Skip to main content

Making the Most of Moodle Data

The ‘Making the Most of Your Moodle Data’ initiative aims to raise awareness of the data readily available within Moodle that can assist staff support their students and allow students to monitor their activities. Configuring Moodle to better utilise data stems from several Student Success priorities.

The following blog outlines how engagement with Moodle’s data-collating capabilities will help provide for greater staff oversight of student success. Moreover, students can also see their own data, and see at a glance their levels of engagement within their modules.

In line with the project’s aims, Moodle enhancement and data collection create an evidence base for more informed decision making. Rather than staff and students relying on subjective impressions, they are in better positioned to see precise levels of engagement with aspects of the modules and overall programme.

To make the most of Moodle data there are a number of Plugins that Lecturers can engage to provide feedback to lecturers and in many cases students. The following plugins are classified as a resource for staff or for staff and students.


Moodle Plugin Features:

User

Feature

Staff resources:

A heatmap that colour-codes activity according to views. Staff can see which parts of their modules are the most (and least) active among students. It clearly illustrates the count of unique users for each module item.

Analytics graphs provide several visual representations of the different activities and resources accessed by students. It provides easy to interpret graphics of how many users are active at any one-time, which students have (and have not) submitted assessed work, and how item views are distributed across the module.

Staff and student resources.

Moodle’s Attendance feature provides charts that captures which students are present, absent, excused, and late. It also provides for marked attendance and can act as a component towards the students’ final grades. Students can monitor their own class attendance, and check reasons for nonattendance, lateness, or excused absences.

Completion Progress allows lecturers to monitor the progress of students through a defined set of activities. Both the lecturer and student can monitor progress via real time graphics as they work their way through defined activities. This allows staff to identify students possibly needing supports, and students can check their progress.

 

Benefits to Adapting Moodle’s Data-tracking Features

  • Staff get instant, easy-to-read information on student engagement with their module. High and low-engaging students can be easily identified.
  • Trend analysis can identify topics that engage students and those with little activity. Evidence of activities can be used for future curriculum reviews.
  • Moodle data can be used to support the decision-making process at all levels of the organisation, such as student engagement, class attendance, CA submission, and task completion.
  • Making data available to students empowers them to monitor their progression through their programme.
  • Auto-generated reports from Moodle plugins can be shared with students, developing and strengthening student/lecturer understanding.
  • Utilising Moodle as a single source of data collection and storage ensures a more efficient use of module management by staff.
  • Moodle data collection and presentation plugins allow for decisions to be based on real-time data.
  • Module data collected at a granular level allows comparison between peers, which aids the identification of students with low level of engagement.
  • CA/test results can be quickly compared to help identify topics that are not easily understood.
  • Evidence of low levels of engagement with a resource by students helps them understand where to focus their attention.
  • Utilising Moodle data collection facilitates data sharing between staff, allowing for a completed profile to be developed for learners. Students can compare (outside of Moodle) their levels of activity and engagement. 
  • Moodle data can be compiled and presented in many formats, allowing for reporting in various forms depending on the audience, internal or external.
  • Presenting learners with individualised data in an easily read format allows them to monitor their own performance in real-time.

Using Moodle reports has the advantage of producing data in a professional, sharable format. The data can also be formatted as an accessible file type, such as Excel. The shareability affords benefits within modules, but also across departments and Schools.


Making the Most of Moodle Data Infographics