Activity chooser
What is the activity chooser?
The activity chooser appears when Edit mode is on and you click to add content (+) and select 'Add an activity or resource'.
To select an activity, click the activity icon and then the Add button (bottom right). Alternatively, to go straight to the Add activity page, double-click the activity.
Icon colours and activity categories
Each activity icon has a colour, which reflects the purpose of that activity. Activities and resources are no longer grouped by the broad categories “Activities” and “Resources.” Instead, they are organised by their main pedagogical purpose, which matches the icon colour.
The current purposes and their default colours are:
- Administration – tools for course management (purple, #da58ef)
- Assessment – activities that support evaluation and measurement, such as Assignment, Quiz, and Workshop (pink, #f90086)
- Collaboration – activities for knowledge sharing and teamwork, such as Forum, Database, Glossary, and Wiki (blue, #5b40ff)
- Communication – activities for interaction and feedback, such as BigBlueButton, Chat, Choice, Feedback, and Survey (orange, #eb6200)
- Interactive content – engaging tools such as H5P, Lesson, IMS package, and SCORM package (brown, #8d3d1b)
- Resources – items for displaying content such as Book, File, Folder, Page, URL, and Text and media area (teal, #0099ad)
- Recommended – activities selected by your organisation (colour depends on the activity’s underlying purpose)
Activities without a defined purpose appear only under All, not under a specific purpose tab.
Please note that an activity may serve more than one purpose. It is colour-coded according to its main purpose. For example, Lesson activities are shown in brown as interactive content, even though they can also be used for assessment.
Features of the chooser
The activity chooser is divided into purpose categories, which appear as tabs. The exact categories shown depend on the administrator’s settings (see admin seetings below) and may include:
- All – a complete list of all activities and resources.
Book icon in the chooser. Each activity has a star icon to mark it as a favourite, and an information icon that opens a panel with further details and a link to documentation. - Starred – any activity or resource you (the teacher) mark as a favourite. Starred activities always appear first.
- Recommended – activities selected by the site administrator in Site administration > Courses > Activity chooser > Recommended activities. In new installations, this category is shown by default.
- Pedagogical categories – Each of the pedagogical activities' group: Assessment, Collaboration, Communication, Administration, Interactive content, and Resources. Each pedagogical group has a matching icon colour.
- MoodleNet – if enabled, a link to MoodleNet can appear in the footer of the chooser.
Please note that when you use the search box, the results are displayed within the All tab, instead of opening in a separate tab.
Admin settings
From Site administration > Courses > Activity chooser > Recommended activities, the administrator can select items which will then appear as recommended in the activity chooser.
If the Admin has selected any of the purposed activities, they will be shown in the recommended tab. Otherwise, the recommended feature won’t appear on the activity chooser.
If enabled, MoodleNet can also appear in the footer of the chooser.
