Moodle Board is a new activity in Moodle that was added as part of our upgrade to Moodle 4.5. The activity allows the creation of Padlet-style activities with post-it boards (or pinboards) where students can post messages and attach content such as text, images, links. Posts in the board can be anonymous or eponymous.
How do I add Moodle board to my course?
- In your Moodle course, turn edit mode on.
- Go to the section or subsection where you would like to add the activity.
- Click the plus icon that appears either at the bottom of the section or when you hover your mouse between other existing activities.
- Select Activity or resource.
- Select Board in the activity chooser.
- Select the following settings:
General
| Name | Give your activity a name |
| Description (optional) | Add instructions for your studients |
Board settings
| Background colour | Leave blank |
| Background Image | Leave blank |
| Rating posts | Select any of the following: – Disabled, if you wish to prevent anyone (including teachers) from rating student posts. – By students, if you wish to allow participants in the activity to rate posts made only by students. – By teachers, if you wish to allow participants in the activity to rate posts made only by teachers. – By all, if you wish to allow participants in the activity to rate posts made only by teachers. |
| Hide column headers from students | Tick the box if you would like to hide the heading of each column in your board. |
| Sort by | Select any of the following: – None, if you wish to sort posts by participants in no particular order. – Creation date, if you wish to sort posts by participants based on the date the posts were created. – Rating, if you wish to sort posts by participants based on the rating they have received by other participants in the course. |
| Single user mode | Select from the following options: – Disabled, if you wish for both students and teachers in the course to be able to see everyone else’s posts but not who posted them. – Single user mode (public), if you wish for both teachers and students to be able to see everyone else’s posts and also who posted them. – Single user mode (private), if you wish for: a. students to not be able to see anyone else’s posts apart from their own and b. teachers to be able to see everyone’s posts and who posted them. Note: once a student has posted in a board, this settings locks itself and cannot be unlocked/changed afterwards. |
| Limit students posting by date | Tick the box if you wish to prevent participants from posting in the Board after a certain date. Once ticking the box, a new field appears that allows you to choose a specific date. |
| Allow all users to edit the placement of their own posts. | Tick the box if you wish to allow participants to move their posts after posting them. |
| Enable blank target | Tick the box if you like links to open in a new browser window/tab. |
- Click Save and display.
How do I add columns to my Moodle Board?
Upon clicking Save and display, you will be presented with three columns to start with:
- Double-click the word ‘Heading’ in each column to give it an appropriate name.
- Click the plus icon on the right of the last column to add more columns.
- Click the padlock icon in each column to prevent participants from posting in the column.
- Click the ‘arrows-up-down-left-right’ icon to move each column left or right.
- Click the cross icon in each column to delete the column itself and any of its contents.
How do I add a post in a column?
Each column that you add to your board allows teachers and students to post text and media. To add a post to a column:
- Click the plus icon below each column.
- Next to ‘Post title’, choose a title for your post. Leave blank if you don’t wish for your post to have a title.
- Next to ‘Content’, type the text of your post. Leave blank if you don’t wish to post text.
- Next to ‘Media’, choose:
- The link icon to add links to external websites.
- The image icon to post images.
- The video icon to post YouTube videos.