Complete the new Essential Unit Information block to inform students and set expectations.

Refresh content, removing anything that is out of date. Remember you can always visit the Moodle Archive to retrieve past content. Reset any activities you want to reuse (e.g. forums or quizzes). Check enrolments, via the SAMIS integration block to ensure your students are present. Remember the Unit Convenor must be set in SAMIS for students to be auto-enrolled in Moodle.

You can use topics and labels to organize you course material into a clear sequence. Clearly label topic headings (by week or subject theme) and use labels to create sub-headings and/or instructions. This helps develop a consistent approach that students will appreciate.

You can use the Announcements forum to send students regular messages (in Moodle and via email notification) such as reminders (‘don’t forget your assignment is due’) or calls to action (‘make your group choice by Wednesday’s live session’). For ‘urgent’ messages continue  to use direct email. Encourage students to ask/answer questions in a Q&A forum and have a presence there to show its importance. Build discussion into learning activities to encourage dialogue (‘read chapter 4 and post your view, did you agree or disagree with the author’?). Set your forum preferences to control the frequency of email notifications.

You can help students judge their progress by providing activities for them to check their understanding. Quizzes can include a range of questions types, and you can review a summary to identify tricky topics. You can use Feedback or Forum activities for reflection. The Workshop or Group Peer Review tool facilitates peer review. Don’t forget to tag your assessments so they appear in the Essentials Unit Information block under the Assessment tab.

You can add submission points for written work (of varying types, such as essay, report, reflection, article, presentation, etc.) where you can record marks and provide feedback. You can make the assessment information available, without allowing the students to submit, so they can plan-ahead and work towards its completion throughout the unit. Don’t forget to tag your assessments so they appear in the Essentials Unit Information block under the Assessment tab.

The Blackboard Ally tool will provide information about how accessible your content is and provide tips on how to solve any issues. When adding images to Moodle always include an alternative text description.  Use colour sparingly, and always make sure the text colour contrasts clearly with the background colour.  Remind students that they can access alternative formats directly in Moodle.

Record or save your video resources to the Re:View (Panopto) folder linked to your Moodle course.  Everyone enrolled in your Moodle course (staff and students) will be able to access the links via the Re:View (Panopto) block in the Course Toolkits area of your course. You can also embed the videos in Moodle Pages or Labels using the embed code provided in the Share tab of your Panopto video.

You can create Zoom meetings so that students can access them directly from their Moodle course page.  For regular meetings position them in the General, or Orientation & Communication, topic area for easy access.  Include an ‘alternative host’ in case you can’t make the meeting.

You can create a Library List with all the core readings you want to share with students and add this to your Moodle course.  Once added, it will also be displayed in the Essential Unit Information block for easy access for your students. Library staff can review your lists to check that the relevant resources are available.

A simple step to forget, but make sure your course settings are set to ‘show’ when you want students to access your content.  Many staff ‘hide’ the course while it’s being prepared and then ‘show’ it when ready. In the ‘new’ Moodle theme the ‘Edit settings’ option is found from the settings cog on the top right of the page.