Summary
Moodle allows you a lot of flexibility to make your course suit your teaching and students. Without drastically changing everything you can make your course much more user friendly by using a few simple features. The University of Otago mandate a set of baseline elements for every course in a Learning Management System (LMS).
Resources
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- Provision of Course and Study Information to Enrolled Students – LMS Baseline Elements (University of Otago)
- Using Text and Media area (Moodle.org)
Minimum Course Requirements
For each course in Moodle we recommend including a few basics (we refer to these as the Minimum Course Requirements) – these requirements have been endorsed by MCC for 2019 and updated in 2025:
- Overview
- Introduction and welcome – introduce the convenor and other key people, provide contact details.
- Objectives and Outcomes – let the students know what it is they’re going to know by the end of your course.
- Curriculum Map – let the students know which Presentations, Conditions, Activities and Outcomes are taught, assessed or have resources provided
- Assessment – give a high level overview of how assessment works in your module including due dates and assessment types.
- Learning Support information – details for reporting concerns, where to get help/support.
- Course documentation – handbook, long books, allocations etc.
- Assessment – all assessment activities with clear due dates and instructions for Submissions in the Assessment section
- Turnitin – recommend that all written assignments are checked by plagiarism detection service and that draft submission opportunities are available.
- Copyright compliance
- eReserve – links to readings (as mandated by the Vice-Chancellor).
- Communication
- Timetables – online timetables (see your eLearning Facilitator for guidance).
- Clearly stated methods of communication within module
- Results – all formative assessment results and marker comments available in Moodle.
- Full digital record of summative assessment in Moodle
- Digital Summary of Achievement in Moodle utilising approved MBChB scales and calculations.
- Te Reo
- Integrated Hauora Māori glossary
- Bilingual section headers
- Accessibility
These basics should take up the first section or two of your course and be easy to find for students. For longer sections you’re able to provide structure by using Text and Media areas and descriptions for various activities.
