When starting out with Moodle, there are a couple of general navigation tips that may help when working with your courses! If you have any additional questions on where to locate something in Moodle, contact the Moodle Team.
Moodle Live Chat
If you would like to get assistance immediately, you may see the Moodle Live Chat option in the bottom right corner of the site. The Moodle team will be there to answer and guide you with any questions you might have.
The chat is typically available from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm, however this may adjust on occasion due to campus events, summer hours, or holidays. If Live Chat is not available, submit a ticket to IT HelpDesk for assistance via this site (https://stolafcarleton.teamdynamix.com).
Common help links for Moodle:
Profile Picture
Your profile picture is located in the upper right corner of any page. When your picture is selected, a dropdown menu will appear. Here you can log-off, edit your profile, manage grades, send messages and switch your role.
How do I find my Moodle Dashboard?
Once you are logged in, look for the Dashboard block on the upper left side of the Moodle page. Under My courses, select the course you wish to look at. The page you arrive at is referred to as a course page/homepage or a Moodle course.
It is a good idea to make a bookmark for this main Moodle page so you can access it quickly. Here is the URL for the current St. Olaf Moodle server (moodle-2020-21.stolaf.edu).
For additional information, see Moodle Dashboard Overview.
How do I navigate within my Moodle course page?
Underneath the course title on the left in the top bar, you see the “Breadcrumb” links to help you navigate from page to page within your Moodle site.
- The first link Dashboard takes you back to the main St. Olaf Moodle page.
- The second link Your Course Title takes you back to the main page for your Moodle site.
As you navigate further into your Moodle site, you will see other links appear as well.
On the left side of the navigation bar of your Moodle course, you can access the list of participants, grades, and badges.
Help Icons
Most editing options and blank fields have a help symbol
next to them. Select this symbol to view for more information and instructions for the given option.
Switch Your Role - See the Student View
It is helpful to understand what students will see. This is accomplished by clicking on your picture in the top right hand corner and selecting the Switch role to...
This function is available to anyone in the course who has editing rights.
It may be possible to see other views other than student. This will depend on your permissions in Moodle overall.
Blocks
On each side of the page, there are different blocks.
Some of these are for navigation, administration, activities, as well as Panopto. One of the most important blocks is the navigation block. You have already used it to access your course page. It allows you to access different course topics and resources quickly. You can customize and rearrange these blocks once editing is turned on.
The Add a block function will appear at the bottom left navigation bar of your Moodle site.
For more information on blocks, see the article Adding Blocks in Moodle.