Learning With Moodle

What's Moodle?

Moodle is SSU's Learning Management System (LMS). Many SSU faculty use Moodle to enhance their face-to-face courses, or to provide fully online courses. Moodle is the place where many faculty post course syllabi, host class discussions, post assignment details, and link to a variety of instructional materials.

Does My Course Use Moodle?

All official University courses have a Moodle course shell. Faculty who wish to use Moodle with their students will activate the Moodle course, upload content to it, and open it to enrolled students. If you don't see a Moodle course in your "My Courses" block in Moodle, it means either:

  • You aren't officially enrolled in the course (check your MySSU enrollment info), OR
  • Your teacher has not activated the course for student use (ask your teacher if he/she is using Moodle).

Am I Enrolled In Moodle Courses?

If you're a student enrolled in courses at SSU, YES! When you register for a course in Peoplesoft (aka MySSU or CMS), your enrollment is automatically pushed to the Moodle server. IT updates Moodle enrollment at least once per day, so if you add a course in MySSU today, you should show up in the Moodle course tomorrow.

How Do I Access My Moodle Courses?

  1. Login to Online Services (Notice the Login link at the top of this page, and many other University pages).
  2. Click the Moodle link. When you get to the Moodle front page, you'll see your list of courses in the right column.
  3. Click any of those links to access the Moodle course.

Hey, Why Don't I See My Course?

Not all faculty choose to use Moodle, and some faculty use Moodle only with some of their courses. If you like Moodle, and want your instructors to use it, tell them so. We've had many faculty start using Moodle due to student demands.

If your instructor says you should be able to access a Moodle course, and you don't see it in your list, something may have gone wrong. Speak with your instructor about this, then contact the IT Help Desk if the instructor can't resolve the problem.

If you don't see a Moodle course in your "My Courses" block in Moodle, it almost always means either:

  • You aren't officially enrolled in the course (check your MySSU enrollment info), OR
  • Your teacher has not activated the course for student use (ask your teacher if he/she is using Moodle).

What Are the Technical Requirements For Moodle?

  • You should be able to access Moodle with any modern/current web browser:
    • Firefox
    • Chrome
    • Safari
    • Internet Explorer
    • and others
  • You will need to have Javascript enabled.
  • You should have common plugins installed. See the SSU Plugins page for download links.
    • Quicktime Player
    • Acrobat Reader
    • Flash Player
    • Java
    • If your instructor uses other types of rich media, you may need other plugins
  • Microsoft Office, Google Docs, or other word processing and spreadsheet applications.

Some features in Moodle may work better with some browsers than with others. It's not a bad idea to have more than one browser installed on your computer, and you should become familiar with using both (though not necessarily simultaneously).

Is There Moodle Training for Students?

SSU has subscribed to Lynda.com's video training series, "Moodle 2 Essentials for Students." These videos are broken into short clips, covering topics such as:

  • Viewing documents
  • Contributing to discussion forums
  • Completing text assignments
  • Uploading attachments to assignments
  • Taking an online quiz
  • Checking grades

To access the training videos, use your Seawolf ID to login to Moodle 2 Essentials. Quicktime is required.

Where Do I Get Moodle Support?

If you have problems using Moodle, please contact the IT Help Desk at 664-4357.