YouTube provides to make your videos accessible for your viewers.

Top tips!

There are three different privacy settings for YouTube videos: public, private and unlisted. Get to know what each of these settings mean to ensure you share your videos with your intended audience.

Jo Fairwood, Online Course Developer, Technology Enhanced Learning.

• Public – can be seen by anyone. They can also be shared with anyone using YouTube.
• Private – can only be seen by you and the people you choose.
• Unlisted – can be seen and shared by anyone with the link.

Guidance and training

Learn more about YouTube privacy settings. Remember to add captions to your videos to make your content accessible for viewers.

How to upload a video to YouTube

How to embed a YouTube video in Moodle

Find out how to use YouTube’s automatic captioning service.

Back

Learn more about YouTube from the YouTube Help Centre.

Google Sites

Learning types

Media

What is it?

Key features

You can use Google Sites to create web pages and build websites. The built-in editor allows you to add text, provide links to other websites, and embed images and videos. You might wish to create a website yourself, or get students to create their own websites to show off their design skills or domain knowledge.

• Create web pages that are responsive and display nicely on any device from desktop, tablet to mobile.
• Choose from a range of layouts and themes for your site pages.
• Customise theme styles, fonts and colours.
• Insert content from Google Drive and other apps.
• Embed interactive content such as YouTube videos, maps and calendars.
• Add buttons, table of contents and other features to aid navigation on your site.
• Live collaborative editing, allowing multiple users to contribute to the site at the same time.
• WYSIWYG drag and drop.

How to access

Sites is part of the free, real-time, web-based suite of tools provided by Google. Other tools provided by the suite, some of which you might have come across, include Docs, Sheets, Slides, Forms, and Drawing.

Go to https://sites.google.com/ and click on ‘Blank’ to create a new site.

Alternatively, log into your Google Drive using your UoP email address and password and click ‘New’ in the top left-hand corner and then click ‘Google Sites’.

Learning is more than the acquisition of the ability to think; it is the acquisition of many specialised abilities for thinking about a variety of things.

Top tips!

Google Sites in practice:

Lev S. Vygotsky

If you connect your site to Google Analytics you can gather data and track traffic to your site. To do this, make sure you are in editor mode and click on Settings (the little cog icon). Here you will find an option for Analytics. Enter your Google Analytics ID and make sure Enable Analytics is selected.

TEL Tales Blended Learning Festival

Blended and Connected Learning Mini Festivals

eLearning tools

Guidance and training

Preparing for teaching in a blended learning context

The IT Training team offers all University staff and researchers training courses in the use of Google (Calendar, Drive, Forms, Mail and Sheets).

Back

LinkedIn Learning offers online training material so you can get up to speed with Google Docs.

Google Sites Essential Training.

MS Office

Learning types

Media

What is it?

Key features

The Microsoft Office suite of tools is similar in scope to, but in some cases more powerful than, the Google suite. MS Office suite contains familiar software such as Word, Excel and PowerPoint. The current version of MS Office in use at UoP is Office 2016.

• Microsoft Word is a word processor – it allows you to create text-based documents, create pages and layouts, and add images.
• Microsoft Excel is a spreadsheet tool – it allows you to collate data in sheets and present them in graphs, tables and charts.
• Microsoft PowerPoint is a presentation tool – it allows you to create and share slides.
• Microsoft Office also includes Visio, which lets you create flowcharts and diagrams.
• Microsoft Office can be used on Mac and Windows, 7, 8 and 10

How to access

You can access MS Office programs from your desktop, start button or applications folder. Simply click on the tool you wish to use – and create a new document.

Top tips!

Think about accessibility when creating your documents. MS Office contains many functions to help you ensure that all learners can get the most out of your learning materials – particularly if you intend to upload the materials to Moodle. Here are some useful tips to consider: Create accessible Office documents.

Technology is not just a tool. It can give learners a voice that they may not have had before.

George Couros

Guidance and training

Staff IT Training

LinkedIn Learning Paths

Back

Microsoft Office 2016 - what is new and what is different?

Box of Broadcasts

Learning types

Media

What is it?

Key features

Box of Broadcasts (BoB) is the world’s largest shared online off-air television and radio recording service for education and research.

• Access 2.5 million broadcasts dating back to the 1970s
• Provides access to programmes held in the extensive BUFVC archive
• The service includes ten foreign language channels
• Create your own playlists, clips and clip compilations
• Search programme transcripts and subtitles
• Embed content in Moodle and share on social media
• One-click citation for easy academic referencing
• Available on all devices
• Fully accessible by all staff and students

All students, researchers and staff at Portsmouth can use BoB to record television and radio programmes from over 60 Freeview channels. Embed these recordings in Moodle to create a modern, dynamic and engaging learning experience.

How to access

Go to https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/ - using your Portsmouth credentials

Top tips!

The vast collection of programming available via BoB allows you to creatively embed resources into a variety of contexts providing a basis from which to innovatively engage students in learning and teaching.

Use tools within BoB to create innovative materials that support teaching and learning:

• Create playlists, clips and clip compilations
• Embed content in Moodle, Padlet, H5P and to support synchronous and asynchronous activities
• Find programmes and clips on your topic by searching across programme transcripts and subtitles

Dr Andy Clegg, AcDev

Guidance and training

Back

The BoB website provides examples of teaching materials designed by academics.

More instructional videos on BoB can be on their site.

Panopto

Learning types

Media

Key features

What is it?

• Can capture multiple streams from simple screen recording to more complex simultaneous recording of connected hardware (cameras, visualisers, microscopes etc)
• The University’s supported repository of videos and media
• Videos captured and upload to Panopto are accessible as they are captioned with ASR (Automatic Speech Recognition) which can be fully edited.
• Can be used with mobile devices using the Panopto Mobile App or in-browser.

Training videos are available on our Content Capture site .

Panopto is an all-in-one content-capture solution that works seamlessly with Moodle and on any device (Windows, Mac, browser, in-Moodle, mobile app). With a single click you can capture the contents of your computer screen, along with your audio commentary and, if you wish, a video of yourself. Your content is then automatically uploaded to the platform and is available online, on-demand. The platform has a built-in search facility so students can search your content by keyword. Captions, which can be edited, are applied automatically.

I would like to see more staff experiment with video learning as I feel too many academics are afraid to stray from ‘the norm’. From experience, however, I know that some of the most rewarding learning opportunities arise when lecturers take a risk and try something new.

Rowan South, Education Officer, Newcastle University Students’ Union

Top tips!

How to access

Go to https://port.cloud.panopto.eu/ using your university SSO. From here, Panopto Capture lets you record in a browser on any machine. This site also displays previously uploaded videos or videos that you have access to. A Panopto recorder is available from AppsAnywhere. This has the same functionality as Panopto Capture, but allows you to record at leisure on your chosen device.

• Placing videos in the Panopto Moodle Module Folder automatically assigns sharing access to the videos within it. This means you can concentrate on the resource itself rather than adjusting settings, safe in the knowledge that students on your module will have viewing access.
• Panopto videos have extensive analytics, which allow you to check not only views but levels of engagements and other metrics
• Transform your videos into active learning resources by adding quizzes.

Guidance and training

TEL have developed a dedicated website for Panopto

All of the user guides are on the Digital Learning Portsmouth YouTube channel

Back

Panopto itself offer extensive videos and documentation relating to the platform

We provide training specifically about Panopto – see our schedule of events

Padlet

Learning types

Media

Key features

What is it?

• Padlet is a highly visual, engaging and intuitive collaborative tool that supports the University's pedagogic approach of 'Blended and Connected Learning'.
• The University’s license allows you to create unlimited padlets, and arrange them into specific folders.
• The different padlet types – Wall; Canvas; Stream; Grid; Map; Shelf; Backchannel – are suited to a variety of uses. For example, Canvas allows freeform posting – ideal for 'mind mapping' activities.
• Students can post images, audio and video, thus facilitating a range of collaborative opportunities.
• Students can comment on, like, vote and score posts – making it a great tool for peer engagement and discussion.
• Padlet boards can easily be embedded within Moodle pages and so you can easily link to specific activities using the University's Moodle template. You can embed YouTube videos and allow students to directly comment on what they have watched.
• You can also embed your own Panopto videos.
• You can create links between different boards, making it a really useful tool for group work activity.
• Linked documents can be uploaded and viewed within the application: users don't have to download the documents. Padlet is thus an ideal platform for students to share work with staff and peers (250MB storage per item upload limit).
• Padlet updates in real time - no need to refresh the browser to see changes.

Padlet, an online notice board, lets you create a range of interactive applications for real-time collaborative engagement with and between students. A wide variety of padlet formats are available, which enable staff and students to present information in different ways. Students can import a range of file types and media, and you can embed the padlet in Moodle.

How to access

Go to uop.padlet.org to create your own account using your Google login credentials.

Top tips!

When setting up a padlet you are asked to choose the privacy settings. It is important for GDPR reasons that you choose 'Secret'. This ensures that your padlet is viewable only by students with the correct link. Under the privacy settings, make sure too that you give users 'can write' permission: this is easy to overlook, but the setting allows students to add posts directly to the padlet. Once created, you can re-use or duplicate a padlet by using the 'ReMake' option.

Quote

Intuitive, flexible and adaptable - Padlet's functionality provides the ideal platform for encouraging collaborative engagement online.

Guidance and training

Dr Andy Clegg, AcDev

Back

You can find more information on the elearning tools site.

Visit the DCQE Training Calendar for sessions on Padlet.

Google Meet

Learning types

Media

What is it?

Google Meet is a video conferencing app, based around scheduled appointments, which you can use for online teaching and meetings. Google Meet integrates with G Suite versions of Google Calendar and Gmail and shows the complete list of participants and scheduled meetings. Google Meet is easy to use but it currently lacks some of the features of other video conferencing tools, so be sure to understand the pros and cons before using it for online teaching!

Key features

• With Google Meet you can easily start a meeting and share the link with others or schedule the meeting using Google Calendar.
• When you are in a Google Meet you can change the meeting layout to one of four available view types: auto, tiled, spotlight, sidebar (learn more here).
• You can turn captions on to view subtitles as everyone speaks during the Google Meet.
• Meeting moderators can use breakout rooms to divide participants into smaller groups during the Meet.
• You can share your screen or a specific window during a meeting.

How to access

Go to meet.google.com. To start a meeting click on the ‘New meeting’ button. You then have three options:

• Create a meeting for later.
• Start an instant meeting.
• Schedule with Google Calendar.

I guess this last year most people have tried several different platforms for online teaching and meetings. I’ve been through Webex, Teams, Zoom, yet my current favourite is Google Meets. I find the controls and settings intuitive and easy to work out, the live rolling transcript is about the most accurate I have seen and everything is shiny and quick. I have used it for events from 1 up to 70 participants with no glitches at all.

You can learn more about setting up a Google Meet in the Google Meet Help Centre

or watch this video.

Visit the MyPort article on Google Meet for more information and instructions for use.

Quote

Dr John Fox. Senior Lecturer, ICJS.

Top tips!

A handy feature of Google Meet is that you can see who is in a Google Meet before you join the meeting. You can see how you look before you join the meeting! (This feature is not available in the ‘Start an instant meeting’ option).

Guidance and training

To see all of the features of Google Meet visit the Google Meet Help Centre.

All The New Features of Google Meet

If you are already a Google Meet user then you may be interested in the new features of Google Meet – start this video at 2 minutes.

Back

UoP IT support guide on Google Meet.

Check out this LinkedIn Learning course on Google Meet.

Wiki

Learning types

Media

Key features

What is it?

• Allows students to work collaboratively by creating pages together, similar to Wikipedia.
• Unlike other collaborative editing programs, the Wiki is a standard Moodle activity and no extra logins or permissions are needed.
• Although Wikis are often used as a collaborative activity, the Moodle Wiki can be used for individual use too.
• A history of previous versions of each page in the Wiki is kept, listing the edits made by each participant.
• The Wiki can be used for assessment and graded by adding the grade in the Moodle gradebook.

You can use the Wiki tool in Moodle to get students to collaborate on the creation of a navigable resource. The Wiki allows for ideas to grow organically, and can span multiple pages of content.

How to access

In your Moodle module, with editing turned on, simply press the “Add a resource or activity” button and then choose Wiki. Give it a name and, if you want, a description. (Check the box if you want the description to be displayed on the course page.) Choose if you want the Wiki to be an individual or collaborative activity. You can add further settings to your Wiki, such as format (e.g. HTML, add restrictions and tags). When you are finished, click ‘Save and display’.

Top tips!

Think outside the box with Wikis. They can be used for lots of different activities, such as:

• Group lecture notes or study guides.
• Students to collaboratively author an online book, creating content on a topic set by their tutor.
• Collaborative storytelling or poetry creation, where each participant writes a line or verse.
• A personal journal for examination notes or revision (using an individual wiki).

Quote

Unity is strength … when there is teamwork and collaboration, wonderful things can be achieved.

Mattie Stepanek

Guidance and training

The Wiki resource is a basic Moodle tool, and thus is well documented.

Back

You can find more information on the elearning tools site.

Visit the DCQE Training Calendar for sessions on Moodle Wiki.

Zoom

Learning types

Media

Key features

What is it?

• Meeting capacity: 300
• Meeting duration (for more than 2 people): Unlimited
• You can see all your Zoom account settings at https://port-ac-uk.zoom.us/.
• You can see who has attended your Zoom meeting, which is useful if you need to take a register of students.
• If you record your Zoom meeting to the Zoom Cloud it will automatically be uploaded to your Panopto ‘My Folder’ in a sub-folder called ‘Meeting Recordings’.
• You can share your screen and applications during the Zoom meeting.
• Set a virtual background for your meeting.
• Use virtual whiteboards and annotate shared screens during the meeting.
• Built in reactions like ‘raise a hand’ will help provide feedback for you as the meeting host.

Zoom is a video conferencing platform with several features, such as chat, screen sharing, webinar functionality and break-out rooms, that make it an attractive option for live online teaching.

How to access

Go to https://port-ac-uk.zoom.us/ and choose Sign-in. Then log in with your University username and password.

Read more about accessing your UoP Zoom account here.

Top tips!

Safety first!

Zoom is such a straightforward tool to use in teaching live online ... I particularly like the Zoom polls which can be prepared in advance and provide very quick and visual evidence of student views with the reassuring anonymity which students appreciate.

• Keep your waiting room turned on. If you are expecting a lot of people, make another attendee a co-host so they can let people in.
• Update your client to the latest version – the newer clients allow you to directly report bad behaviour to Zoom.
• If all the attendees have Zoom accounts then leave the meeting authentication setting on. If your meeting is with University-only attendees you can increase the authentication to University of Portsmouth accounts only.
• When everyone has arrived at your meeting, lock the meeting.

Quote

Dr Sarah Charman, Reader in Criminology, ICJS

Guidance and training

and FAQs.

Visit the Zoom help centre website for video tutorials

Creating a Zoom session in Moodle and pre-populated break out rooms.

You can find more information on the elearning tools site

Back

and in the MyPort article hub.

Learn about the Zoom in-meeting reactions.

Visit the IT Training Suite for sessions on Zoom.

Jamboard

Learning types

Media

Key features

What is it?

• Simple to set-up and use.
• The output is downloadable as a PDF to “lock” and share the creations.
• A Jamboard can be set up by both lecturers and students, and it can be shared through a link or by listing specific named users.

Jamboard is an interactive shared whiteboard tool that provides multiple “jam” spaces or slides for people to write on. Students can simultaneously collaborate on a document using options such as a pen tool, sticky notes, image uploader, shape creator, text box and laser pointer.

How to access

Top tips!

Go to https://jamboard.google.com/ and the app is free (downloadable from the Android and Apple app stores).

• Users can place a range of files in a “Jam”. For larger groups, set up multiple slides so collaborators have their own space to complete the same task.
• Another great idea is for work planning: using post-it notes and multiple slides, students can create atimeline of tasks and ideas that fit under specificheadings. Each slide can relate to a theme andeveryone working on the content can add to it.

Jamboard is great because it allows you to copy Jams easily and quickly, making the same Jam for multiple classes. It's also really flexible and easy to use, so can suit most tasks. I also love that you can have multiple pages nestled under the same Jam, so if you need to do a few for one class, it's only one link!

Dr Katherine Brown, Principal Lecturer, ICJS.

Guidance and training

Contact the TEL team if you would like to learn more about Jamboard.

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Google Docs

Learning types

Media

Key features

What is it?

• Browser-based word processor
• Real-time collaboration
• Easily shared
• Easy to use
• Integrated with other
• Google Drive apps
• Many add-ons available to add features that you find useful
• Few software compatibility issues – Google Docs is the same on your system as it is on someone else’s

Use the Google Docs – an online text editor, which is part of the Google Drive suite of apps – to create your own documents and to collaborate with others on documents, in real-time.

How to access

You can access Google Docs via your web browser or via mobile apps for both main platforms:

Google Docs for iOS or

Google Docs for Android

A particularly rich and helpful component of using Google Docs to teach writing is that instructors can easily review the steps that students took in order to better assess the choices these writers made in drafting the paper. Instead of having students turn in a stapled collection of multiple drafts and peer-feedback letters, instructors can quickly view the revision history of the document

Top tips!

The editing modes in Google Docs are perfect for getting people’s opinions on what you’ve written. If you share a document with someone for “suggestions only”, for example, you can approve or reject their suggestions. In this mode, collaborators cannot change your work without your approval. This works in a very similar way to ‘Track Changes’ in a Microsoft Word document, but in real-time.

Center for Research on Learning and Teaching, University of Michigan

Guidance and training

Since this is a standard product, the best place to go for assistance is the Google Editors Help site. This site will provide you with the most up-to-date information, and help in many tasks you might need to complete when using Google Docs.

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Chat

Learning types

Media

Key features

What is it?

The Chat tool allows participants to engage in a text-based, real-time synchronous discussion. Chat activities are especially useful when users, such as distance learning students, are not able to meet face-to-face.

• Allows course participants to have a real-time synchronous discussion in a Moodle course.
• You can use different themes – however, if you change the theme mid-chat you will lose the conversation thread.
• Accessible interface.
• Schedule regular chat sessions for your students.
• Save past sessions which can be viewed by all users.
• Restrict access to Chat sessions allowing for group work.
• Add an Activity completion criteria for students that do attend, encouraging others to.

How to access

In your Moodle module, with editing turned on, simply press the “Add a resource or activity” button and then choose Chat. You will now be able to add a name to your Chat room and give it a description. The Chat room name will be displayed on the unit homepage, while the description will appear on the Chat room start page (unless you check the Display description on course page and then the description will appear in both locations).You can specify certain requirements in Chat Sessions. In particular, you might want to display past Chat sessions for users to view.When you are done, click ‘Save and display’.

Useful websites

Top tips!

Activity completion

How to use use Moodle - 5 tips to take classes online in Moodle

• Add Chat room etiquette and guidance via the description box when setting up before inviting your students to use chat online.
• The Talk link adds an @ to a user's name in the conversation thread, but it is not a private message; everyone can still see it. Make sure students are aware of this beforehand.

Learning is a process where knowledge is presented to us, then shaped through understanding, discussion and reflection.

Paulo Freire

Guidance and training

The Chat activity is a basic Moodle tool, and thus is well documented.

You can find more information on the elearning tools site.

Back

Visit the DCQE Training Calendar for sessions on Moodle.

Forum

Learning types

Media

Key features

What is it?

Set up a Forum activity in Moodle to enable students to have asynchronous discussions. Such a Forum can serve many different purposes. For example, you could rate posts; or you could have students rate each others’ posts (peer evaluation). Ratings can be aggregated to form a final grade, which is recorded in the gradebook.

• A Forum is asynchronous – this gives students time to formulate their messages before posting.
• There are multiple Forum types.
• You can restrict Forums to groups of students.
• Forums can be used as graded assignments. You can reply privately to a post if necessary.
• Forums can be locked to prevent further posts and replies.
• You can ‘pin’ a post to the top of a Forum.

How to access

In your Moodle module, with editing turned on, simply press the “Add a resource or activity” button and then choose Forum. Give it a name and, if you want, a description. (Check the box if you want the description to be displayed on the course page.)

Top tips!

• Post a welcome message when you set up a Forum. This will help encourage your students to engage in the discussion. An empty Forum can be a daunting place and a friendly message will help alleviate any nerves about posting to it.
• When setting up your Forum, ensure you choose the appropriate subscription setting. ‘Auto’ is recommended as initially all students are subscribed but they can choose to unsubscribe. If you set it to ‘forced’ your messages will be sent to all those who are enrolled on your Moodle site (students and staff) and they will not be able to unsubscribe.
• You can allow files to be attached to posts. Attached images are displayed in the post itself.

There are a number of additional settings to consider and you can learn more about them in this ‘How to add a forum to Moodle’ guide.

I find the forums on Moodle very useful to interact with students, especially with DL students that you don't get to meet or see very often. I use it at the very beginning of the semester to introduce myself (including a bit of personal stuff, football, etc.) and invite students to do the same which works very well and help to create some sense of belonging.

Guidance and training

Dr Damien Cassan, Senior Lecturer, ICJS.

Learn how to set up your forum using the Moodle video guide.

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You can find more information on the elearning tools site.

Visit the DCQE Training Calendar for sessions on Moodle.

Advanced Forum (Open Forum)

Learning types

Media

What is it?

Key features

If you want to enable asynchronous discussions on Moodle then, in most cases, you should use the Forum activity.

• Open Forums can be used as an assessment tool in a variety of ways depending on the assessment criteria and the learning outcome.
• Discussion boards can be used throughout the unit where students’ contributions are assessed at the end of the semester or they can be set up as single summative assessments.
• Open Forums can also be used as a peer assessment tool, where students can provide feedback on an individual student’s work or on collaborative work.
• Open Forums allow for a grade to be assigned directly to the Moodle Gradebook. A grade item will be created in the Moodle Gradebook automatically if you have enabled grading in the Grade section of the Open forum activity settings.

Use the Advanced Forum (Open Forum) tool if you need elements such as anonymous posting and private replies.

How to access

In your Moodle module, with editing turned on, simply press the “Add a resource or activity” button and then choose Open Forum. Give it a name, decide on the ‘type’ of forum you require and, if you want, a description. (Check the box if you want the description to be displayed on the course page.) There are many options you can apply to your Open Forum, from bookmarking, allowing anonymous replies, to adding attachments allowing subscriptions to the forum to threshold settings. Like most Moodle activities you can also restrict access to the Open Forum and add tags for searchability. When you are finished, click ‘Save and display’.

Top tips!

• Set out clear expectations for your students from the offset - students can't succeed if they don't know what you expect of them!
• Create a rubric including the following: how many classmates do you want them to respond to? Days/times you want them to post a new thread? Give examples of how they can move a conversation to a deeper level of understanding.
• Encourage your students to participate, consider giving credit for their time and effort.
• Posting an article or a case study for students to discuss is an excellent way to start a classroom discussion.
• You can also create a "study group" atmosphere by asking them to quiz one another on course material.

Guidance and training

The Advanced Forum resource is a basic Moodle tool, and thus is well documented.

You can find more information on the elearning tools site.

The aim of argument , or of discussion, should not be victory, but progress

Visit the DCQE Training Calendar for sessions on Moodle.

Joseph Joubert

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Vevox

Learning types

Media

What is it?

Key features

Use Vevox, a browser-based audience response tool, to enhance engagement in your teaching. The real-time polling feature allows you to ask questions; gather ideas; gauge understanding and knowledge; and get feedback. Vevox also offers a Q&A board that allows text chat and questions to be posted to the presenter. The class can up-vote comments to rank the questions.

• Students do not need a Vevox account to be able to use it.
• Vevox supports the following question types for polls: MultiChoice; Word Cloud; Text; Rating; and Numeric.
• Vevox enables you to create Q&A feedback and Surveys to use with your audience after a live session has ended.
• With the Vevox PowerPoint plugin you can add questions, polls and word clouds directly into your previously created presentations. You can find the plugin in AppsAnywhere.

How to access

• The Vevox add-in to Moodle is a quick way of creating a Vevox "Meeting" for a module site and allows you a single point of entry to Vevox using Moodle. Keep this option hidden from your students: they do not have the same access level and will get an error message when trying to click through. Students do not need to sign up to a Vevox account to use it.
• Vevox allows you to export responses to Excel.

To access Vevox, follow these simple steps:

1. Go to https://portsmouthuniversity.vevox.com/
2. Click login with SSO button. This should then take you directly into Vevox.
3. You may be presented with the Portsmouth Access Manager (login screen). Sign in with your standard Username and Password; this will authenticate you and you will then be able to use Vevox.

Top tips!

I delivered a session on how to do a dissertation. At the beginning of the session I used a Likert-scale type question to find out how confident students were feeling about doing a diss, and then did the same question again at the end. Delighted to see that anxiety had reduced, but even if it had stayed the same or gone up, that would have been really useful info for me.

Guidance and training

• You can use Vevox as a standalone product. You can also use it with certain versions of PowerPoint, which means you can add interactions to an already created PowerPoint and work within a familiar system. Within PowerPoint you can moderate the Q&A board or switch it off per meeting.
• You can run Vevox anonymously or set it to allow students to enter their name or ID. With the University licence it will soon be possible to run a session anonymously yet still capture student login details.

You can find all Vevox support materials on their webpages.

Visit their YouTube channel to help you apply Vevox within your teaching.

Anthony Picot, Senior Lecturer, Manchester Metropolitan University

You can find more information on the elearning tools site.

Visit the DCQE Training Calendar for sessions on Moodle.

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Gmail

Learning types

Media

What is it?

Key features

The University’s email system lets you do much more than just send and receive emails – read below for tips on how it can help with various aspects of work life.

• Send and receive emails.
• Gmail has email, chat and meetings all in one place - called Integrated Gmail.
• Access other Google apps from the menu in the top right hand corner.
• Schedule emails to send at any time.
• Organise your emails into folders, which Google calls ‘labels’ and ‘sub-labels’.
• Save attachments directly to Google Drive.
• Translate emails using Google Translate, which is built right into Gmail.
• Pause your inbox to prevent new emails from coming into your inbox. This can help you concentrate on other tasks and keep distractions to a minimum until you are ready to receive emails.

How to access

Go to https://mail.google.com/ and log in using your University email address and password.

Top tips!

• Use the Undo Send setting to recall a message. You can set a time window during which you can recall your message – and save you from sending that email with the spelling mistake!

• Enable the Reading Pane so you can easily preview your emails. You can choose between a vertical preview pane, a horizontal preview pane, or no preview pane.
• Use Nudges to remind you to reply to an email – or to follow up an email to which you have not yet had a reply.

I find Gmail very useful for conversation view and creating filters for emails from specified email addresses or certain keywords so labels are automatically applied before I even open them. I also really like the “Schedule send” option when sending emails. The integration with Google Hangouts has been very beneficial when working away from the office so I don’t miss any information from colleagues while working on emails.

Guidance and training

Linkedin Learning has lessons on Gmail Essential Training

and Gmail Advanced Tips and Tricks.

Find out about Integrated Gmail.

Vicky Purrington, Student and Academic Administrator, MyPort St George’s.

Visit the Gmail Help Centre.

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H5P

Learning types

Media

Key features

What is it?

Using H5P you can improve your Moodle module by creating exciting learning content: interactive videos, question sets, drag-and-drop questions, multi-choice questions, presentations and much more.

• In addition to being an authoring tool for rich content, H5P enables you to import and export H5P files for effective reuse and sharing of content.
• User interactions and scores are tracked using xAPI and are available through the Moodle Gradebook. (Note: it is currently possible for people with programming skills to cheat in H5P interactions and obtain the full score without knowing the correct answers. H5Ps must not be used for exams or similar.)
• You add interactive H5P content by creating content using the built-in authoring tool or uploading H5P files found on other H5P enabled sites.

How to access

In your Moodle module, with editing turned on, simply press the “Add a resource or activity” button and then choose H5P (Interactive Content). Add a description for your activity in the description box. From the Editor options, select which H5P content type you would like to use. You can click on Details to get an overview of the content type. You can apply further settings, such as display options, grades, common module settings, access restrictions and tags. When you are finished, click ‘Save and display’.

Useful websites

Getting started

Top tips!

Focus on formative feedback

Before building your H5P activity, first plan the structure of your scenario. Sometimes physically drawing it out can help. That way, the development process within H5P/Moodle will be much smoother.

Good multiple choice

I've been a fan of using H5P for a number of years now and in particular the branching scenario but I'd yet to find a real world case to use it. When the nursing team approached me to film some videos for them in the simulation suite I jumped at the chance to suggest it! It proved a valuable substitute to a real life experience as one student said.

Guidance and training

Jonny Bell (OCD - Faculty of Science and Health)

Learn more about H5P from their webpages.

You can find more information on the elearning tools site.

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Visit the DCQE Training Calendar for sessions on Moodle.

Lesson

Learning types

Media

Key features

What is it?

Use the Lesson tool to create pages of content for students to read and/or questions for students to work through. The Lesson tool can be used as a graded, linear learning experience or as an ungraded, non-linear practice session.

• Create 'branching' exercises where students are presented with content and then, depending on their responses, are directed to specific pages.
• Lesson content can be text – or embedded multimedia such as videos or H5P.
• The Lesson can be used for practice or you can set it as a graded activity within your Moodle unit.
• The Lesson can be timed and students can be navigated through the activity with prompts such as a progress bar and table of contents.
• Students can have multiple responses to questions.
• You can set default feedback to the activities in the Lesson.

How to access

In your Moodle module, with editing turned on, simply press the “Add a resource or activity” button and then choose Lesson. Give it a name and, if you want, a description. (Check the box if you want the description to be displayed on the course page.) You can amend the appearance of your Lesson. You may want to add a progress bar or display a menu. You can set the availability of your Lesson, time limits and deadlines. Further settings include number of attempts, peer reviews and grade. Like most Moodle activities you can also restrict access to the Lesson and add tags for searchability. When you are finished, click ‘Save and display’.

Top tips!

• Storyboard your Lesson! Think about what you want your students to gain from your Lesson activity and storyboard your ideas on paper or an online notice board tool such as Padlet. By planning your Lesson this way you’ll be able to structure the various branched exercises that you want your students to follow. It’ll also provide a guide for you to work with when it comes to building your activity in Moodle.
• Although a successful Lesson requires careful planning and testing, once you have set it up a Lesson is re-usable and easy to update.

Teachers can change lives with just the right mix of chalk and challenges

Guidance and training

Joyce Meyer

The Lesson resource is a basic Moodle tool, and thus is well documented.

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Visit the DCQE Training Calendar for sessions on Moodle.

SCORM

Learning types

Media

Key features

What is it?

SCORM (Sharable Content Object Reference Model) is a collection of specifications and standards that allow for the packaging and description of an elearning course. If you know of a course that exists as a SCORM package then you can import it into your Moodle module. Equally, you can export a Moodle course as a SCORM package for use in another VLE.

• SCORM is a collection of specifications that enable accessibility, interoperability and reusability of web-based learning content.
• Students click on the SCORM icon in the Moodle course to access the material.
• Depending on how a SCORM package has been set up, students can browse the activity before attempting it. If preview is disabled they will only see an Enter button.
• Teachers will be able to view a reports tab, where they can access different information about student attempts.

How to access

In your Moodle module, with editing turned on, simply press the “Add a resource or activity” button and then choose SCORM package. Give it a name and description and tick the box if you would like your description to be displayed on your course page. Add your SCORM package by uploading your files (which will either be in .xml or .zip format) to the ‘drag and drop’ area. You have the option to amend the appearance of your SCORM package within your Moodle course: it can either appear in your course (i.e. in the current window) or display in a new window. You can attach a grading method and apply tags. When you have finished setting up simply click ‘Save and display’ and it will appear on your course page.

Top tips!

You can export and import SCORM packages from one Moodle course to another. So if you have created something useful in your course which works well with your students you can use this work as a template for other courses or to share with your colleagues to use!

A good example of the use of SCORM activities is the Epigeum Resources 2020. Time can often be a constraint when developing rich content for Moodle, but staff don't have to worry with the Epigeum resources, just import the SCORM packages and away you go!

Guidance and training

Marie Kndall-Waters - Senior Educational Technologist Technology Enhanced Learning

The SCORM resource is a basic Moodle tool, and thus is well documented.

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Visit the DCQE Training Calendar for sessions on Moodle.

An example of SCORM Activities in practice is the Epigeum Resources 2020.

Survey

Learning types

Media

Key features

What is it?

Use the Survey tool (which offers a number of verified survey instruments that have been found to be useful in stimulating and assessing students’ learning in online environments) to gather data from your students. In turn, this can help you reflect on your teaching and gain knowledge about your class.

• Contains a number of verified survey instruments, including COLLES (Constructivist On-Line Learning Environment Survey)

and ATTLS (Attitudes to Thinking and Learning Survey), which have been found useful in assessing and stimulating learning in online environments.

• Choose and add pre-written questions to your Survey, similar to when using Moodle Quiz activity.
• Allows you to gather data from your students to help you learn more about them, which in turn will help you when reflecting on your own teaching.
• Students are able to view their responses in comparison to the average response in their class.

How to access

In your Moodle module, with editing turned on, simply press the “Add a resource or activity” button and then choose Survey. Give it a name, decide on the ‘type’ of survey you require and, if you want, a description. (Check the box if you want the description to be displayed on the course page.) You can also provide an expected study time, for instance 5 minutes up to more than 4 hours. Like most Moodle activities you can also restrict access to the Survey and add tags for searchability. When you are finished, click ‘Save and display’.

Top tips!

• Think about what you want to achieve from your survey, what feedback do you want from your students.
• Remember that the Survey activity is not customisable in Moodle: if you want to create your own survey questions, then explore the Feedback activity (please see video under Media).

Effective feedback is not praise or criticism. It is carefully chosen language and actions that propel the learner forward.

Guidance and training

Regie Routman

The Survey resource is a basic Moodle tool, and thus is well documented.

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Visit the DCQE Training Calendar for sessions on Moodle.

Google Forms

Learning types

Media

Key features

What is it?

You can use Google Forms to create surveys, quizzes, event registrations, order forms and more. The collected data can then be collated automatically in a Google Sheet, ready for you to analyse.

• You can create unlimited forms by logging in with your University Google account.
• Create your own form from scratch or use a built-in template.
• Customise the theme of your form with fonts, colours and images.
• There are a range of question types to choose from: short answer, paragraph, multiple choice, checkboxes, drop-down, tick box grid, and so on.
• You can embed images and YouTube videos.
• Use Google Forms as a quiz and assign points based answers. Mark the quiz yourself or set it to auto-mark.
• Quickly create a spreadsheet of your form’s responses - very handy!

How to access

Go to https://forms.google.com/ and click ‘Blank’ to open a new form.

Alternatively log into your Google Drive using your UoP email address and password and click ‘New’ in the top left hand corner and then click ‘Google Forms’.

Top tips!

• When sending a Google Form to your recipients, make sure that you send the sharing link and not the form editing link. Learn more about the different form sending options.

Google forms is a useful tool to receive information from students. It is simple to set up, quick and easy for students to respond, and the data is then automatically collated in a clear and concise format.

Guidance and training

• Also ensure that your form sharing settings are set correctly for your audience. If the form is being sent internally you can restrict access to your organisation’s users only. If you want to send the form externally, uncheck this box. Learn more about your form settings.

Sam Butcher, Student and Academic Administrator, MyPort Milldam.

Learn Google Forms basics.

Take a LinkedIn Learning course on Google Forms.

Sign up for UoP IT Training on Google Forms.

Visit the Google Formsl Help Centre.

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LinkedIn Learning

Learning types

Media

What is it?

Key features

LinkedIn Learning is an online educational platform that offers an extensive library of elearning courses

• Personalised content - Takes the data and insights of the over 575m members of LinkedIn and suggests the most relevant courses or videos based on skills known to be important to a given job function or role.
• Learning paths - Discover learning paths that recommend a relevant sequence of videos and courses to help you gain expertise in a given topic.
• Collections - Playlists are known as collections in LinkedIn Learning. You can create your own collections, add videos, courses, and custom content of any media format to collections and view in any sequential order.
• Discover new topics - It's easy to search and browse courses. LinkedIn have also made curated topic pages, populated with the most popular courses.

ranging from time management to learning industry standard software. LinkedIn Learning offers a personalised learning experience, which allows users to learn at their own pace to achieve their professional and personal goals. You can use it for your own personal development – or as guided learning content for your students.

How to access

Guidance and training

LinkedIn Learning is available to all staff and students at the University. To sign in to LinkedIn Learning you can either use our single sign-on (SSO) link – this will take you straight to the University login page – or go through the main

For guidance on how to access and get the most out of using LinkedIn Learning, visit: https://linkedinlearning.port.ac.uk/

Training to groups of students, staff or teams on LinkedIn Learning and how best to use it is available via Information Services. To request a briefing contact: ittraining@port.ac.uk

Top tips!

LinkedIn Learning site. Both options will take you to your account. New users will be given the option to connect an existing personal LinkedIn account or go straight to LinkedIn Learning.

Colleagues from across the University have created a number of collections and learning paths to support students and staff. Areas covered include working and teaching online; student placements; research students; and the online alternatives to the IT Training team's classroom sessions.

Being able to go onto LinkedIn Learning, learn the content, and revisit it later is extremely cost effective. It’s becoming extremely useful, and easier for staff to develop their professional skills.

Beth Marhanka, Director of Gelhardin New Media Center, Georgetown University

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Glossary

Learning types

Media

What is it?

Key features

The Glossary activity lets you create and maintain a list of definitions – useful, for example, for generating a knowledge bank for course participants to search or browse. You can restrict access to a Glossary so that only you can create entries, or you can set students the task of adding new entries.

• Helps learners find the meaning of phrases within their course easily as entries can be put into categories and searched or browsed by alphabet, date, author, or key terms.
• Entries can have attachments and can include images, audio and video.
• If the glossary auto-linking filter is enabled, entries will be automatically linked where the concept words and/or phrases appear within the course.
• Entries can be restricted to teacher-only content.
• A teacher can allow comments on entries.
• Entries can be rated by teachers or students (peer evaluation).
• Ratings can be aggregated to form a final grade which is recorded in the Moodle Gradebook.

How to access

In your Moodle module, with editing turned on, simply press the “Add a resource or activity” button and then choose Glossary. Give it a name and, if required, a description. In other settings you can decide whether you want to allow the editing of entries, duplicate entries, unmoderated entries and so on. You can also decide how you want the Glossary to be displayed. When you are done, click ‘Save and display’.

Guidance and training

The Glossary resource is a basic Moodle tool, and thus is well documented.

Visit the DCQE Training Calendar for sessions on Moodle.

Top tips!

• Encourage active learning and collaboration - ask students to build their knowledge base together. Peers can rate entries.
• Class Introductions - use Glossary as a ‘getting to know you’ space where new students add their name and personal details.
• FAQs - a Glossary can provide a useful “self-help‟ resource for students.
• Make your module more dynamic - use the “Random Glossary Entry” block to display a “Tip of the day”, “Did you know..” etc.

[My] case study describes and evaluates the use of the Moodle Glossary to support vocabulary learning in the modern language classroom … The tool was successful in promoting independent learning … In general, the Moodle glossary was a useful tool for vocabulary learning.

Sybille Ratz, Edinburgh Napier University

• Turn off the Glossary auto-linking filter in quizzes to prevent students from accessing information outside the quiz.

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Workshop

Learning types

Media

Key features

What is it?

The Workshop peer assessment activity allows students to add submissions, which are then distributed among their peers for assessment – based on a grading scale that you specify.

• A powerful peer assessment activity.
• Content may be typed directly into Moodle or files of any type may be uploaded (as long as others have the software to view them).
• Students receive two grades: one for their own work submitted and assessed by their peers and one for their own assessment of another student’s work. These will both appear in the gradebook.

How to access

In your Moodle module, with editing turned on, simply press the “Add a resource or activity” button and then choose Workshop. Give it a title and, if you wish, a description.

Guidance and training

Various other settings are available, and Workshop can sometimes be complex to set up – leave settings at the default value if you are unsure. Grading settings: students receive two grades, one for the work they submit and one for the quality of their peer assessments. Submission settings: here you explain the task that students must submit. Assessment settings: give a brief outline of how students will assess the work of their peers. If you enable feedback, students can add text comments when they review each other’s work. Example submissions, if enabled, lets you give examples for students to practice on before they begin peer assessing. When you are done, click ‘Save and display’.

Top tips!

Moodle HQ has information on Using Workshop

• You can set up a Workshop so that only comments are used and a numerical grade is not required. This may be useful for developing ideas or projects.
• You can set examples of work before the student is either allowed to submit or assess other work. The students can also be assigned their work as part of the assessment phase, allowing them to reflect on their own work against the marking criteria.

and Workshop grading strategies.

Visit the DCQE Training Calendar for sessions on Moodle.

[I used Moodle Workshop for a first year assignment, where I included a peer review stage after submission before marking. Students were randomly and anonymously allocated four other students' assignments to read and I gave guidance for them to identify examples of critical thinking or where an argument had been used. Student feedback was that they found this exercise really helpful in realising that there wasn't one correct answer at university level but different approaches could be successful, and also to notice aspects of others' work that they could learn from. I would definitely recommend using Workshop, either for formative or summative assignments.

... Student feedback was that they found this exercise really helpful in realising that there wasn't one correct answer at university level but different approaches could be successful, and also to notice aspects of others' work that they could learn from. I would definitely recommend using Workshop, either for formative or summative assignments.

Sybille Ratz, Edinburgh Napier University

Anna Bull - School of Education

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Peer Assessment

Learning types

Media

What is it?

Key features

The Peer Assessment tool in Moodle allows group members to reflect on a project and on the engagement of

• Addresses the issue of all students receiving the same grade for group assignments regardless of individual contribution, by promoting group work.
• Create an activity defining peer grading criteria, calculation method, and associated calculation settings such as weightings.
• Define the number of files to be submitted, allowing "0" for an offline activity.
• Tutors control visibility / privacy for students in terms of peer scores, comments.
• Students can submit work (optional).
• Students can rate their peers for each criterion (required).
• Students can leave feedback comments (optional).
• Teachers grade the group assignment.
• The activity calculates the grade each individual student receives.
• The final individual grade is based on the teacher grade, peer ratings and calculator settings. The calculator is a subplugin of the Peer Work activity.

everyone involved. It provides a structured feedback loop on a project, which helps define the final grade. After the submission has been marked, the grade is adjusted according to the feedback of the group.

How to access

In your Moodle module, with editing turned on, simply press the “Add a resource or activity” button and then choose Peer Assessment. Give it a name and, if you want, a description. (Check the box if you want the description to be displayed on the course page.) You can also provide an expected study time, a minimum of 5 minutes and up to a maximum of more than 4 hours.

Useful Websites

Peer Assessment Guide

A Moodle-based peer assessment tool (PDF)

You can amend the settings under Peer Assessment such as allowing for late submissions, locking editing, allowing students to self grade along with peers and much more. You can also amend the assessment criteria and provide scores for each. Like most Moodle activities you can also restrict access and add tags for searchability. When you are done, click ‘Save and display’.

Guidance and training

The Peer Assessment resource is a basic Moodle tool, and thus is well documented.

Top tips!

Visit the DCQE Training Calendar for sessions on Moodle.

Take the time to develop assessment criteria with the students! This provides ‘ownership’ of the assessment criteria and greatly improves the quality of the Peer Assessment activity in Moodle. Students will be more objective and thoughtful about applying their ‘own’ criteria. Brainstorm, share, prioritise and edit criteria. Use criteria to create checklist questions, weed out weak items and then re-prioritise.

Sybille Ratz, Edinburgh Napier University

Purposeful formative assessment supports all standards, guides instructional decision, and informs targeted responses. It is an essential component of mastery.

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Laura Greensteingie

Nearpod

Learning types

Media

What is it?

Key features

Using Nearpod you can deliver a presentation without the need to share a screen with the student. It may appear to be a PowerPoint “replacement”, but it can do so much more. You can create a variety of activities for students to undertake during a presentation, or embed then within learning materials on Moodle. The system can track real-time engagement with the materials, and results can be shared anonymously with the rest of the class – enabling you to highlight best practice, for example, or raise points for discussion.

• No need to “share the screen” through Zoom (or on a projector) as it delivers the slides and interactions directly to the user’s device.
• Provides the option to upload already created PowerPoints and Google Slides.
• Can create entire presentations directly in Nearpod
• Provides a wide variety of tools that allow for gamification, videos and polling.
• Polls and quizzes can be for personal development, or as a group challenge with a leaderboard.
• Students have the facility to annotate diagrams and pictures.

How to access

Guidance and training

Go to nearpod.com and create a free account using the Google Sign in option. For access to the University

Nearpod is discussed and demonstrated in the Enhancing Lectures training sessions found on the DCQE Training Calendar.

licence please email the TEL Team – license numbers are limited!

If you have specific questions, please contact the TEL Team who can answer your questions or pass you on for a bespoke training session.

Top tips!

'I love using Nearpod. Although I was using Nearpod regularly during face-to-face sessions before Covid, I find the interactivity of using Nearpod during synchronous Zoom sessions particularly liberating. I'm a big fan of the draw it, open ended questions and matching pairs tools. I primarily use these to ensure students understand the clinical context of the theory covered in our asynchronous lessons by promoting students to apply their knowledge effectively and interpret data in a safe and non-judgemental environment.

• Easily create a Nearpod by drag–dropping an existing PowerPoint into the system.
• Or create the presentation in Google Slides and add the interactions using the Nearpod add-in within Slides.
• For newcomers, think of Nearpod as an addition to your current delivery methods rather than a full replacement to what you might normally do.
• Consider what you are trying to achieve when using Nearpod – it is easy to fall into the trap of adding more activities. More interactions does not always equal greater engagement.

Gavin Knight

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Questionnaire

Learning types

Media

What is it?

Key features

The Questionnaire activity allows you to gather feedback from students in the form of surveys. A variety of open and closed

• Quickly and easily create a feedback mechanism for your Moodle module.
• Download responses for analysis in Excel or Google Sheets.
• Redirect students to another Moodle activity on completion of your survey.

questions types are available, including essay boxes, check boxes and customisable scales.

How to access

Top tips!

In your Moodle module, with editing turned on, simply press the “Add a resource or activity” button and then choose Questionnaire. Give the Questionnaire a name and, if you wish, a description. Set the time during which students can complete the Questionnaire, and choose the relevant response and content options. When you are done, click ‘Save and display’.

• When creating a Questionnaire you can select one of the pre-made public Questionnaires or re-create one of your own Questionnaires. Look for “Content options” on the Questionnaire setup page.
• Questionnaire can be useful for gathering biographical or diagnostic information from students at the start of a course.
• Many paper-based classroom assessment techniques can be adapted as Questionnaire activities.

Guidance and training

The Questionnaire resource is a basic Moodle tool, and thus is well documented.

Visit the DCQE Training Calendar for sessions on Moodle.

Sybille Ratz, Edinburgh Napier University

We use the Questionnaire activity to poll users about training needs. Being able to store that information within the LMS (as opposed to using Survey Monkey, for example) is very convenient.

Heather MacCorkle Edick, Team Lead Staff Education at FISreensteingie

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Database

Learning types

Media

What is it?

Key features

The Database activity allows users (staff and/or students) to build, display and search a bank of record entries about any conceivable topic. The format and structure of these entries can be almost unlimited, including images, files, URLs, numbers and text. You can be creative with Database. For example, you could let students collaborate on the building of a collection of references related to a particular subject; display student work for peer comment and review; or maintain a log of what was done in a regular face-to-face class so that absent students can catch up.

• Easily create a highly customizable database with no technical knowledge required.
• Option to require approval of database entries.
• Allow students to rate the usefulness of database entries.
• Limitless possible applications: a research log, a collection of student book reviews, useful contacts, a collection of web based learning resources.

Top tips!

How to access

Guidance and training

• Get started with a preset database to see how things fit together. Use the ‘Use a preset’ menu under the ‘Preset’ tab.
• Have fun with custom CSS and Javascript in your database, using the CSS and Javascript templates (under the templates tab). More help with templates available here.
• With flexibility comes a certain amount of complexity – please ask your Faculty OCDs or the central eLearn team if you need help setting up a Database activity.

In your Moodle module, with editing turned on, simply press the “Add a resource or activity” button and then choose Database. Give it a name and, if you wish, a description. Expand the other sections to define the settings you want – pay particular attention to the Entries section. When you are done, click ‘Save and display’.

The Database resource is a basic Moodle tool, and thus is well documented.

Find practical help on building a database.

Visit the DCQE Training Calendar for sessions on Moodle.

Sybille Ratz, Edinburgh Napier University

One of my favorite activities in Moodle is the database activity. It takes more set up than most Moodle activities, but is so flexible that it is worth the extra work. The database activity allows the teacher or students to build a database of information, files, images, etc. in a variety of setups that can be individualized in many ways

Paula Clough, Clarke University

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eFolio

Learning types

Media

What is it?

Key features

Learners can use this online portfolio application to show progress over time by continuously adding learning evidence and reflections. Learners have the option to use eFolio to create professional development portfolios, which can be downloaded and displayed beyond their time at university, or competency-based portfolios that link to hallmarks or given criteria and assessment models. eFolio can also be used for online posters, in response to an assignment task, or to make reflective journals.

• Staff can develop and share templates to help students start to build their portfolios. Students can take more control as they become accustomed to this way of working.
• Groups can be used to provide an online space for students and staff to communicate, share, and provide feedback.
• Students can be encouraged to evidence learning activity throughout a programme. They control access to relevant audiences.
• Staff can refer students to publish to the e-portfolio after significant learning tasks, to remind them of what employers would be seeking from a graduate in that subject area.

How to access

The user must first visit their Moodle module: this step is vital, as the system creates users and allows them to login into eFolio via Moodle. If the Connected Systems block is added to a Moodle module this shortens the process, and takes users directly to eFolio. There they will be able to create new content, share work with tutors or their peers, or engage with other eFolio users.

Top tips!

• Check this video for tips on why someone might use an ePortfolio
• Talk to eLearn and lecturers for some real-life examples of how eFolio has been used in a learning context here at Portsmouth.

Guidance and training

A well-executed e-portfolio program is an incredible tool for higher education. They provide institutions with authentic assessments of student learning and promote the deeper learning that we want for our students. I don’t understand why more institutions aren’t using them.

Different disciplines approach reflective accounts in different ways – so guidance and training is carried out by the central team in collaboration with faculty Online Course Developers. Contact the TEL Team to discuss further.

Professor Candyce Reynolds, Portland State University

An extensive wiki manual has vast amounts of support materials. We can tailor this for specific needs.

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Adobe CC

Learning types

Media

What is it?

Key features

Adobe Creative Cloud (CC) – a collection of more than 20 desktop and mobile apps and services for photography, design, video, web, UX and more – has numerous possibilities for producing learning content. The difficulty is knowing which apps to use, and whether to invest time in learning how to use high-powered, professional software. Adobe CC includes:

• Professional tools for producing almost anything you can think of, including imagery for Moodle modules; video production; illustrations; designing and planning layouts for print and web.

• Photoshop – Bitmap image creation and editing

Top tips!

• Illustrator – Vector illustration

• InDesign – Print layout design

• The selection of apps in this package is comprehensive! You’ll often find there are simplified versions that provide the functionality you need with a shallower learning curve than a professional-grade app. For example, if you want to edit a video and are more interested in sharing it with your audience than spending a day colour-correcting your footage, then try Premier Rush as a lightweight

• Premier Pro – Professional standard video editing

• XD – Design User experiences for web, mobile and voice

Guidance and training

Also included in Adobe CC is access to:

Each application that makes up Adobe CC is different, so we suggest using the Adobe Creative Cloud homepage to work out which app suits your needs.

• Adobe Fonts

• Adobe Portfolio

alternative to Premier Pro.

• Adobe’s Collaboration Tools

Use LinkedIn Learning to learn more about each individual application. LinkedIn Learning provides a variety of courses for each of the composite tools of the Adobe Creative Cloud. You can find courses helping you learn:

How to access

Today, for users to successfully navigate the web, they must have the digital visual literacy skills to comprehend and evaluate both graphical information and multimedia messages... [Setting an] infographic assignment can be an excellent opportunity to [get students to] practice working with Adobe Creative Cloud.

Sidneyeve Matrix, Queen’s University, Canada

Access the individual apps that make up Adobe CC from Apps Anywhere. Just search for the app you’d like to use (not Creative Cloud itself), and download to your machine in the usual way.

• Illustrator

• Photoshop

• XD

and everything in between.

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Google Sites

Learning types

Media

What is it?

Key features

Google Sites is part of the free, real-time, web-based suite of tools provided by Google. It gives you a simple way to build websites – you can add text, provide links to other websites, and embed images and videos.

• Create web pages that are responsive and display nicely on any device from desktop, tablet to mobile.
• Choose from a range of layouts and themes for your site pages.
• Customise theme styles, fonts and colours.
• Insert content from Google Drive and other apps.
• Embed interactive content such as YouTube videos, maps and calendars.
• Add buttons, table of contents and other features to aid navigation on your site.
• Live collaborative editing, allowing multiple users to contribute to the site at the same time.
• WYSIWYG drag and drop.

Google Sites enables students and staff to create powerful, professional eportfolios. The platform is an excellent alternative to eFolio and allows students to demonstrate, showcase and share their work. An eportfolio created by this means can be shared in the same way as any other G Suite document or file.

How to access

Go to https://sites.google.com/ and click on ‘Blank’ to create a new site.

The eportfolio is the central and common point for the student experience … It is a reflection of the student as a person undergoing continuous personal development, not just a store of evidence.

Alternatively, log into your Google Drive using your UoP email address and password and click ‘New’ in the top left-hand corner and then click ‘Google Sites’.

Top tips!

Geoff Rebbeck, eLearning Coordinator, Thanet College

Looking to create an eportfolio with your students but not sure where to start? Why not discuss with colleagues within your department to see which tools they are using. There are different types of eportfolio (professional, learning, reflective and assessment). Thinking about what you would like to achieve with your students is essential in determining which tool is fit for purpose. Alternatively, ask the TEL Team about using Google Sites as an alternative to eFolios.

Guidance and training

The IT Training team offers all University staff and researchers training courses in the use of Google (Calendar, Drive, Forms, Mail and Sheets).

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LinkedIn Learning offers online training material so you can get up to speed with Google Docs.

Google Sites Essential Training.

Quiz

Learning types

Media

What is it?

Key features

You can use Quiz for a variety of assessment and teaching purposes – from simple text-based multiple choice questions all the way through to complex online exams requiring advanced mathematical formulations. Quiz is a powerful formative tool, too, which you can configure to automatically give students feedback on their answers. Most questions can be set to automatically mark students' attempts, saving you time.

• Automatic marking of most questions.
• A wide variety of question types to suit most assessment scenarios (drag and drop, multiple choice, formulas).
• Integration with STACK for high-level mathematics questions
• A solid exam work-flow using Safe Exam Browser to aid moderated exam sessions.

Top tips!

How to access

Guidance and training

• Multiple choice questions are a great way to get started with the Moodle quiz.
• Use the Aiken format to easily write and upload multiple choice questions and answers.
• If you are familiar with MCQs, experiment with other question types!

In your Moodle module, with editing turned on, simply press the “Add a resource or activity” button and then choose Quiz. Give it a name and, if you want, a description. (Check the box if you want the description to be displayed on the course page.) A Quiz can have numerous settings, and there can be subtleties associated with each question type. See the Guidance and training section below for more information. When you are finished, click ‘Save and display’.

The Quiz resource is a basic Moodle tool, and thus is well documented.

Visit the DCQE Training Calendar for sessions on Moodle.

The Moodle Quiz engine is the most powerful one available, free or paid for … The great thing about Quizzes is that students can attempt questions and get automatic feedback and marks without requiring work from the teacher.

Marcus Green, Senior Moodle Developer

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Turnitin

Learning types

Media

What is it?

Key features

Use Turnitin to set up a submission point that caters for text-based assignments. Turnitin software analyses the submitted work to identify text matches with other sources, and then assigns a similarity score for the work. You can view submitted work and use sophisticated tools to mark the work online; grades and comments can be returned to the student once all papers have been marked.

• For each piece of submitted work, Turnitin provides:
• A similarity index, which indicates the percentage of the submitted paper that Turnitin has identified as being matched against other sources.
• An originality report, which shows each of these matches in more detail, including the source(s) that Turnitin has found. These can be websites, books, journals and articles, or work that has previously been submitted through Turnitin.
• Turnitin does not directly identify plagiarism! It provides a report that allows students and staff to see where plagiarism may have occurred. The system is a tool to support you with your marking and students with their ongoing writing.
• The marking interface supports inline marking and overall comments. You can attach rubrics and, when marking, you can drag QuickMark comment bubbles directly onto the assignment. QuickMarks can be saved within a bank of comments, which can be used at a future time on alternative assignments.

Guides to Moodle and Turnitin Assessments for academics

Guides to Moodle and Turnitin Assessments for students

Guidance and training

How to access

Adding a Turnitin Assignment to Moodle

In your Moodle module, with editing turned on, simply press the “Add a resource or activity” button and then choose Turnitin Assignment. Give it a name and a summary (which contain further instructions or guidance about the assignment). Various other settings need to be configured – see the links in the Guidance and training section for more information about this. When you are finished, click ‘Save and display’.

Turnitin and Moodle Assignment comparison decision tree

Common misconceptions about Turnitin

Turnitin whitepaper about plagarism

Visit the DCQE Training Calendar for sessions on Moodle.

Top tips!

• Students do not need a similarity checkpoint but can use the assignment dropbox itself to submit and check their work – by default the system allows students to resubmit their work until the due date.
• You can use a variety of marking methods, including audio feedback and attaching feedback files; Turnitin can thus adapt to a variety of assessment for learning scenarios.

The most powerful single moderator that enhances achievement is feedback. The simplest prescription for improving education must be “dollops of feedback” -- providing information on how and why the child understands and misunderstands, and what directions the student must take to improve

John Hattie, University of Auckland

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Assignment

Learning types

Media

What is it?

Use the Assignment activity in Moodle to collect and evaluate student work. Assignment allows:

• Paperless management of student work: you get a convenient database of student submissions that you can organize and manage online or offline.
• Grading and feedback through Moodle: you have a grading interface through which you can enter grades and provide feedback to each student.
• Due dates to appear automatically in the Calendar: specify a due date for an assignment and the date will appear in the Calendar block and the Upcoming events block. Students can see at a glance when their work is due.

Key features

• Student work may be typed online or can be a file upload (if the latter, check you have the software needed to read the file type).
• Maximum file size supported is 250MB.
• Grading may be by simple percentages or custom scales, or more complex rubrics may be used.
• Students may submit and be given marks and feedback as individuals or as a group.
• Mark online on a single screen, including feedback comments and other annotations, or select some or all assignments to download and mark offline.

Guidance and training

How to access

What is the Assignment activity?

In your Moodle module, with editing turned on, simply press the “Add a resource or activity” button and then choose Assignment. Give it a name and, if you want, a description. (Check the box if you want the description to be displayed on the course page.) Expand the other sections to configure the Assignment as you need – for example, explain how students can submit their work and how they will get feedback. When you are finished, click ‘Save and display’.

Turnitin and Moodle Assignment comparison decision tree PDF

Top tips!

• Use the Turnitin plugin in Assignment to enable a Similarity check and give your feedback and marks via Moodle Grader.
• Use the Import function in the course administration block to use the Assignment activity in another course you teach.
• If Moodle appears not to be uploading a resubmitted assignment, check whether this is a cache issue: go to "Tools > Clear Recent History" in Firefox or "Tools > Delete Browsing History > Delete Temporary Files" in Windows Explorer. The newer file should then appear.
• Use the Marking workflow feature to keep marks and feedback hidden from students until ready for release. Don't hide the assignment itself because this doesn't hide the grades (only the link to the assignment) and in any case students may want or need to refer back.

Adding an Assignment to Moodle

Visit the DCQE Training Calendar for sessions on Moodle.

Using Moodle for assignments is a great way to make assigning, collecting, and grading student work more efficient while also cutting down on paper use.

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University of Portland

Large File

Learning types

Media

What is it?

This is an advanced setting for moodle assignments that allows students to submit files greater than the normal Moodle upload limit. It uses google drive to store the files and so submissions can be up to 5 terabytes in size.

Key features

• Student work may be typed online or can be a file upload (if the latter, check you have the software needed to read the file type).
• Maximum file size supported is 250MB.
• Grading may be by simple percentages or custom scales, or more complex rubrics may be used.
• Students may submit and be given marks and feedback as individuals or as a group.
• Mark online on a single screen, including feedback comments and other annotations, or select some or all assignments to download and mark offline.

Guidance and training

How to access

What is the Assignment activity?

When creating a Moodle assignment, under the Submission types section, select the Large File upload option, and then proceed as normal. When marking, student submissions will appear under the Large File Upload column and can be graded like a regular Moodle assignment.

Turnitin and Moodle Assignment comparison decision tree PDF

Top tips!

• Use the Turnitin plugin in Assignment to enable a Similarity check and give your feedback and marks via Moodle Grader.
• Use the Import function in the course administration block to use the Assignment activity in another course you teach.
• If Moodle appears not to be uploading a resubmitted assignment, check whether this is a cache issue: go to "Tools > Clear Recent History" in Firefox or "Tools > Delete Browsing History > Delete Temporary Files" in Windows Explorer. The newer file should then appear.
• Use the Marking workflow feature to keep marks and feedback hidden from students until ready for release. Don't hide the assignment itself because this doesn't hide the grades (only the link to the assignment) and in any case students may want or need to refer back.

Adding an Assignment to Moodle

Visit the DCQE Training Calendar for sessions on Moodle.

Using Moodle for assignments is a great way to make assigning, collecting, and grading student work more efficient while also cutting down on paper use.

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University of Portland