Context

A context is a "space" in Moodle. The context is combined with Role permissions to define a user's capabilities on any page in Moodle. A course is a good example of a context, where some users have the permissions of a student and other users have the permissions of a teacher.

In Moodle 1.7 and onward, a permission context can include an activity module or a block. Thus a course can have many contexts in its space. These might include lesson, assignment, forum and quiz modules and blocks.

It is possible to assign a user different permissions based upon a specific context. For example, a user might be given the role of "student" for a course but be given a teacher's role in the context of one specific forum.