UH-Create a new Moodle area connected to Sisu on the course page

Suomeksi: HY-Uuden kurssialueen luonti På svenska: HY-Skapa ett nytt Moodle-område

There are two ways for a teacher in the University of Helsinki to get a new Moodle area: By creating a Moodle course area connected to Sisu - the students registered for the course in Sisu will be automatically on to the Moodle course area. (THIS GUIDE) OR By ordering a Moodle course area without connection to Sisu - the teacher opens a self enrolment or adds the students to the Moodle area manually. Please read these instructions carefully to decide the best way for you to get a new Moodle area. N.B. Open University course areas are ordered from an education specialist of the discipline in question.

Why should I use this way to create a Moodle area?

• The teacher does not have to add the students to Moodle themselves or ask the students to register for the course.
• Self enrolment and enrolment key are unnecessary.
• Every student who has registered or will register for the course in Sisu will automatically have access to the Moodle course area (after the teacher has opened it).
• The students receive information about the Moodle area and a link in Moodle to their My studies page. The link to Moodle is also shown on the course page.
• It will be possible to transfer grades from Moodle gradebook to Sisu (Instruction for teaching).

When should I not use this way to create a Moodle area?

• If students need to access the Moodle area before registrations are confirmed in Sisu. Then order the Moodle area with the form and assign students self-registration.
• If Sisu's implementation has groups for which you want your own Moodle area. The Moodle area can only be created for one Sisu implementation. Order a Moodle area for groups using the form and assign students self-registration. The information of Sisu's groups is not transferred to Moodle.
• The opening of the course in Moodle cannot be timed, i.e. the teacher must remember to open the Moodle area for students.

Create a Moodle area on the course page

A teacher or an officer can create a new Moodle course area from the course page. This way, the students registered for the course in Sisu will be automatically on to the Moodle course area.

1. Login to My Teaching.
2. Go to the course page of your course.
3. Turn the editing on (Edit).
4. When the editing is on, go to the Moodle section.
5. Click “Create new Moodle course area”.
6. The new Moodle area is created immediately. The teachers and the students registered for the course in Sisu are automatically synchronized with the Moodle course area.
7. Add the address of the new Moodle course area on the course page. It will be soon also on the My teaching and My studies pages.
8. The course start date of the Moodle area becomes the start date specified in Sisu. So the Moodle area is usually found first on the future courses on the Moodle Dashboard. The course end date of the Moodle area will be the end date from Sisu + 1 month. This way, the course area is still on the "In progress" courses on the Dashboard until the assessment, etc. is completed. The teacher can also edit this information in the Moodle course settings.
9. The students have access to the Moodle area after the teacher has opened the Moodle area for the students. (In Moodle: Actions menu (Gear menu on the top right) > Edit Settings > Course visibility > Show > Save and display).

How is user data transferred from Sisu and how is it shown in Moodle?

• The changes to the list of participants in Moodle, which have been registered in Sisu, are made in Sisu (see Registration in Sisu). The changes are transferred to Moodle course area every two hours.
• The teachers of the Sisu implementation are transferred to Moodle with the role of teacher (roles: “teacher” and “synced”).
• The students (verified registration) of the Sisu implementation are transferred to Moodle with the role of student (roles “student” and “synced”).
• The teacher can also add participants to the Moodle course area directly in Moodle (e.g. visiting lecturers with limited user accounts).
• If the student’s registration is cancelled or deleted from Sisu, the role of "student" will be removed from the student in Moodle and their status will change to "suspended" with the next synchronization. Teachers deleted from Sisu are not deleted from Moodle.
• If there is a user in Moodle with only the role “synced” and the status is "suspended", it means the student registration has been cancelled or deleted from Sisu.
• If there is a user in Moodle with only the role “student”, it means the student has either used self enrolment or the teacher has added them to Moodle directly. This student has no registration information in Sisu for that implementation.
• The automatic synchronization of registrations from Sisu to Moodle ends one year after the end of the course. The status of the participant list will then remain in Moodle to what it was then.

Possible problems and their solutions

Problem	Likely explanation	Solution
The teacher deletes student from Moodle but the student will soon appear there again.	The student is still registered for the course in Sisu. The student role is restored to Moodle along the next synchronization.	The student registration must be cancelled or deleted in Sisu. With the next synchronization, the student’s role “student” is automatically deleted and status is changed to "suspended" in Moodle. The registrations are managed in Sisu.
The teacher adds the "student" role to the student and changes the status to "active", but soon the role is removed and the status changed to "suspended".	Student registration has been cancelled or deleted in Sisu. During synchronization every two hours, the "student" role is removed and the status is set to "suspended".	Student registration must be verified in Sisu. With the next synchronization, the "student" role is added to the student and the status is changed to "active". Participants are thus managed in Sisu.
Students from the previous academic year are still in the Moodle course area.	The Moodle area of the previous academic year has been used again for the current course.	A new Moodle course area must be ordered for each new course if you want to synchronize students between Sisu and Moodle. If the course is already running, please contact moodle@helsinki.fi
There are a lot of students with the status “suspended”. How do I remove them from the participation list in the Moodle area?	Student registrations have either been cancelled or removed in Sisu, removing the "student" role for students and the status being "suspended" in Moodle.	The teacher can remove these participants from the list of participants in the Moodle area. This should be done after there are no changes to registrations.