Teaching with Technology

Adding content in Moodle

To add content in Moodle, first be sure to toggle the edit mode on.

Add content anywhere on your Moodle course page by either choosing the Add activity or resource option at the bottom of each week or topic area, or by hovering over the area where you would like to add content and clicking on the red + button that appears.

Choose your activity or resource type from the Activity picker. Add your content, and be sure to select save at the bottom of the screen.



You can also drag and drop files from you computer to the desired location in Moodle.

Descriptions

Every resource or activity has an optional description. You can choose to have this description appear on the course page to provide further information about resources and activities by selecting the checkbox when you are creating or editing your content.

Moodle resource page showing description added and the Display information on course page box checked

Due dates

We strongly recommend setting due dates for activities, such as assignments and quizzes, that allow them. Students see upcoming due dates for all their Moodle courses in the Moodle dashboard, so setting a due date for your activities helps students manage their assignments.

For information on how to set due dates, see our information about assignments and quizzes

Restrict access

If you have content that you want to be available to students at a specific time, use the Restrict access option.

  • Toggle the edit mode on.
  • Go to Edit settings for content you would like restricted, then under the Restrict Access section, select Add restriction, then Date.
  • "From" will be selected by default, making the content available from the date you select. Choose the date. Scroll down and click the Save button.
  • If you would like content to become unavailable after a specific date, select "until" instead of "from" and choose your date. You can add a restriction to have both a beginning and end date for content availability.
  • By default, students can see that content with availability dates exists, but they cannot access it. They will see the dates the content will be available. If you would like the content to be completely hidden from students when it is unavailable, click the eye icons to the left of the content restriction options.

Restrict access for a date shown with date set to September 3 and the option to hide content chosen and highlighted

Restrict access can also be used to limit content availability by group.

Hiding and revealing content

It is possible to hide both entire weeks or topics and individual activities or resources from students.

  • Toggle the edit mode on.
  • Select the three dots icon at the right of the content
  • choose either Hide week/topic for entire weeks or topics, or Availability, then Hide on Course page for activities and resources.
  • To reveal hidden content to students, change the setting from Hide to Show.


Hidden content is available to faculty and other users with similar permissions but not to students.

If you have a lot of content you would like to hide or reveal, use the Bulk actions option in Moodle.

  • Toggle the edit mode on.
  • Select Bulk actions from the top right of your Moodle course page.
  • Use the checkboxes next to the course content to select all the content you want to hide or reveal.
  • Choose the Availability option from the bulk actions pane at the bottom of the page.
Moodle page with bulk editing option turned on, three pieces of content selected, and the Availability option selected for bulk action.
  • Choose the availability setting you desire from the pop-up box that appears.
  • Select apply.
  • To turn off bulk actions, click the x icon at the top right of the bottom bulk actions pane.

Moving content

With editing on, click and drag content on your Moodle course page to move it. If you need to move content a long way such that clicking and dragging is inconvenient, you can also select the three dots icon at the right of the content area and select Move. A menu will appear allowing you to select an area of the course page to move content to.

Editing existing content

You can edit all content settings at any time. To do so, with edit mode on, select the three dots icon at the right of the content area and then choose Edit settings.

Moodle page with content menu expanded and the Edit settings option highlighted