How to switch your current role in Moodle to view it as a student

Published on: 03/09/2023 · Last updated on: 02/09/2024

Switch from your current Moodle role to view it as a student

You are able to switch your role in any Moodle course to that of a student, which will replicate (with caveats) what any student in that Moodle space would see.

Switching roles is not perfect because you remain the same user, and your user may not have things like grades, which will make some student views look different than a real student might see.

From any page in Moodle, click your Profile icon and from the drop-down menu select ‘Switch role to…‘. You can then select the role you wish to assume, e.g.Student.

Switch back to your original Moodle role

The page will helpfully display a banner message to indicate that you are viewing the page in a different role and will provide you with a link to resume your original role.

How switching your Moodle role can impact Panopto

Note: When you switch role in Moodle it can impact (temporarily) your role in Panopto. While you are in the Student role in Moodle, your Panopto access will be limited to viewing only. When you return to your normal role as Teacher, your Panopto access will return to normal too. We mention this as sometimes staff report they have lost permissions in Panopto when they have tried to undertake some editing or housekeeping. Please check that you are working in the Teacher role in Moodle before trying to work in Panopto.