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Frequently Asked Questions

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How can a lecturer review messages that they have sent to their students within Moodle?

A record is kept within Moodle of all messages sent to participants on any given module. This record can be accessed by clicking on the Messages option on your homepage. From here you can select the relevant module and review a list of the messages that you have sent to some or all of your students.

How can I track my student’s activity history for my module?

Lecturers can view details of when and how students engaged with various activities on their module page such as assignment submission areas, discussion forums and reading lists. Please follow these quick steps to do so:

1. Go to the Module and an the right hand side under the cog wheel you will see an option called More

2. Choose the Reports tab

3. Enter the activity (the assignment) in the "Activity Module" dropdown field

4. Then enter "Student 2014-2015" in the Show Only dropdown field

3. Then enter the number of days / weeks you want to look back at

A report will then be generated that will show you which students viewed/posted to that activity.

Can staff members view examination timetables on Moodle?

Examination timetables are made available to staff members on the WIT website at the following page http://studentssp.wit.ie/staff/examtimetable/

My Turnitin score is still pending. How can I fix this problem?

Similarity reports/scores can take up to 24 hours to be returned from the Turnitin website. Once your score is returned you can resubmit your assignment if necessary having made changes to adjust your similarity score.

I cannot submit to Turnitin. I keep getting an error message. What is the problem?

Students may encounter problems when submitting an assignment to Turnitin via Moodle. The most common reason for this is the length of the filename for the file they are submitting. Please rename your file to a shorter filename of approximately 30 characters and try uploading it again to the assignment area in your module in Moodle.

Turnitin currently accepts the following file types for upload into an assignment:

  • Microsoft Word™ (DOC and DOCX)
  • Corel WordPerfect®
  • HTML
  • Adobe PostScript®
  • Plain text (TXT)
  • Rich Text Format (RTF)
  • Portable Document Format (PDF)
  • OpenOffice (ODT)

If this does not work and the problem persists please contact the Moodle helpdesk at 051-834114 or moodle@wit.ie for assistance.

How can I upload feedback to a student’s assignment in Moodle?

To upload student feedback to each student's assignment submission follow these steps:

1) Click into the Assignment Area
2) Click on View / Grade All Submissions
3) When the student list loads, under the grade column there is an edit icon which looks like a pencil
4) Clicking on this icon will bring up the page for that student where you can submit the feedback file. This is uploaded by dragging the feedback file into the Feedback Files box within the Grades Heading. Alternatively, instead of dragging, click the icons with the plus symbols located on the Feedback Files menubar to launch the FilePicker where you can browse and select the file.

Is recycling your own work plagiarism?

This post is excerpted from an article originally published on iThenticate.com in 2011. iThenticate is Turnitin's sister service for publishers and academic researchers.

Writers often claim that because they are the authors, they can reuse their work, either in full or in excerpts, over and over again. How can republishing one’s own work be defined as plagiarism if the author has only used his or her own words and ideas? This article explores the definition of self-plagiarism, how it crosses into copyright laws and ethical issues, and the different ways an author can avoid this increasingly controversial act of scholarly misconduct.

The question of whether self-plagiarism exists or not—is it possible to plagiarize oneself?—is rooted in the definition of plagiarism. Plagiarism is typically defined as stealing the work of another and presenting it as if it were one’s own. The Oxford English Dictionary (2011) defines plagiarism as taking the work of another as “literary theft.” The verb to “plagiarize” is defined as:

“To take and use as one's own (the thoughts, writings, or inventions of another person);”
“To copy (literary work or ideas) improperly or without acknowledgement; (occas.) to pass off as one's own the thoughts or work of (another)”

According to the OED definition, in the strict sense recycling papers would not be plagiarism.

More details here...

Technical Assistance

If you have a Moodle query or need technical support or advice, please send an email to moodle@setu.ie. We operate a helpdesk from Monday to Friday 9:00 am to 5:00 pm.

If you have a password issue, you will need to send an email to the computer services team at computerservices.wd@setu.ie. 

If you have a registration issue, please contact the registration team at registration.wd@setu.ie.

What age do you have to be to use Moodle?

Children under 16 years of age are not permitted to access the services provided by https://moodle.wit.ie.

What personal data is collected on the Moodle site?

Basic profile information is collected from you when your WIT Moodle account is created including your WIT student ID, your full name and your email address.

As you use the site, information about the users, courses, activities and resources you interact with will also be stored and linked to your profile information for a maximum of three years.

This information is only used to provide you access to the online courses at https://moodle.wit.ie. Statistical information about usage of the site is also used to improve the site and services provided on the https://moodle.wit.ie website.  

How do I withdraw my consent for Moodle at SETU to store and process my personal data?

If you have previously consented to allow SETU to store and process your personal data in accordance with the institute's privacy policy, and you wish to withdraw your consent, please send an email to the data protection officer at dataprotection@setu.ie. You will no longer be able to access the services provided by https://moodle.wit.ie if your consent is withdrawn. 

How do I request that my personal data is corrected or erased?

You may make corrections to your basic profile information by logging into the https://moodle.wit.ie and editing your own profile. If you have questions, or would like any other data to be corrected or erased, please send an email to the data protection officer at dataprotection@setu.ie.   

Who is my data shared with?

In order to provide access to the plagiarism checking service provided by http://turnitin.com, we may share your basic profile information with Turnitin Ltd. The data protection officer for Turnitin may be contacted at legal@turnitin.com. The privacy policy for Turnitin is available at http://turnitin.com/en_us/about-us/privacy#policy.

If you have a Moodle query or need technical support or advice, please send an email to moodle@setu.ie. We operate a helpdesk from Monday to Friday 9:00 am to 5:00 pm.

If you have a password issue, you will need to send an email to the computer services team at computerservices.wd@setu.ie. 

If you have a registration issue, please contact the registration team at registration.wd@setu.ie.

Why has my Turnitin similarity percentage changed after the due date?

When draft submissions are allowed prior to the due date, the comparison of submissions within the same Turnitin Assignment link will not take place until after the assignment due date passes. This means that similarity to your classmates’ work will not show in the Similarity Report prior to the due date.

Reports are regenerated by Turnitin at the due date and therefore the percentage similarity may change at this time.

For example, students may notice an increase in similarity after the due date if an assignment template has been used. In a situation where students have used template text such as table headers or report sections, these sections of text will only show as matches within the class group after the due date has passed, and will probably increase similarity percentages for the whole class group.

Likewise, if two or more students have included the same piece of text, Turnitin will display the existing external database matches prior to the due date; but once the due date passes these student papers will also match against each other.

Technical Support

If you have a Moodle query or need technical support or advice, please send an email to moodle@setu.ie. We operate a helpdesk from Monday to Friday 9:00 am to 5:00 pm.

If you have a password issue, you will need to send an email to the computer services team at computerservices.wd@setu.ie. 

If you have a registration issue, please contact the registration team at registration.wd@setu.ie.

Moodle Assessment Types

There are many options for assessment in Moodle. This webpage looks at the following options and the ways each can be used:

  • Rich Text
  • Assignment
  • Discussion
  • Quiz
  • Plagiarism Detection (Turnitin)

Rich Text

What is it?
Text typed into the Atto editor is automatically saved and the teacher can set a Word limit which will display a warning if students exceed it. In addition to allowing users to add and edit text -- also allows for the embedding of video, math formula and other rich media.  Interestingly, it’s possible to use rich text editing to record up to two minutes of audio or video directly into Moodle. The Online Text ATTO editor appears automatically whenever users start to post a message, create an announcement, assignment or label.

Assessment Applications?
Online Text can be used to support anything from short answer questions and forum posts to student video responses.

Assignment

What is it?

An Assignment can be thought of as a virtual pigeonhole or place for students to upload submissions.  Submissions can be made in the form of direct text entry or file uploads. Assignments can accept many file types including Microsoft Office files such as Word, PowerPoint and Excel as well as video, audio and archive files like .zip. Access to assignments can be provided or assigned to individual students, groups, or entire classes. Submission dates and times can be mandated.

Assessment Applications?
The most common use of Assignments is as a way for students to upload essays, reports, or other non text-based assessment evidence. The latter can include any kind of digital file including lab reports, programming assignments, learning logs, recorded video demonstrations or other video files, narrated presentations etc

Quiz

What is it?
A Quiz is a type of assessment in Moodle, typically composed of a defined series of small short questions. The questions can be of different types and many available types can be auto-corrected by Moodle itself. It is possible to also -- or exclusively -- include free text questions for, e.g., essay or short written answers, there are over 15 question types in Moodle, full details can be found here: https://docs.moodle.org/38/en/Question_types. There are numerous options available also in terms of creating multiple quizzes or quiz instances from the same bank of questions.  Questions can be used across different modules and also organised into so-called “question banks”, which can then be used by the system to select a random subset of questions to appear on each attempt.  Quizzes, when released to students will, appear on the Assignments Index Page, the Quizzes Index Page, the Gradebook and on the User Dashboard.  Quizzes can be assigned to individual students, groups or entire classes. Quizzes can be scheduled and time-limited.

Assessment Applications?
Time-limited computer-based multiple choice question tests are probably the most common use of Moodle quizzes. Quizzes, however, could also be used as the basis for an open book or essay-based exam, short question exam, in-tray exercise or instant report. Students can also upload a file or image using the essay type question which can be useful to show workings on a maths based question or upload an Excel file to demonstrate knowledge.

Plagiarism Detection

What is it?
We use a plagiarism detection tool called Turnitin. Turnitin will accept text-based submissions in most common formats, such as Word or PDF, and detects possible plagiarism cases by comparing submitted student files with an extensive range of public web, subscription-based sources and past student work.  Once the comparison is complete, the system provides an “originality report” indicating the degree of similarity between the submitted file and those other sources. Students can upload their assignment to a test area on the WIT Libraries Moodle page to check their originility score before submitting. See this page to learn more about Turnitin assignments: http://ctel.wit.ie/support/view/turnitin-assignment-types

Assessment Applications?
A complement to certain kinds of text-based assessment. It could also be used to support formative assessment relating to academic honesty/integrity and conventions of academic writing and scholarship. It is ideally used for essay style assignments over 1000 words.

If you have a Moodle query or need technical support or advice, please send an email to moodle@setu.ie. We operate a helpdesk from Monday to Friday 9:00 am to 5:00 pm.

If you have a password issue, you will need to send an email to the computer services team at computerservices.wd@setu.ie. 

If you have a registration issue, please contact the registration team at registration.wd@setu.ie.

Using Zoom for Shared Modules

Understanding The Problem

Shared modules in Moodle will often have multiple lecturers assigned to teach multiple groups of students within the same module area. Modules from common entry programmes are a typical example of this.

When using the Zoom plugin in Moodle, all meetings scheduled within a single module will be displayed in all Zoom activities in that module. This can be confusing for both staff and students as they can have multiple events occurring at the same time in their Moodle Calendar and it can be difficult to identify which one they should attend.  

The confusion is further compounded when there are multiple Zoom activities in a single module which are named for a specific group or class time. When students click on these Zoom activities, they are taken to the Zoom plugin which shows every upcoming Zoom meeting in the module and not just the one described in the title.  

Even creating groups does not change the way it works as students will still see all upcoming meetings for the entire module. 

Options To Overcome The Problem

  1. Use a standard naming convention when scheduling meetings for your group
  2. Create Zoom Meetings on http://wit-ie.zoom.us and post announcements to your Group Only

1. Use a standard naming convention when scheduling meetings for your group

When scheduling meetings using the Zoom plugin in Moodle all lecturers on the module should agree a naming convention that makes it immediately obvious which group or lecturer the meeting belongs to. Some examples include:

Example 1
Group Y: Weekly Lab with Peter Windle
Group W: Weekly Lab with Conor O’Neill

Example 2
Conor O’Neill Monday Lecture
Peter Windle Monday Lecture
 
Example 3    
Group A: Skills with Peter Windle
Group B: Skills with Conor O’Neill

Using this method, students will easily be able to locate the class they should be attending. For it to work, it must be consistent across all lecturers on the module. Ideally there will be a section on the module page dedicated to “Zoom Classes” with just one Zoom activity called something like “Zoom Meetings”. No other Zoom meetings should appear in any other section on the module.  

Unfortunately, students will still see all meetings scheduled by all lecturers for their module within the Zoom plugin and in their calendar view but they should be able to distinguish between them easily.

2. Create Zoom Meetings on Zoom.us and post announcements to your Group Only

After setting up groups within the shared module in Moodle it will be possible for lecturers to schedule Zoom meetings on the Zoom.us website for their group only. They can then post an Announcement in the Moodle module with a link to the Zoom session for their group only. Lecturers can also create a Moodle Calendar event for students with a link to the Zoom class.

Step 1: Log into your WIT Moodle account at http://wit-ie.zoom.us and click on Schedule a Meeting on the top right of the page.  

Step 2: Enter your meeting details and select the “Recurring Meeting” option with Recurrence set to “Weekly”, repeating every “1 week” and select the days the meeting takes place. Finally set the end date to the end of the semester. Once you have configured the remaining settings press save.

Step 3: Open the Zoom Invitation and copy the Join Zoom Meeting link eg. https://wit-ie.zoom.us/j/95860191212  

Step 4: Go to Announcements in Moodle module and add a new topic. The subject should contain the class type (class, seminar, lab, etc.) and the name of the lecturer delivering it. The message should contain dates and times of classes with the one link copied from the Zoom invitation.  

Remember, the start time and duration of a Zoom meeting are notional. A Zoom meeting can be accessed at any time. Lecturers and students can access the meeting even if the start time is different on two separate days if they have the link to the room. Taking this into consideration, it is possible to have a single Zoom meeting link that lecturers and students can use to access a lab that might start Monday at 9:15am and Thursday at 4:15pm every week for the semester.   

Step 5: Create a section on the module page dedicated to “Zoom Classes”. Create a label activity, Type in the name of the Zoom meeting, the times the sessions take place. Add a new line and paste the link to the Zoom meeting from the Zoom invitation.  

Step 6: Scroll down and expand the Restrict Access area. Click on Add Restriction. Select “Group” and then choose the group for the meeting you’ve created. Finally Save and return to module.  

This text will only appear for students in that group.  

You can also create a calendar event by going to https://moodle.wit.ie/calendar/view.php?view=month

Step 1: Click on the day the event takes place. Enter the Meeting Title, select the date and time

Step 2: For Type of Event, change from User to Group, search for your module and select the correct group

Step 3: Tick the box for Repeat this event.

Step 4: Enter the number of weeks it will repeat for and Save.

If you have any questions or if you encounter technical issues, please email us at moodle@setu.ie from your SETU staff/student email account.