Turnitin FAQs for Staff

Who else is using Moodle?

Moodle currently has a user base of 74,989 registered sites with 65,402,177 users in 227 countries across 78 languages. Many Australian and New Zealand universities are making the move or have already adopted Moodle as their primary Learning Management System including the University of Canberra, the University of Western Australia, Macquarie University, La Trobe University, Massey University and the University of Canterbury. Leading American and European universities are also getting on board.

What happened to MUSO?

Monash University Studies Online (MUSO) was a term which for many years at Monash was affiliated with Monash’s online study systems especially Blackboard.

As Blackboard has been switched off, so has the term MUSO. Online learning and teaching systems are now referred to simply by their name (e.g. Moodle will be called Moodle) and any umbrella references to online learning and teaching systems will be called “learning systems”.

To ensure all existing resources, online or otherwise, reflect this new terminology we would appreciate your help in revising the following resources you look after as follows: Update instances where MUSO is used as an umbrella term to “Learning Systems”
Update instances where MUSO is used in reference to Blackboard to “Moodle” or the appropriate product name
Update references to the MUSO Service Desk to “eSolutions Service Desk”

Note: Common places where references to MUSO can be found include but are not limited to: Unit guides Online forms

We have been working with eSolutions and Student Services to ensure ask.monash, the my.monash portal, Remedy and previously existing MUSO support pages have been updated to reflect the above.

When will students appear in my unit?

Your Faculty Administrator will organise for your students to have access to your unit. Moodle is updated with any changes made to Callista enrolments every 4 hours.

Why can't students see my unit?

For students to access your Moodle unit you must ensure:
1. They are enrolled into the unit
2. The Unit start date is set correctly. This can be checked by clicking Edit settings in the Settings block
3. You must select This unit is available to students in the settings to allow students to see your unit
For further assistance, please contact your Faculty Administrator

How do I access Moodle?

Staff can access Moodle via the my.monash Portal using the Moodle link provided under Online Systems or click on the unit name under the Teaching tab

I can't find my unit in Moodle, who can assist me to find it?

If you are a Unit Coordinator please contact your Faculty Administrator. If you are an assistant lecturer or tutor, please contact the Unit Coordinator.

How do I enrol my colleague into my Moodle unit?

If you are a Lecturer in Moodle, you can enroll others as a Designer, Tutor, Observer or Student. To do this:
1. On the left side of your unit, go to the Settings block and click Users
2. Select the Enrolled users link which will open a new page displaying all users enrolled in your unit
3. Click on the Enrol users button on the top left which opens up a pop-up. Select the role you want this new user to have. You can also select the Enrolment options drop down which allows you to manually define how long this person can have access to your unit for. 4. In the Search field at the bottom, type the full name or Monash email of the person you wish to add to your unit. 5. Hit the enter button on your keyboard to start the search. 6. When this user is found, click on the Enrol button next to their name.

Is it possible to adjust an assignment to allow late submissions?

Please refer to Learning Topic: Working with assignments

Will I get an email every time a student makes an assignment submission?

By default you will not receive an email when an assignment is submitted however you can enable this option when setting up your assignment.

How do students upload an assignment?

Please refer to Learning Topic: Submitting assignments

What types of files can be uploaded for assignment submission and how large can they be?

Moodle accepts all files types. The maximum file size is 512MB. This can be reduced in the assignment settings.

How can I bulk download assignments?

Please refer to Learning Topic: Review submitted assignments

How can I give decimal grades to students?

Normally, Moodle allows numerical grading in whole numbers only. However it's not too difficult to give decimal grades to students:
1. Navigate to the Settings block and under Unit administration click Grades
2. Click the Scales tab
3. Click the Add a new scale button
4. Enter 'Half marks to ten' (for example) into the Name field
5. Enter the following text into the Scale field
0.0,0.5,1.0,1.5,2.0,2.5,3.0,3.5,4.0,4.5,5.0,5.5,6.0,6.5,7.0,7.5,8.0,8.5,9.0,9.5,10.0 (for example)
6. Click Save changes

To add your new scale to an assignment:
1. Navigate to your assignment and click the icon
2. In the Grade section, in the Grade field select your new scale from the Grade drop down menu
3. Click the Save and return to unit button

How do I find out if Moodle is experiencing technical issues?

In the event of a service interruption the Servicedesk will be notified and a communication will be distributed to Faculty Administrators for the purpose of wider distribution.

What type of support is available to my students?

1) Select Learning Topics have been developed for questions commonly asked by students.
2) Ask.monash has been updated with answers about Moodle.
3) There is a two minute Moodle introduction powerpoint presentation available to students.
4) Service Desk is equipped to answer any questions about Moodle.

Please note formal training will not be provided to students.

What are the Learning Management Test Rooms for and how can I access them?

To assist us to quickly and accurately capture issues with Moodle, eSolutions has created temporary Learning Management test rooms within the eSolutions Service Centres at the Caulfield and Clayton campuses, available from Monday 6 May, 2013. Staff are encouraged to use these spaces to raise and demonstrate issues they are encountering with Moodle to eSolutions and the BLT team with the aim to solve these issues on the spot. Issues that cannot be resolved at the time will be accurately logged and escalated for resolution. To book an appointment for this service, please contact the eSolutions Service Desk.

Can I upload a file to a topic (as opposed to a folder)?

You can upload a file to either a topic, or into a folder within a topic.

Is there a file manager available in Moodle?

Moodle does not have a file manager like Blackboard and Moodle 1.9. To upload a file:
1. Click the Add a Resource button 2. Locate your file

In 2013, the VLE Program will introduce a content repository which will be integrated with Moodle.

Where are the files stored that you upload to Moodle?

Files that are uploaded to Moodle are stored in its database. In the future, Monash is looking to implement a University-wide content repository for file management (which will be integrated with Moodle).

Can I upload a new version of a file with the same name as the previous version?

If you make changes to a file that you have already uploaded to your Moodle unit, you must ensure that the file name of the updated version is different to the current file name. You could also delete the current file prior to uploading the new version. When the content repository is introduced this process will be simplified.

Moodle allows me to upload more than one file at a time in the Content section. Why then can only see one of those files when I navigate back to my unit page?

Moodle does allow you to upload more than one file at a time, however only one of these files can be accessed at any one time. To select which of the uploaded files can be accessed, click the icon on the left of the uploaded file and select Set main file. To change which of the uploaded files can be accessed:
1. Navigate to the file you want to change and click the icon
2. Navigating to the Content section
3. Navigate to the file you want to be accessible and right click the icon

Please note that if you upload multiple files to a folder you can access all uploaded files at any one time. For details of how to do this go to the Learning Topic: Uploading Files

I have accidentally deleted my News Forum. How can I retrieve it?

If you have deleted your News Forum, you can retrieve it by re-adding the Latest news block. This can be done via the Add a block block. Please note however that all posts to the formus will have been deleted.

Why can't I set the News Forums to a particular group or grouping?

By default, the News Forum is configured to subscribe all students in your unit. You cannot restrict the News Forum to groups and groupings. If you want to send a message to a particular group or grouping you need to use Messaging or create a Forum Activity. For more information about Messaging, refer to Learning Topic: Messaging.

Can I manually add students to my units?

You are able to manually add students to your unit but this is not advisable. Moodle will update units with student enrolment information from Callista every four hours. If a student cannot access your unit please advise them to confirm their enrolment status with Student Services.

How often is Moodle updated with Student enrollment information (Callista)?

Student enrolment information is updated in Moodle every four hours. This information comes directly from Callista.

Can I remove the header containing my Faculty's name and copyright information that was migrated from my Blackboard unit?

You can delete the Faculty name and copyright information from the mainpage in Moodle. The Faculty name is no longer displayed on the unit page and the copyright information is now incorporated in the copyright block.

I made a request for Moodle to be changed, but it hasn't happened yet. What is the delay?

To check on the staus of your Moodle development request please contact eSolutions.

All requested changes can be found on the Moodle Development Request.

How do I know what changes have been made to Moodle so far?

Please look at our detailed list of Scheduled Changes to Moodle.

Can I create a dummy student role account so I can test things such as the Restrict Access function in Moodle?

Staff can create dummy student role accounts via the Service Desk.

Do grading forms or rubrics exist in Moodle?

Grading forms and rubrics are not currently available in Moodle.

Can I manually set assignment totals in Moodle?

Gradebook's default is set to mark assignments out of 100. However, you can manually set assignment total. To do this:
1. Navigate to the Settings block within your assignment
2. In Assignment administration click Edit settings
3. In the Grade section, adjust the grade accordingly. Click Save and return to unit

Does Gradebook allow me to grade assessments (i.e. laboratory work or drawings) that are not activities in Moodle?

Yes, you can do this by adding an offline activity. This will ensure that the activity will be graded within Moodle's gradebook and will be included in the students' final semester grade.
1. Navigate to your unit and click Turn editing on
2. Navigate to the topic. Click Add an activity
3. Choose Offline activity from drop-down box
4. Enter relevant details and click Save and return to unit

Can I give feedback on assignments and ask students to make changes to them, before giving them a final grade?

All three types of online assignments (Online text, Upload a single file, and Advanced uploading of files) can be set to allow feedback to be given before a final grade is allocated. For more information about the types of assignments, please refer to the Learning Topic: Creating an Assignment.

What are groups and groupings and how do they work in Moodle?

Groups are a collection of users. Groups control which users interact with each other in an activity. An example of this is creating a discussion forum for a tutorial group so they can discuss the topic amongst themselves.

Groupings are a collection of Groups. Groupings restrict the access of Activities or Resources to a particular collection of users. An example of this is creating a Grouping of off-campus students to allow access to a particular file to be viewable to this Grouping only.

Please refer to the following guide for instructions on Learning Topic: Working with groups and groupings.

Can all resources and activities be restricted by groups?

Please refer to the Learning Topic: Working with groups and groupings

How can I check if a student is a member of a Moodle group or grouping?

You are able to view the members of any group. To do this:
1. Navigate to the Settings block within a unit
2. Click on Users
3. Click on Groups

How can I set up an Activity so my students can add themselves to a group?

Please refer to Learning Topic: Ask students to choose their own group

How do I let my students review the choices they have made in Lesson after they have navigated out of the Lesson?

Usually students are unable to view the choices they made in a Lesson) activity after they have navigated away from the Lesson. To allow students to review their choices within the Lesson options, there is an option to Allow student review in the Flow control section, this will allow students to review their choices immediately after the lesson. Students will not be able to find a link to go back to review and will only see their grade after this.

If there are students that request individual responses, you could run a report for these students. To do this, navigate to the the unit homepage, go to the Navigation block), go to Reports and select options as required.

My student has completed a quiz, but has not clicked the Submit all to finish button. How can I fix this so the student's grade is recorded?

Currently there is no option to 'force submit' a quiz in Moodle. The workaround involves extending the access dates of the quiz temporarily and having the student return to the quiz to submit their attempt:
1. Navigate to the quiz and click icon
2. Navigate to the Close the quiz field and change the quiz end date/time to some time in the future
3. Contact the student/s who needs to complete their attempt and ask that they return to the quiz and click Continue existing attempt
4. If the quiz had a time limit the quiz should auto submit the moment they continue their attempt. If there was no time limit set, the student will need to click the Submit all and finish button
5. Once all students have submitted their existing attempts you can re-close the quiz

It is important to note the following:
a. Students who submitted their attempt during this extended window will receive a zero grade and their grade will need to be manually calculated
b. Any students who may have taken advantage of the extended time window to attempt/reattempt the quiz will receive a zero grade once the quiz has been changed back to its original close date and time
c. Any students who may have taken advantage of the extended time window to answer questions they did not complete during the original window will have their answers time-stamped. Since any answers submitted after the initial quiz close time/date would need to be manually calculated, no student will automatically receive marks for answers submitted during the extended time window

If I collapse a topic in Lecturer view, will this affect the Student view?

Collapsing a topic in Lecturer view does not affect the Student view. It is only when hide a topic using the icon, that a student's view is affected.

How many topics can I have in my unit?

The default number of topics is set to 12, however you can increase this to a maximum of 52 by adjusting your settings. This can be done in the Settings block.

If I dock the Settings and Navigation blocks in Lecturer view will this affect the Student view?

Docking these blocks in Lecturer view does not affect the Student view.

Can I move a topic and its contents into a different topic?

To move a topic:
1. Navigate to your unit and click Turn editing on
2. Click and hold the icon next to the topic title and drag and drop the section to its new location

How do I add more topics to my unit?

1. Navigate to the Settings block
2. Under Unit administration, click Edit Settings
3. In the General category, navigate to the Number of weeks/topics
4. Amend as required

How can I control the order that my students can access resources and/or activities?

Please refer to Learning Topic: Controlling access to unit content

Can I make an activity or resource available after a particular date?

Please refer to Learning Topic: Restrict Access settings

How do I hide a topic/week that I don't want students to see yet?

To hide a topic/week:
1. Click Turn Editing on
2. Navigate to the topic/week you wish to hide
3. Click the icon
Note: Make sure you unhide the topic when you're ready for students to see it

What is Moodle's equivalent to Selective Release in Blackboard?

Moodle's equivalent to Selective Release is within the settings of a Resource or Activity. The conditions may be controlled in the Restrict access section. These settings can restrict access according to criteria for date and completion or grade received for other activities or resources. The behaviour of the restriction can be either hidden from students completely, or greyed out with a message about the restriction criteria.

How do I access EQUELLA?

You can access EQUELLA via its native interface or via the Moodle file picker (see the 'EQUELLA resource' option under the 'Resources' heading). To obtain the URL of the EQUELLA native interface, please refer to recent communications from your Faculty Administrator.

What can I access in EQUELLA?

In addition to the EQUELLA resources you have contributed yourself, you have access to resources that other Monash staff have made available to 'All of Monash' or resources that staff in your faculty have made available to 'My Faculty'.

Can students access EQUELLA?

Students can access EQUELLA resources made available to them via their Moodle units but they are not able to access the resources via EQUELLA directly

I am not a staff member of the Faculty of Information Technology but require access to their EQUELLA collection. How do I gain this access?

Contact the Faculty of Information Technology's Faculty Administrator, Margot Schuhmacher.

What is the difference between an AUTHOR, OWNER and COLLABORATOR of an EQUELLA resource?

An AUTHOR is an individual who created, wrote or developed the content (eg. file) included in the EQUELLA resource. An OWNER is the individual responsible for creating and maintaining the EQUELLA resource record that sits around that content. The OWNER has read and write access to the resource. A COLLABORATOR is an individual that has been given read and write access to the EQUELLA resource by the OWNER.

Can I restrict access to an individual EQUELLA resource?

Yes. When you contribute a resource to EQUELLA, you can set access to the resource to one of three options: All of Monash, My Faculty, and Owners and collaborators only.

Selecting 'All of Monash' will make your resource viewable to all staff within Monash. This option may be used for general materials such as campus maps, basic orientation information, etc.

Selecting 'My Faculty' will make your resource viewable to staff within your Faculty only. This option may be useful for items such as faculty course and unit policies, faculty Moodle resources, etc.

Selecting 'Owners and collaborators only' will restrict view and edit access to a select group of individuals identified by the resource owner.

How can I restrict access to a resource to staff and students associated with my unit only?

To restrict access to an EQUELLA resource to the staff in your unit only, you need to ensure the ACCESS level set for the resource is 'Owners and collaborators only'. You then need to add the staff with whom you wish to share the resource with to the Collaborators list.

To restrict access to a resource to students in your unit only, simply add the EQUELLA resource to the relevant Moodle unit via the Moodle file picker as you would for any other Moodle activity/resource.

Is there a way to hide EQUELLA metadata from students?

Yes. You can opt to create a link in Moodle that takes students directly to the content (eg. file) of an EQUELLA resource, rather than the full resource record itself.

What happens to a resource when one of its authors leaves Monash University?

When an author of a resource leaves Monash University the author's information is retained.

What is an EQUELLA resource?

An EQUELLA resource is made up of two key elements: the content and the metadata.

The content is the 'guts' of the EQUELLA resource - the information, file, link, etc. that you want your students to see/ engage with. The metadata is the information that describes the content (eg. title, author, units/courses to which it is relevant, etc.).

What file types does EQUELLA accept?

EQUELLA accepts files in a number of formats:
- Document - PDFs, Word, PPT, etc.
- HTML (web page)
- Web addresses
- Audio
- Video
- Image

When should I edit an EQUELLA resource vs. create a new version of an EQUELLA resource?

If an EQUELLA resource was created new for the current teaching period (from scratch or as a new version):
1. Determine whether other staff are currently using the resource in their Moodle units and whether they would mind you updating the resource directly
2. If they are happy to adopt your proposed edits to the resource in their Moodle units, edit the EQUELLA resource directly
3. If the other staff are NOT happy for your changes to flow through to their Moodle units, create a new version of the EQUELLA resource

If an EQUELLA resource was NOT created especially for the current teaching period (ie. it was carried over from the last teaching period):
1. Create a new version of the EQUELLA resource

For more information, please view the Updating an EQUELLA resource guide.

When linking an EQUELLA resource back to my Moodle unit, should I link to the whole resource (ie. the content AND the metadata accompanying it) or the content (ie. file/ attachment) within the resource?

Where possible, it is recommended that you link to an individual file WITHIN an EQUELLA resource (rather than the entire resource). For further information on when it may be appropriate to link to the entire resource instead, please view the EQUELLA and linking to Moodle guide.

Can I extract files from a ZIP file into EQUELLA?

Yes, you can extract files from a ZIP file into EQUELLA. When you go to upload a ZIP file to an EQUELLA resource, you will be presented with a number of Zip options - you can:
1. Unzip the contents and select the files to attach
2. Attach the zip file only

How can I update the file/ attachment within an EQUELLA resource without breaking links to it in Moodle?

To update the file/attachment within an EQUELLA resources without breaking links to it in Moodle you can do one of three things:
1. Edit the existing file/ attachment using the inbuilt EQUELLA editor
2. Replace the existing file/ attachment with one of the same name
3. Delete the existing file/ attachment and add a new file with the same name

Remember that, at the start of a new teaching period, you will need to create new versions of your unit resources (such as lecture notes) to ensure that the University's data integrity needs are met.

What is EQUELLA?

EQUELLA is a digital repository that will provide a central platform to house Monash University’s teaching and learning content. EQUELLA is currently in use in a wide range of schools, universities, colleges, TAFEs, departments of education, government agencies, and corporations worldwide. One instance of EQUELLA is in fact already being used at Monash University by the Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, and the library.

Is EQUELLA currently available for me to use?

EQUELLA is currently available to Faculty of Information Technology and select Faculty of Pharmacy and Phamarceutical Sciences staff for the purposes of a 'proof of concept' (ie. trial). Access to EQUELLA will be enabled for other faculty staff over the course of this year and early next year.

Where can I find an EQUELLA user guide?

Click here.

Why are we implementing EQUELLA?

EQUELLA is being implemented at Monash University to allow us to establish a central location for teaching content and to help overcome some of the limitations of file management in Moodle. The benefit of storing content (eg. files) in EQUELLA is that once it has been added to EQUELLA, you can access it across a range of units, regardless of the teaching period in which those units are run or who is responsible for them.

What are some of the advantages of using EQUELLA?

The benefits of using EQUELLA are long term in nature and include:
- Increased capacity for learning materials to be shared/ reused amongst academic staff across the University
- Reduced time and effort required to search for/ find a particular resource or file
- When uploading a resource/ file to EQUELLA, staff are required to enter some basic metadata about it (ie. A brief description of the item, units/ course to which the item might be relevant, etc), making it easier for other staff to search for and locate an appropriate resource/file
- Single ‘point of truth’ for learning and teaching objects

Why should I use EQUELLA?

You should use EQUELLA if:
- You want to add content to your Moodle units with as few clicks as possible
- You would like to quickly and easily view and access the resources available for your units
- You would like changes that you make to a resource applied universally
- You want to add appropriate content from other units to your own

What version of EQUELLA is Monash currently using?

We are currently using EQUELLA version 5.2.

What browser should I use to access EQUELLA?

EQUELLA is supported on:
- Microsoft Internet Explorer 7 and 8
- Recent versions of Google Chrome
- Firefox 3.5
- Safari 3 and 4

I think I've found a bug in EQUELLA. How do I report it?

Please contact the eSolutions Service Desk.