Student guide

1. Welcome

 This guide will help you get familiar with Moodle, ESSCA's educational platform.

• 1. Welcome
• 2. Using your dashboard effectively
• 3. Accessing your courses
• 4. Finding your way around a course
• 5. Using the forum
• 6. Submitting an assignment
• 7. Taking a test
• 8. Consulting your marks

If you have any questions or suggestions: ipa@essca.fr

2. Using your dashboard effectively

You will be taken to your Moodle dashboard once you have logged in with your ESSCA login details.

Layout

Your dashboard has a central section and a block drawer on the right. By default, in the centre, you will find the courses you have recently accessed, a timeline of activities to do, and an overview of the courses. On the right, you'll find help, a calendar of activities, and the latest announcements.

Customising

Blocks

This layout can be modified by activating the edit mode in the top right-hand corner.

You can then add blocks where you like and move them around using the arrows next to the gear.

Overview

You can use the filters in the 'Overview' section to access your courses more quickly.

They must be updated at each semester's end to keep them displayed.

Restoring defaults

To return to the original layout, click 'Reset page' in the top right-hand corner.

3. Accessing your courses

Once logged into the Moodle platform, you can access your courses in several ways from the dashboard:

Multiple Methods

Recently Viewed Courses

In this section, you will see the last ten courses you viewed, displayed two at a time.

Course Overview

In this section, you will find all your courses, meaning all the courses you are enrolled in that are still active. You can use filters to access the ones you are interested in quickly.

My Courses

This tab, located at the top of the platform's banner, allows you to open the overview on a page.

If you enable filters on the dashboard, they will remain active on this page.

If this doesn't make them appear, report it via this button on ESSCANET.

Open a Course

To access a course, click the course box; its space will appear with its resources and activities.

4. Finding your way around a course

Each Moodle course space comprises several parts with a specific role.

Topics (or chapters)

A "General" topic

Placed at the beginning of each course, it usually consists of a small welcome message, a forum, the course syllabus, and a course presentation.

Topics (or chapters)

Each course has activities or resources made available by the course coordinator. The types of sections and their titles may vary from one course to another.

Click on the desired section or resource/activity to access its content.

Menus

Course index (Menu on the left)

This will allow you to navigate through the sections and their resources and activities by clicking on them. You can open them one by one using the button to the left of the title or in batches using the button at the top right of the index.

Use the exit button to close it.

Block drawer (Menu on the right)

It will appear if the course coordinator has made blocks available. Blocks are generally used to communicate or remind information and share resources.

Tabs

You can access it depending on the settings chosen by the course coordinator. The basic tabs are the course and the participants (mainly teachers and students).

5. Using the forum

There are different types of forums in a course space. Depending on their location and the preferences set by the course coordinator, they can serve various functions.

Types of Forums

At the Beginning of the Course

Present in every course, this forum is intended for asking questions about the course to the course coordinator.

In the Sections

These are specific to a theme and/or activity. They allow you to share ideas, ask questions, or collaborate on projects.

How to Add a New Discussion Topic on a Forum

1. Open the forum by clicking on it.
2. Add a discussion topic.
3. Enter a title for your message, write your text in the designated area, and format it using the text editor.
4. Post your message.

To add a reply to a discussion topic, click "Reply" on the discussion thread that interests you, write your response, and post it.

6. Submitting an assignment

There are several types of assessments on the Moodle platform. Here is the "assignment" activity.

Overview

The assignment is an evaluation activity that requires submitting a document, whether text or multimedia or composing a text online before a given date to validate it.

How to Submit an Assignment?

1. Open the activity "Assignment" by clicking on it.
2. Read the instructions and check the expected format.
3. Submit your work in the correct format in the submission area or type the text online in the designated box.
4. Save your submission initially and check its content. If there is an error, modify your work or the document and save it again.
5. Send your assignment and confirm that you are indeed the author.
6. The assignment is successfully submitted when you receive this confirmation message:

7. Taking a quiz

There are several types of assessments on the Moodle platform. Here is the "quiz" activity.

Overview

The quiz is an assessment activity that mainly requires answering multiple-choice or true/false questions within a given period. However, it is also possible to respond with more or less elaborated texts or calculated responses, drag-and-drop, matching, etc.

How to take a quiz?

1. Open the "Quiz" activity by clicking on it.
2. Read the instructions and make sure you understand the number of attempts and the order of responses allowed.
3. Use the buttons at the bottom to move from one question to another.
4. Answer all the questions and review your answers.
5. Submit your answers before the time runs out.
6. Confirm several times until you get this submission confirmation.

8. Consulting your grades

Once the course coordinator allows it, you can check your grades.

To do this, click again on the assignment or quiz you completed. You can view specific information according to the settings chosen by the course instructor.

For an assignment

• Check your paper
• Read any feedback
• Review the grading rubric
• Check your grade

For a quiz

• Check your answers
• Read any feedback
• Check your grade