Moodle: Navigating

In Moodle, you have some options to customise your learning space. This topic gives you a brief introduction about your Moodle Dashboard and your Moodle unit.

On the Moodle Dashboard, you will see links to your units in the Navigation drawer on the left hand side and also on the tiles on the main section. Other useful blocks such as your Timeline and important notices are on the right panel. You can access your preferences by clicking on your profile on the top right. Click on the image below to see a larger version (opens in a new window).

You can hide or show the Navigation drawer on the left by clicking on the three lines icon .

Navigation bar

The navigation bar at the top right of the page and provides access to Unit previews, Unit guides, Help, Messages, Notifications, Profile, Grades and Preferences.

• Profile allows you to edit your profile, access your forum posts and discussions and check on your active browser sessions.
  Note: Your profile information can be viewed by other Moodle users. Do not include inappropriate or private information.
• Grades gives you access to your grades for all enrolled Moodle units.
• Messages allows you to find and send messages to others enrolled in your units.
• Preferences allows you to set preferences, particularly for forums and text editors.

Links to the units you are enrolled in can be found in the Home tab of your my.monash portal.  They are also listed in the Unit overview block in your Moodle Dashboard.

The workspace

The workspace is the entire area you see in a Moodle unit, as in the example below. Similar to your Moodle Dashboard, the unit homepage will display 'blocks' that will help you to move around the unit content, as well as provide you with useful tools and information related to the unit. The various contents in the middle are called 'sections'. You will find your learning materials including links to quizzes, assignments and forums in these sections.

The following are the main parts of the workspace that help you move around within your Moodle unit:

• Links on the top right takes you to the Unit guides, Help page, Messages and Notifications.
• The navigation block allows you to move easily between the Dashboard, site pages and your units
• Announcements link to news and important notices for this unit (it maybe called New Forums in some units)
• Sections hold and organise learning resources and activities in each unit
• Blocks located on the right side of the workspace allow you to view and access activities and resources quickly. 

You can use the new Moodle Unit Preview option to search and preview available unit offerings.

1. Click on the search icon from the navigation bar or visit the Unit preview search page directly.
2. Enter unit code or unit title to look up a unit
3. The filers on the left allow you to narrow the search down by teaching period. Remember to click Apply Filters after selecting the desired options.