Course Settings

Overview
Change the Course Format (Weeks or Topics)
Change the Number of Weeks or Topics
Change the Course Theme
Course Setting Descriptions

Overview

Course settings that you may want to change include:

• Format - The two most common formats for Moodle courses are Weekly and Topics. (The Weekly format has date labels for each section whereas the Topics format does not).
• Number of weeks/topics – This setting determines the number of week or topic sections that appear on the course home page.
• Show grades - This setting determines whether a student may view his/her grades. (You will be able to view student grades regardless of whether you choose Yes or No.)
• Show activity reports - This setting determines whether a student may view his/her activity log. (You will be able to view student activity logs regardless of whether you choose Yes or No.)
• Force Theme - The Force theme drop-down box contains different templates that you can apply to change the look of your course.

Change the Course Format

1. In the Administration block on your course home page, click on Settings.
2. Click on the Format down arrow and select the desired format.
   
   
3. Click on the Save changes button at the bottom of the page.

Change the Number of Weeks or Topics

1. In the Administration block on your course home page, click on Settings.
2. Click on the Number of weeks/topics down arrow and select the desired value.
   
   
3. Click on the Save changes button at the bottom of the page.

Change the Course Theme

1. In the Administration block on your course home page, click on Settings.
2. Click on the Force theme down arrow and select the desired theme.
   
   
3. Click on the Save changes button at the bottom of the page.

Course Setting Descriptions

Below are descriptions of the Moodle course settings.

• Category - The category determines where the course appears on the Moodle home page. The category is set by the Moodle Administrator when the course is created.
• Full name - The full name of the course is displayed at the top of the screen and in the course listings. The full name is set by the Moodle Administrator when the course is created. Do not change this.
  
• Short name - The short name is used in several places where the long name isn't appropriate, such as on the navigation bar. The short name is set by the Moodle Administrator when the course is created. Do not change this.
• Course ID number - The course ID number is not displayed in Moodle. It is used in system-wide backups and is set by the Moodle Administrator when the course is created. Do not change this setting.
• Summary - Usually, the summary is the course description from the Monmouth College catalog and is entered by the Moodle Administrator when the course is created.
• Format - The two most common formats for Moodle courses are the weekly and topics formats. (The weekly format uses dates whereas the topics format does not). The format is set by the course Administrator when the course is created.
• Number of weeks/topics - This setting determines the number of weeks or topics in your course. By default, this is set to 10. You may need to change the number of weeks or topics for your course.
• Course start date - When using the Weekly course format, the first week will start on the date you set here. The course start date is set by the Moodle Administrator when the course is created.
• Hidden sections - This setting allows you to decide how the hidden sections are displayed to students. By default, this is set to Hidden sections are shown in collapsed form, but you may change this.
• News items to show - If you are using the Latest News block on your course home page, then this setting determines the number of recent posts that will display from the course News forum.
• Show grades - This setting determines whether students can see their grades. By default, this is set to Yes, but you may change it.
• Show activity reports - This setting determines whether students can view a log of their course activity. (You will always have access to this information.) By default, this setting is set to No, but you may change it.
• Maximum upload size - This setting determines the largest sized file that may be uploaded to your course. By default, this is set to 500 KB, but you may change it.
• Force theme - This setting determines the look of your course. By default, this is set to Do not force, but you may change it.
• Is this a meta course?- This setting determines whether your course may be accessed by participants in other Monmouth College Moodle courses. By default, this is set to No. If you would like to make your course a meta course and want assistance, then please contact the Marcie Beintema (x2194).
• Default role - The default role determines which role a participants will be assigned to when they enroll themselves in your course. By default, this is set to Student, but you may change it.
• Enrolment Plugins - This setting determines how students may enroll themselves in your course. By default, it is set to Site Default (Internal Enrolment). Do not change this.
• Course enrollable - This setting determines whether students may enroll themselves in your course. By default, it is set to Yes. Do not change this.
• Course enrollable start date and end date - These settings determine an enrollment date range for your course. By default, these settings are disabled. Do not change this.
• Enrolment duration - This setting determines the length of time students will be enrolled in your course. By default, it is set to Unlimited. Do not change this.
• Notify, Notify students, & Threshold - This setting is used to notify you of enrollment expirations. By default, it is set to No. Do not change this.
• Notify students - This setting is used to notify students of enrollment expirations. By default, it is set to No. Do not change this.
• Threshold - This setting determines when enrollment expiration notifications will be sent. By default, it is set to 10 days. Do not change this.
• Group mode - This setting is used to determine the default group mode for all course activities. By default, it is set to No Groups, which means that when you create a new activity, its group mode will be initially be set to No Groups, but you will be able to change it to Visible Groups or Separate Groups. Unless you want to change the default group mode for all activities in your course, do not change this setting.
• Force - This setting is used to apply the selected group mode to every activity in the course. By default, it is set to No. Unless you want every activity in the course to have the selected group mode, do not change this setting. Also, if you "force" a group mode at the course level, then you will not be able to change the group mode for individual activities.
• Availability - This setting determines whether students can access your course. By default it is set to This course is available to students. Unless you want to hide your course from students (which you usually do after a semester has ended), then do not change this setting.
• Enrolment key - An enrollment key is a password you create to be used by anyone who wants to enroll in your course.
• Guest access - This setting determines whether people who are not enrolled in your course may access it. By default, it is set to Do not allow guest in, but you may change it.
• Cost - This setting is used only when enrollment in the course requires payment. It does not apply to Monmouth College Moodle courses.
• Force language - This setting is used to determine the default language of your course. By default, it is set to Do not Force. Currently, the only other Force language option is English.