• Overview
  ...a rough guide to e-learning, for students

• Using the Course Materials Repository
• Using Online Coursework Submission
• Using Moodle
• Using WebCT
• Using Perception
• Using myLife
• Using a Personal Response System

• Plagiarism
• Study Skills

Moodle

Moodle is a web-based learning environment that allows you to access your course materials online and make use of a number of useful built-in facilities to enhance your learning experience (discussion forums, chat facilities, quizzes, surveys, glossaries, wikis, etc.). It brings the dynamics of a classroom environment to the Internet. It allows teachers and students to interact in a 'virtual classroom' in much the same way as in a standard classroom. The difference is that it can be done from any place in the world, at any time and with the resources of the Internet as support.

Moodle courses can be developed as fully interactive classrooms where you may be involved in online discussions or collaborative group work. Other courses may not involve a lot of online discussion and course material may be presented as a structured set of files (such as Word documents and PowerPoint presentations). It depends on the learning material, your tutor, and the best way to deliver the course.

Accessing Moodle

To access Moodle, go to: http://moodle.essex.ac.uk (You will also find links for Moodle from the 'myStudy' channel in myEssex).

You should then see the homepage of Moodle, similar to the screenshot below:

Logging into Moodle

On the left-hand side of the screen, you should see a login box. Type your University username and password into the appropriate textboxes and then click on the 'login' button. You do not need to add 'campus\' before your username.

After logging in, you will see your 'My Courses' screen. You will see your name at the very top of the right-hand side of the screen. You will also see a list of courses that you have access to, on the left-hand side of the screen (My Courses).

To access a course in Moodle, just click on the name of the course in the 'My courses' list. This should take you to the home page of the course.

Useful Guides:

To view these documents, you will need the free Adobe Reader.

• Student Guide to Moodle - this provides assistance for students in the early stages of using Moodle.
• Using the Forums in Moodle
• Guidelines on contributing to discussions
• Using the Calendar in Moodle