Minimum pedagogical standards for Moodle courses – Recommendations

Moodle courses contain key course information

Key course information helps students to plan their learning and fulfil their responsibilities.

• Moodle courses provide basic information about the course and its implementation. Course information can also be provided as a link to the syllabus or the course implementation plan if these are separate resources (i.e., files, pages, Moodle books). The following course information is required:

o    course description: learning objectives and learning outcomes, topics, compulsory and supplementary readings,
o    course teacher(s),
o    course timetable,
o    feedback that students can expect from the teacher,
o    methods of assessment and assessment criteria,
o    course responsibilities, assignments, exams and other participation requirements for course completion,
o    information on plagiarism detection.

• Information is offered about the way face-to-face teaching is combined with the Moodle course, teacher expectations regarding the use of the Moodle course, as well as compulsory and optional course activities.
• Information is also provided about the communication channels between students and the teacher (e.g., preferred communication channel, office hours, etc.).
• The teacher's profile in the Moodle course has a brief description and a picture, as well as other information relevant for students.
• There is a news forum in Moodle courses for teacher announcements and at least one forum for general use where students can ask questions.
• The purpose of each discussion forum is clearly defined.
• Learning resources and activities are appropriately named with descriptive titles. Their names reflect the purpose of their use is (e.g., Instructions for…, Course materials on...) and they are marked with appropriate and meaningful labels or icons. This will help students understand the meaning and structure of the Moodle course more easily.