Copying a Moodle course from a previous semester

August 8, 2016 /

Tip of the Week

If you’re at all like me, you’ve looked at the calendar, and realized that it’s August 8th! That’s right – fall classes start in just a few weeks. Fortunately, there is one task that is easy to get out of the way, and thanks to this summer’s Moodle upgrade, you can copy your Moodle course from a previous semester to this fall’s course instance with just a few clicks.

Keep in mind, this process will take a few minutes, depending on the amount of content you have in the course you are copying. It will probably take less time if you do this while on campus (since you will be on the same network as the Moodle server).

01_Import_CourseHere’s how to copy your course:

  1. Go to the Fall 16 instance of your course, and find the Administration box. It’s usually in the left-hand column, but that might be different if you have customized your Moodle layout. Click the Import link. The administration box looks like the image on the right.
  2. On the next screen, you’ll be asked to select the course to copy content from. Chances are, you have more courses in Moodle than can fit in this small window, so you will need to refine the display by entering a key term to identify the course. You can use the course number, or a keyword to refine the results. Enter the terms, then click Search.
  3. When you’ve found the course you are copying from, select the radio button next to that course title and click Continue. 02_Import_Course
  4. On the next screen, you most likely want to click the Jump to final step button. This will copy everything from the course you selected in Step 3 except for the participant list. (If you want to copy only some of the content from the course, you can click the Next button, and that will give you the option to select specific files from the previous course instance – but you can always copy the entire course and delete what you don’t want to use this fall.)
  5. When the import is done, you’ll get a green confirmation box, and click the Continue button. Your course should look exactly like the previous semester’s course.

If you run into issues, the STA Program is your first stop for getting help. If they encounter issues as well, they can help escalate to your Instructional Technologist with more accurate troubleshooting information.

Hopefully, copying your Moodle course content with just a few clicks relieves some of the semester start-up stress!