Faculty's End-of-Semester Checklist

Right after the end of each semester the Moodle Administrator resets all active courses.

What is the reset feature in Moodle?

The course reset feature keeps intact all course material created by instructors and deletes all students' lists and their related data (postings, submissions, comments, etc). This way, students can no longer access the course materials and the course is ready to be used in a new semester.

What is the Backup/Restore process in Moodle?

Moodle has a course backup and restore process. An instructor can perform inside his/her course the on demand backup and restore functions found in the Administration block of the course.

In addition to that, at the end of the semester (and at all times), Moodle instructors should keep updated copies of their courses in their personal computers.  They can keep:

a)     A copy of the complete course, with all instructors and students’ material; and/or

b)     A copy of the clean course, without students’ data; and/or

c)     A copy of specific students’ data.

These backup files are generated as zipped file. After creating a course backup the instructor can open this zipped file and access the content of the course.

Note: If the instructor wants option (a), s/he must backup the course no later than the last official day of the semester. As mentioned above, during the week following the end of the semester, all courses are reset.

Click on the links below to learn how to:

Save a copy of your complete course with users’ data

To save a complete copy of your Moodle course with user’s data on your personal computer follow these three easy steps:

1.      Backup your Moodle course

2.      Download the course backup file to your personal computer

3.      Remove the course backup from the Moodle server

Backup your Moodle course

To create a course backup:

1. Under Administration block, click on Backup.
2. You will have two columns:
   • The left column includes a list of all resources and activities in your course. You can include in the backup: All, None or select some of them.
   • The right column includes the user data (instructors’ and students postings, comments, entries, submissions, etc...).  

     For these 2 columns, you keep the include equal to All to include all your
     course resources, activities and user data in your backup.

3. Scroll down to the second part and make sure of the following items:
    

   Metacourse:	Yes	Keep the default
   Users:	Course	To backup course instructors and students’ data
   Logs:	Yes	To save the logs of the course
   User files:	Yes	To save the instructors/students profiles
   Course files:	Yes	To save the course files related to resources and activities (this is the course storage area).

   Click on Continue.

4. The name of the backup file will appear at the top of the page and below will be the backup details. Scroll down and click on Continue.
5. A new page with Backup completed successfully message appears, click on Continue.
6. The new backup file will appear in the backupdata folder in the course Files page.

You can have many backups on the Moodle server, but to save space it is recommended to have only one.

Download the course backup file to your personal computer

Now you have an up to date backup of your course, you can download it to your personal computer:

1. Click on Files under the Administration block, to go to your course storage area in Moodle.
2. Click on the backupdata folder. Backup files are saved there.
3. Click on the backup file you want to download, and select Save from the window that opens.
4. In the Save As dialog box choose where you want to save your file and type a File name or keep the default name which includes the course name-backup date. Click the Save button.

Remove the course backup from the Moodle server

Now you have your own copy of your Moodle course on your personal computer, you can delete the course backup you created on Moodle. This procedure is very important because it reduces the disk space your course occupies in the server.

1. Click on Files under the Administration block, to go to your course storage area in Moodle.
2. Click on the backupdata folder. To see all the backups you created before.
3. Select the check box next to the name of your backup.
4. Select Delete Completely from the With Chosen File… drop down menu.
5. A new page will appear to confirm the deletion of the file, click Yes if you are sure.

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Save a clean copy of your course without users’ data

To save a clean copy of your Moodle course without user’s submission on your personal computer follow these three easy steps:

1.      Backup your Moodle course

2.      Download the course backup file to your personal computer

3.      Remove the course backup from the Moodle server

Backup your Moodle course

To create a clean course backup without user’s submission:

1. Under Administration block click on Backup.
2. You will have two columns:
   1. The left column includes a list of all activities in your course. Where you can include them All, None or select some of them.
   2. The right column includes the user data (the submissions of your students make sure to deselect them all or click on None at the top of the column).
3. Scroll down to the second part and make sure of the following items:
    

   Metacourse:	Yes	Keep the default
   Users:	None	To avoid taking instructors’ and students’ data
   Logs:	No	To clean the logs of the course
   User files:	No	To delete the students’ profiles (photos, blogs)
   Course files:	Yes	To save the course files related to resources and activities (this is the course storage area).

   Click on Continue.

4. The name of the backup file will appear at the top of the page and below will be the backup details. Scroll down and click on continue
5. A new page with Backup completed successfully message appears, click on continue.
6. The new backup file will appear in the backupdata folder in the course Files page.

You can have many backups on the Moodle server, but to save space it is recommended to have only one.

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Save a specific student’s data

If you want to save a specific activity data or student’s file or submission from an activity in Moodle like:

Assignments

1. Click on the Assignment activity
2. Click on the View # submitted assignments link from the top right of the screen.
3. You will see all student names with their submission files.
4. Under the Last modified column search for the student’s submission. Right click on it and select Save Target As.
5. In the Save As dialog box select where you want to save your file. Type a File name ex. Student name. Click the Save button.

Quiz

1. Click on the Quiz activity
2. Select the Results tab at the top of the screen.
3. You will see all student names.
4. Under the Started on column search for the student’s submission and right click on it, then select Save Target As…
5. In the Save As window select where you want to save your file. Type a File name ex. Student name.
6. Click the Save button.

Click here for information about saving documents in PDF format.

Forum

1. Click on the Forum activity
2. Under Discussion column you will find all the topics.
3. Open one of these topics by clicking on its title.
4. Go to the Main menu of the browser and under File select Save As…
5. In the Save As window select where you want to save your file. Type a File name ex. Student name.
6. Click the Save button.

Click here for information about saving documents in PDF format.

Note: If there is any file attached to the discussion forum by a student and you want to save it to your computer follow these steps:

1. Right click on the attachment file
2. Select Save Target As…
3. In the Save As dialog box select the location where you want to save your file and type a name for your file in the File name field ex. “Student name”.
4. Click the Save button.

Chat

1. Click on the Chat activity
2. At the top right of the screen click on the View past chat sessions to see all the past chat sessions.
3. Search for the session you want and click on the See this session link.
4. Go to the Main menu of the browser and under File select Save As…
5. In the Save As window select where you want to save your file. Type a File name ex. Session/Chat name-date.
6. Click the Save button.

Click here for information about saving documents in PDF format.

Glossary

1. Click on the Glossary activity
2. Select Export entries button on the top left side of the screen
3. Click on the Export entries to file button.
4. You will get a popup window File Download.
5. Click on the Save button.
6. You will get the Save As window
   1. Select a location on your computer
   2. Keep the default name of your Glossary text file in the File name field (do not delete the .xml file extension).
   3. Click on Save button.

Database

You can not export/import Database entries.

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Backup and restore courses

I - Backup

What data is not contained in course backups?

By selecting all the options when setting up the backup you can include almost all the data in the course. However you should be aware of the fact that some things are not backed up:

A. Questions

Questions in the course's "Questions" databank (see the Administration block) are only backed up if at least one question from their category has been added to a quiz.

B. Scales

Your personal Scales are only backed up if they are used by at least one activity.

C. Images Galleries

Images in the Image Galleries are not backed up, but their entries and description are. So you will need to manually save the images on your personal computer.

How the different backup methods affect course activities?

Assignment

1. Backup without user data

If you backup an assignment without user data, you will get an assignment with the following settings:

-          Assignment settings that will remain:

o       Description

o       Grade

o       Available from/due date

-          Students’ submissions will be DELETED

-          Instructor’s feedback and grades will be DELETED

2. Backup with user data

-          Assignment settings will remain

-          Students’ submissions will remain

-          Instructor’s feedback and grades will remain

Glossary

1. Backup without user data

If you backup a glossary without user data, you will get a glossary with the following settings:

-     Glossary instructions will remain

-     Instructors’ entries and related comments will remain

-     Students’ entries and related comments will be DELETED

-     All the above is true for the main and secondary glossaries. 

2. Backup with user data

-          Glossary instructions will remain

-          Instructors’ entries and related comments will remain

-          Students’ entries and related comments will remain

-          All the above is true for the main and secondary glossaries.

Database

1. Backup without user data

If you backup a database without user data, you will get a database with the following settings:

-          Database instructions are DELETED.

-          All fields are DELETED.

-          All Instructors and students’ entries and comments are
      DELETED.

2. Backup with user data

-      Database instructions will remain.

-      All fields will remain.

-      All Instructors and students’ entries and comments will remain.

Wiki

1. Backup without user data

If you backup a wiki without user data, you will get a wiki with the following settings:

-          Wiki instructions are DELETED

-          All wiki instructors’ and students’ entries are DELETED

2. Backup with user data

-     Wiki instructions will remain.

-     All wiki instructors’ and students’ entries will remain.

Forum

1. Backup without user data

If you backup a forum without user data, you will get a forum with the following settings:

-    Forum’s instructions will remain.

-    All forum topics, instructors’ and students’ replies and attachments are   
    DELETED.

2. Backup with user data

-    Forum’s instructions will remain.

-    All forum topics, instructors’ and students’ replies and
          attachments will remain.

Tip: If your backup is not the entire course backup but a granular backup (backup of some activities like an assignment, a forum, ...), it's good practice to rename it accordingly in order to know what this backup contains. For example, if this backup contains only the "assignment_1" data, the backup file can be renamed: backup-[course ID]-assignment_1-yyyymmdd-hhmm.zip

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Introduction

All backup files (whether entire course backups or granular backups) are zip files stored in the folder "backupdata" with this format:
backup-[course ID]-yyyymmdd-hhmm.zip.

where: yyyy is the year, mm is the month, dd is the day, hh is the hour, mm are the minutes of this backup file.

This is important in order to locate your backup data in an easy way.

How to restore a backup zip file?

Courses can be restored from a backup made by Moodle. There is a link next to every backup that says "Restore". Generally speaking a backup may be restored several ways. It can:

• Restore by adding the backup data to the course, or
• Restore by deleting first the course data then restoring the backup data.

All restore processes offers the option to include or exclude student data and/or course files.

Tip: It is possible to backup and/or restore specific course resources and activities. For example, an instructor can backup the entire course, then restore only Assignment 1 with student data, Lesson 4 without student data and a forum with student data, to the course. This is called a granular restore.

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Saving Documents in a PDF format

It is recommended to open the submission file by clicking on it and saving it as a PDF file. To save documents in a PDF format, a software Adobe Acrobat writer should be installed in your computer or you can use the Citrix server within AUB campus.

If you managed to have an access to Adobe Acrobat writer:

1.      Open the file/quiz.

2.      Go to the main menu of the browser and under File select Print.

3.      DON’T select any of the printers connected to your computer, from the  
 Print window, select Adobe PDF

4.      Click on Print button.

5.      Save PDF File AS window will appear; select where you want to save
 this PDF file ex. Desktop and in the File name field type the name of
 your file.

6.      Click on Save button

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