Who are the ‘other users’ listed in the Participants list in my Moodle course?

There are roles in Moodle dedicated to allowing certain users the permission to view and edit courses and course materials, view reports and logs, view module evaluation results, and enrol staff and students without being enrolled directly onto individual modules. As these users are not usually involved in delivering content on a module or taking a module (therefore not a teacher or a student on a Moodle course) different roles are assigned to them so that they can complete required tasks.

Why do we have these roles?

Several job roles at the university require users to be able to access, view, or edit Moodle courses in bulk. These users usually have either a university-wide role supporting staff and students (such as Academic Liaison Librarians and Disability Support Tutors) or a faculty or directorate role leading or administering a programme, subject or group (such as Programme Administrators and Programme Leads).

The way these roles are assigned is different than ‘regular’ course roles such as Module Leader and Student. Instead of being individually enrolled onto modules using the Student Record System or a manual enrolment, these individuals are assigned at the category (i.e. folder) level. The category level is where similar types of courses are grouped together (i.e. all Midwifery courses or all Business Management courses).

Are Moodle roles the same as job roles and titles?

Moodle roles are not the same as the academic or professional role or job title of an individual. The Moodle roles instead take into account what permissions an individual needs to have in order to complete a required task. For example, a quality assurance officer may be given a Moodle role titled ‘Academic Lead-Quality’ because they need to view all reports and student data, but do not require editing access to make changes to a course’s content.

What types of roles are there?

Roles relating to teaching

• Module Leader
  • Who may have this role?: The Module Leader of record for a Moodle course.
  • Where is it assigned?: Should only be assigned to individual modules in Banner SRS and enrolled in Moodle via the Banner sync.
  • What permissions do they have?:
    • All editing and management of all items of a course.
    • Can view: student data, grades, course settings, reports, course evaluation results, and activity logs.
    • Can enrol: Module Supervisors, Co-teachers, Teaching Assistants and External Examiners.
• Module Supervisor
  • Who may have this role?: Other members of the teaching team for a course. Module supervisor may be used for modules where teachers have the same responsibilities.
  • Where is it assigned?: At the course level only.
  • What permissions do they have?:
    • All editing and management of all items of a course.
    • Can view: student data, grades, course settings, reports, course evaluation results, and activity logs.
    • Can enrol: Module Supervisors, Co-teachers, Teaching Assistants and External Examiners.
    • NB: There is no functional difference between this role and the Module Leader role. This role is assigned to distinguish between teaching responsibilities for the record.
• Co-teacher
  • Who may have this role?: Other members of the teaching team for a course. Co-teacher may be used for seminar tutors or guest lecturers.
  • Where is it assigned?: At the course level only.
  • What permissions do they have?:
    • All editing and management of all items of a course.
    • Can view: student data, grades, course settings, reports, course evaluation results, and activity logs.
    • NB: There is no functional difference between this role and the Module Leader role. This role is assigned to distinguish between teaching responsibilities for the record.
• Teaching Assistant
  • Who may have this role?: Other members of the teaching team for a course. Teaching Assistant may be used for seminar tutors or guest lecturers.
  • Where is it assigned?: At the course level only.
  • What permissions do they have?:
    • No editing or management responsibilities in a course.
    • Can view: all items in a course (hidden and unhidden).
    • Can view: all student submissions and grades.
    • Can grade items.
• Student
  • Who may have this role?: Individuals taking a course who will be expected to complete tasks or receive a grade/mark.
  • Where is it assigned?: At the module level either in the Banner SRS or at the course level by manual enrolment (only if the module is not connected to the student record system).
  • What permissions do they have?:
    • Can view unhidden items in a course.
    • Can complete tasks and submit work.
    • Can receive grades in the gradebook.
• Academic Advisor
  • Who may have this role?: Individuals who are a student’s academic advisor.
  • Where is it assigned?: At the course level and in certain system processes.
  • What permissions do they have?:
    • Can view all items in a course (hidden and unhidden).
    • Can view student submissions and grades.
    • Can grade items.
• External Examiner
  • Who may have this role?: Individuals who are evaluating modules for the examination committees and for quality assurance.
  • Where is it assigned?: At the faculty level, programme level, subject level or course level.
  • What permissions do they have?:
    • Can view all items in a course (hidden and unhidden).

Roles supporting teaching and learning

• Academic Liaison Librarian
  • Who may have this role?: Academic Liaison Librarians and other members of Learning Resources staff.
  • Where is it assigned?: At the faculty and directorate level.
  • What permissions do they have?:
    • Can create courses.
    • Can edit and manage all courses and course items for individual faculties and directorates.
    • Primary responsibility is for items relating to learning resources, including reading lists, and other library tasks.
• Disability Support Tutor
  • Who may have this role?: Members of Wellbeing staff, Disability Support tutors, and other individuals supporting inclusive teaching and learning.
  • Where is it assigned?: At the faculty level and directorate level.
  • What permissions do they have?:
    • Can view all items in a course (hidden and unhidden).
    • Can complete tasks for testing purposes, but will not receive grades in the gradebook.
• Academic Support Staff
  • Who may have this role?: Student Support Coordinators and Principal Lecturers for Student Experience.
  • Where is it assigned?: At the faculty level and programme/subject level.
  • What permissions do they have?:
    • Can view all items in a course (hidden and unhidden).
    • Can view all student submissions and grades, and some activity logs.
• SIRT
  • Who may have this role?: The Student Investigation and Resolution Team.
  • Where is it assigned?: At the faculty level.
  • What permissions do they have?:
    • Can view all items in a course (hidden and unhidden).
    • Can view student submissions and grades.

Roles supporting faculty, programme, and course administration

• Academic Administration
  • Who may have this role?: Programme Administrators and Programme Leads.
  • Where is it assigned?: At the programme or subject level.
  • What permissions do they have?:
    • All editing and management of all items of a course.
    • Can view: student data, grades, course settings, reports, course evaluation results, and activity logs.
    • Can enrol all staff and students.
• Academic Lead – Coordination
  • Who may have this role?: Heads of Department, Programme Leads, and Subject Coordinators.
  • Where is it assigned?: At the faculty, programme or subject level.
  • What permissions do they have?:
    • All editing and management of all items of a course.
    • Can view: most student data, grades, course settings, reports and activity logs.
    • Cannot view: course evaluation results.
    • Can enrol all staff.

• Academic Lead – Quality
  • Who may have this role?: Programme Leads, Quality Assurance Officers, Associate Deans for Education and Student Experience, and Associate Deans for Strategy and Development.
  • Where is it assigned?: At the faculty level.
  • What permissions do they have?:
    • Can view all items in a course (hidden and unhidden).
    • Can view all student data, can view reports, course evaluation results, and activity logs.

Administrative Roles

• Manager
  • Who may have this role?: Moodle Administrators and IT Services staff.
  • Where is it assigned?: At the System level and affects all Moodle courses.
  • What permissions do they have?:
    • University-wide responsibility for course creation and management.
    • They can access courses and modify them and perform certain administrative level tasks related to courses and users.
• DMeLD
  • Who may have this role?: Digital Media and eLearning Developers.
  • Where is it assigned?: At the Faculty and Directorate level.
  • What permissions do they have?:
    • Faculty and Directorate-wide responsibility for course creation and management.
    • They can access courses and modify them for their faculty or directorate and perform certain administrative level tasks related to courses and users.
• Professional Services Support Staff
  • Who may have this role?: Learning Resources staff, OCSLD staff, and Principal Lecturers for Staff Experience.
  • Where is it assigned?: At the directorate level.
  • What permissions do they have?:
    • Can view all items in a course (hidden and unhidden).
    • Can view student submissions and grades.

View-only Role

• Course Viewer:
  • Who may have this role?: Centre for Academic Development tutors, Non-medical help support staff including note-takers, Privacy Officers, and other guests.
  • Where is it assigned?: At any level.
  • What permissions do they have?:
    • Read-only access: Can view all unhidden items in a course.