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.