Communicating Using Moodle
Before you begin
There are a number of ways to for CCA faculty to contact their students, in addition to emailing them via your Portal Course Section page. Below are three options for contacting your students via Moodle:
Announcements
Announcements is a special type of Forum that is provided by default in every starter course and should not be removed. Using Announcements is the best way to email all of your students. When you post an Announcement, the post will be visible in Moodle as well as emailed to all students' CCA email addresses, including attachments. This is not for students to respond or hold a discussion - a Forum activity is best for that. This is for broadcasting announcements, reminders, assignment follow-up details, etc.
The course must be unhidden for students to receive email notifications.
You can post announcements for your Moodle course by using the pre-configured Announcements tool, available in the General section of your course page.
This is a one-way communication tool (students cannot reply) by which you can post announcements, which are also sent out as emails to all enrolled students.
1 Click the Announcements activity (in the General section near the top of your course page).
2 Click the "Add discussion topic" button to draft a new announcement.
Previous announcements will also be listed on this screen after you have posted them.
3 Fill out the announcement's Subject and Message field. When you're ready, click "Post to forum."
After successfully posting your announcement, you have 30 mins to edit it if you want to make any changes, at which time a notification will be sent to enrolled students.
(Optional) You can also click on Advanced to the right of the Post to forum and Cancel buttons to reveal more options, such as attaching files and sending the notification to users before the 30 minute editing time has elapsed.
Note: The Announcements "forum" is set to Forced subscription so users will receive a notification if they have not made changes to the default notification settings in Moodle. However, if they have made changes to their notification settings, this may cause notifications to be missed.
Messaging
Instructors and students may send and receive private messages via Moodle. This method is best for messaging a specific user or group in which you have set up to have group messaging.
About the messaging drawer
In the top right of Moodle, you will see a bell icon, a speech bubble icon, and your profile photo.
The bell icon includes general notifications, such as announcements posted by CCA's Moodle team, along with course updates, such as notifications of student assignment submissions.
The speech bubble icon main have a number highlighted in red indicating the number of new messages you have received.
Click the speech bubble icon to display the messaging drawer, which is divided into starred messages, group messages, and private messages. Private messages will display any messages you may have sent to your students from the Participants page.
From the messaging drawer:
- Contacts and Requests may be accessed from the Contacts link.
- A star may be added to a conversation by clicking the horizontal three dots when viewing a message.
- You can also use the horizontal three dots to mute messages, so that email notifications of new messages are no longer sent.
1 In the messaging drawer, search for the person you want to send a message to.
The results will display in three sections: Contacts, Non-contacts, and Messages (previous messages including the person you searched for).
2 Click on the person you wish to send a message to.
Your previous messages with that person will display (if you have any) along with a box that says Write a message... located at the bottom of the page.
3 Write a message and then click the paper airplane icon to send it.
Your message will display as an alert on Moodle and will also send an email to that person (with default notifications set).
(Optional) Adding a non-contact as a contact
After locating someone via the search results, click on them to open the conversation box. Click on the three-dot icon to the right of their name and profile picture and select "Add to contacts." This person will receive your request to be added to contacts and may accept or deny the request.
Note: Students and instructors have the ability to change their notification settings so that they do not receive all messages via email.
Messaging from the Participants page
You can also send messages from the Participants page. This is a convenient way to message all or a number of students with a quick note or reminder.
1 Click on Participants from the Course navigation tabs near the top of your course.
2 Use the checkboxes to select individual students or click the top checkbox to select all students.
3 From the With selected users… drop down menu, choose Send a message.
4 Type your message into the pop-up window. When you’re satisfied, click "Send message to x people."
Students will each receive an individual private message and be unaware that other students were included in the message.
Note: You may see an "Error sending message" pop-up window if one or more users are unable to receive messages. Common causes include a course still being Hidden or users with a “suspended” enrollment or other account problems.
To unhide a course, click Edit Settings and set the Course Visibility to Show. For more detailed instructions, visit Hiding / Unhiding Courses.
If you want to contact students but are not ready to unhide your course, you can email your class from your Course Section Page in Portal. For further assistance, contact Help Desk.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
If I posted an announcement before I unhid the course, will students receive a notification when the course is set to "show"?
No, students will not receive any email notifications retroactively. If you would like them to get notified about your previously posted announcements, you may wish you to email them separately, create another Announcement to let them know to check previous announcements, or copy and repost the original announcement as a new announcement and delete the old one.
Will students get notified immediately after I post an announcement?
Moodle has a default editing time of 30 minutes before it sends a notification to your students. Students may still be able to view the announcement immediately after posting, but they will not be sent a notification until after 30 minutes has elapsed.
If you would like to bypass this delay, click on the Advanced link to the right of the "Post to forum" button, and check the "Send forum post notifications with no editing-time delay" box.
Can I attach a file to my announcement forum post?
Yes, to access additional options such as attaching a file to your forum post, please click on the Advanced link to the right of the "Post to Forum" button.