Moodle Course Formats: Weekly vs. Topics
Moodle offers a wide variety of different options for how to format your course. Let’s take a look at the four course formats you can choose from, as well as how to set up the two most popular formats.
First, go to the main page for the course you would like to edit. Click the Settings button in the upper right corner and then click “Edit settings.”
Scroll to the bottom and look for “Course format.” Click that, and in the “Format” category click the drop down menu. Here you will see the four course format options. What are the differences between these four?
Weekly Format
This format organizes your course week by week with each section having a date heading. The current week will be highlighted and each section can have many types of content. This format is the best if you want all your students to work on the same materials at the same time.Topics Format
This format organizes your course by topic section which you can give specific titles to. Because this isn’t oriented around dates and weeks, no section will be highlighted – however, you can highlight any topic section you would like to if you so desire. This option is the best for objective based courses that may take different amounts of time to complete.Single Activity Format
This format allows for only one section with one type of activity.Social Format
This format is oriented around one main forum for discussion and posts. This option is the best for free form based courses that rely on discussion. Since the two most commonly used formats are Weekly and Topics, let’s go over how to set up each type of course format.How to Set Up Weekly Course Format
Select “Weekly format” under the Format category in Course Format settings. Scroll to the top and check “Calculate the end date from the number of sections.” Click Save at the bottom of the page and you will be redirected to your course home page.
Click the Settings button again and then click “Turn editing on.” On the right hand side, you will see “Edit” buttons, “Add an activity or resource,” and “Add weeks.” Click “Add weeks.”
A window will pop up asking for the number of sections you would like to add. This reflects how many weeks your course will be. For example, one semester long class might be 16 weeks so you would input the number 16. Once you type in the number of sections you would like your course to be, click “Add weeks” and your course home page will refresh with all of your weekly sections added.
While the “Turn editing on” mode is activated, you will have the option to edit each specific weekly section, as well as add activities or resources to each section. Once you are satisfied with your changes, you can turn editing mode off by clicking the Settings button then “Turn editing off.”
How to Set Up Topics Course Format
Select “Topics format” under the Format category in Course Format settings. Scroll to the bottom and click “Save and display.” Once you return to the course home page, click the Settings button again and then click “Turn editing on.”
On the right hand side, you will see “Edit” buttons, “Add an activity or resource,” and “Add topics.” Click “Add topics.”
A window will appear asking for the number of sections you would like to add. This reflects how many topic sections you would like your course to be. For however many topics your course has, you should make into sections. For example, if your course covers 10 topics in a semester, input the number 10.
Once you type in the number of sections you would like your course to be, click “Add topics” and your course home page will refresh with all of your topic sections added. Each topic is automatically named “Topic #.”
To change the name to a specific title, click the pencil icon next to the current topic name. Type in the new topic title and then press enter and it will save.
While the “Turn editing on” mode is activated, you will have the option to edit each specific topic section, as well as add activities or resources to each section. Once you are satisfied with your changes, you can turn editing mode off by clicking the Settings button then “Turn editing off.”
Those are the basics for setting up your course in Moodle to either a Weekly course format or a Topics course format!