Adding activities

Site:	OpenLearn Create
Course:	CREATE Toolkit
Book:	Adding activities

Printed by:	Guest user
Date:	Wednesday, 8 April 2026, 12:21 PM

Description

Activities, such as forums, quizzes and wikis enable interactive content to be added to the course. Some are only suitable for a tutor/teacher-supported course.

Choice

This feature acts as a poll, enabling you to ask your learners a single question and offer a selection of possible responses. It is better suited to a tutor-supported course.

It can be used to:

stimulate thinking about a topic
quickly test your learners’ understanding
facilitate your learners’ decision-making, for example by allowing them to vote on a direction for the course.

Results may be published – anonymously, if preferred – after learners have answered, or after a certain date, or not at all.

To manage a workshop in your course you will need to have either the Course Manager or Teacher role. To gain these roles you would need to complete a data declaration form – please contact openlearncreate@open.ac.uk to request one.

To add a poll, switch editing on, go to your course’s homepage and click on the + Add an activity or resource button.

This will give you a screen full of options. Click on the Choice icon to open the New Choice page.

Enter the name for the poll and (if you require one) a short description of it in the Name and Description fields. If you want this description to appear on your course homepage just below the link to the poll, you can tick the Display description on main page tickbox.

The Display mode for the options drop-down list sets whether the options are listed horizontally (i.e. on a line) or vertically (i.e. in a list).

There’s a variety of settings for creating a poll, each with a help icon that includes more information.

Options includes settings for whether a choice that a learner makes can be updated, whether more than one choice to be selected, or whether only a certain number of learners can respond. There are also fields to add the options (Option 1, Option 2, etc.), and you can add more, if required.
Availability enables you to select a specific time period for the poll to be available; alternatively, if you do not adjust these settings then the poll will remain open.
Results relates to whether learners see the results of the poll after they’ve responded to it.

Click the Save and display button.

Go to the Administration block on the left-hand side of the screen and click on Responses to view or download your learners’ responses. (You can also delete some or all of the responses)

Forum

This feature provides a discussion forum for your course. It is better suited to a tutor-supported course.

We recommend that a forum should only be used in a tutor-supported course because it needs to be moderated. You will be responsible for moderating it and closing it when it is no longer required. You must not set up a forum if your course has no start or end date and is not going to be monitored regularly by someone.

Note that not all learners are comfortable or have the time to engage in social activities like forums or webinars, so this sort of activity should be considered carefully before including in the course.

To include a forum in your course you will need to have either the Course Manager or Teacher role. To gain these roles you would need to complete a data declaration form – please contact openlearncreate@open.ac.uk to request one.

To add a forum, switch editing on, go to your course’s homepage and click on the + Add an activity or resource button.

This will give you a screen full of options. Click on the Forum icon to open the New Forum page.

Enter the name for the poll and (if you require one) a short description of it in the Forum name and Forum description fields. If you want this description to appear on your course homepage just below the link to the poll, you can tick the Display description on main page tickbox.

There’s a variety of settings for creating a poll, each with a help icon that includes more information.

Under Forum type you should keep the default ‘Standard forum for general use’ – the other options are irrelevant for most purposes.
Forum introduction is where you can explain to the learners what the forum is for and how to use it.
- It may also be a good place to mention the behaviour you expect from learners when they're using the forum. We have provided an example of forum rules that you can copy or adapt for your own use.
Other options include setting whether learners should be emailed when the someone adds a post to the forum, maximum file size and moderator settings for reporting posts and moderator anonymity.
Tagging enables anyone posting in a forum to add tags to their posts.
Ratings enables anyone posting in a forum to rate other posts; this can be converted into a Grade.
Limit posts enables you to add dates where the forum is active or limit the number of posts a learner can make.
Manage old discussions allows you to filter out discussions that are no longer being contributed to.
You probably will not need to change the Common module settings unless you are using groups. Likewise you can ignore Restrict access unless you need to add a restriction: something that your learners need to do before the forum is available. This is not usual for a forum activity.

Click on the Save and display button to view the forum. It will include various buttons for learners, including Start a new discussion or Mark all posts read, as well as some buttons that only the moderators can use, such as Show usage.

Glossary

The glossary enables you and your learners to create and maintain a list of definitions, like a dictionary, or to collect and organise resources or information.

In a tutor-supported course, a tutor can allow learners to attach files to glossary entries. Attached images are displayed in the entry, which can be searched or browsed alphabetically, or by category, date or author. Entries can be approved by default or can require approval by a tutor before they are viewable by everyone.

Some of the collaborative elements need to be limited for a glossary that’s in a course that isn’t supported by a tutor; otherwise, the glossary could attract a lot of spam, or unsubstantiated comments or amendments.

If the glossary’s auto-linking filter is enabled on an entry, that entry will automatically be linked to the glossary definition wherever it appears in the course.

A tutor can allow comments on entries. Entries can also be rated by tutors or students (peer evaluation). Ratings can be aggregated to form a final grade which is recorded in the gradebook.

Glossaries have many uses, such as:

a bank of key terms (either static or collaborative)
a ‘handy tips’ resource of best practice in a practical subject
a sharing area of useful videos, images or sound files
a revision resource of facts to remember.

Adding a glossary

To add a glossary, switch editing on, go to your course’s homepage and click on the + Add an activity or resource button.

This will give you a screen full of options. Click on the Glossary icon to open the New Glossary page.

Enter the name of the glossary and (if you require one) a short description of it in the Name and Description fields. If you want this description to appear on your course homepage just below the link to the glossary, you can tick the Display description on main page tickbox.

Any glossary you build will usually be for the course that it appears on, so you don’t need to tick the Is this glossary global? tickbox. Similarly, keeping the Glossary type setting as the default Secondary glossary will usually be what any course on OpenLearn Create requires.

There’s a variety of settings for creating a glossary, each with a help icon that includes more information.

Entries includes settings for whether glossary entries are approved by default, or linked automatically, and to permit editing, duplicate entries or comments.
Appearance includes settings for the display format (listed below), how many entries are shown on a page and whether links in the glossary are shown and a print view is available.
- Simple, dictionary style: This format shows the entry and its definition, but not the name of whoever created or edited the entry; attachments are shown as links.
- Full with author: This is a forum-like display format that shows the author’s name and the date that the entry was created or edited; attachments are shown as links.
- Full without author: This also uses a forum-like display format that shows the date that the entry was created or edited, but not the author’s name; again, attachments shown as links.
- Encyclopaedia: The same display format as ‘Full with author’, but attached images are shown inline rather than as a link.
- Entry list: Only the entry is listed, as a link to the full definition.
- FAQ: The words ‘Question:’ and ‘Answer:’ are appended to the entry and definition respectively.
- Continuous without author: Entries are displayed one after another without any separation, other that the editing icons.
You probably will not need to change the Ratings if your learners are not going to be rated on the entries they add or the Common module settings unless you are using groups. Likewise you can ignore Restrict access unless you need to add a restriction: something that your learners need to do before the glossary is available. This is not usual for a glossary activity.

Click on the Save and return to course button. Your new glossary will now display on your course’s homepage.

Adding a glossary entry

You will then need to add entries to your glossary.

To add a new entry to your glossary, switch editing on, go to your course’s homepage and click on your glossary’s title.

This will take you to the glossary, which currently has no entries. Click on the Add entry button to open the Add entry page.

Type your term into the Concept field and its definition into the Definition field.

You can also add related terms in the Keyword(s) field, starting each one on a new line. If your glossary entried are automatically linked (see below) then the keywords will be automatically linked too.

Each glossary entry can have an associated list of keywords (or aliases). If the entry is auto-linked, then any keywords will also be auto-linked. Enter each keyword on a new line (not separated by commas).

There are three options in Auto-linking, all ticked by default:

This entry should be automatically linked: If site-wide glossary automatic linking has been enabled by an administrator and this tickbox is ticked, the entry will be automatically linked wherever it appears in the course. (Note that if this option is unticked, the following two options are not available.)
This entry is case sensitive: This setting specifies whether matching exact upper and lower case is necessary when there is automatic linking. You may wish to untick this for terms that are not always be capitalised, for example.
Match whole words only: This setting specifies whether only whole words will be linked. For example, if this option is checked, a glossary entry named ‘construct’ will not create a link inside the word ‘constructivism’.

Click on the Save changes button. Your new glossary entry will now appear in the blossary. It will have an editing button next to it (a pen icon) if you need to make further amendments:

Arranging glossary entries into categories

You might want to categorise your glossary entries.

To add a new category to your glossary, switch editing on, go to your course’s homepage and click on your glossary’s title.

This will take you to the glossary, which currently has no entries. Click on the Browse by alphabet drop-down list and click on Browse by category.

Click on the Edit categories button and then click on the Add category button to open the Add category page.

Type the name of the category in the Name field.

If site-wide glossary automatic linking has been enabled by an administrator and Automatically link this category is ticked, the category name will be automatically linked wherever it appears in the course. When a learner clicks on a category name link they will be taken to the ‘Browse by category’ page of the glossary.

Click on the Save changes button and then the Back button to return to the glossary.

To categorise individual glossary entries, if you edit the entry, just below the Definition field in the Categories drop-down list, which will now include the category you have just added.

Click on the relevant category for that glossary entry and click on the Save changes button.

Now if you browse by category, you will find the glossary entry that you have just categorised listed under that category.

H5P

‘H5P’ is an abbreviation for ‘HTML5 package’ – interactive content such as presentations, videos and other multimedia, questions, quizzes, games and more. This feature allows HTML5 assets to be added to a course.

Any question attempts in the H5P are marked automatically and the grade is recorded in the gradebook.

This feature allows you to upload an existing H5P file that you have created on the H5P website. Please note that it is not Moodle’s Interactive Content – H5P plugin, which allows you to build H5P content in the course.

To add an H5P activity to your course, switch editing on, go to your course’s homepage and click on the + Add an activity or resource button.

This will give you a screen full of options. Click on the H5P icon to open the New H5P page.

Enter the name for the H5P activity and (if you require one) a short description of it in the Name and Description fields. If you want this description to appear on your course homepage just below the link to the poll, you can tick the Display description on main page tickbox.

Upload your H5P file in the Package file field, making sure to include the correct author and licence information in the File picker dialogue box.

There’s a variety of settings for creating n H5P activity, each with a help icon that includes more information.

H5P options includes options for whether you want to allow the H5P activity to be downloaded, or to include embed or copyright buttons.
Grade includes grading criteria, if this is relevant for your H5P activity.
Common module settings includes availability and language options, and is also relevant if your course uses groups.
Restrict access includes the option to add restrictions, if for example you only want your H5P activity to be available after a certain date, or after a learner has completed another action.

Click on the Save and display button.

If you cannot see the H5P file in your course, please contact openlearncreate@open.ac.uk to ask for your permissions to be adjusted so that you can complete the configuration.

Quiz

You can add a quiz comprising various question types. A well thought-out quiz is ideal for assessment in an open online course that does not have ongoing tutor or teacher support. Certain question types are better suited to a tutor-supported course.

You can allow the quiz to be attempted multiple times, with a time limit, where the questions shuffled or randomly selected from the question bank.

Each attempt is marked automatically (except for essay questions, which can only be marked manually) and the grade is recorded in the gradebook.

You can also choose when and if hints, feedback and correct answers are shown to learners.

Quizzes may be used:

as course exams
as mini-tests for reading assignments or at the end of a topic
as exam practice, using questions from past exams
to deliver immediate feedback about performance
for self-assessment.

The Moodle website has more information about configuring Moodle quizzes.

Note that after a quiz has been attempted, it is only possible to make minor textual (but not functional) amendments, and they cannot be added or deleted. Therefore it is far better to make sure the quiz questions are all correct and functioning properly before making the course and quiz available to learners.

A quiz’s completion criteria can be set so that the learner must complete all the questions (regardless of whether a pass grade has been achieved) or that they have to achieve a passing grade. If the completion of a quiz leads to a digital badge or a certificate, you can use formative and summative quizzes in different ways – for example:

a series of three quizzes that the learner needs to complete without a passing grade, followed by an end-of-course quiz that does require a pass grade
the learner needs to pass all four formative and summative quizzes
if you don’t want a learner’s learning journey to be included in the badge criteria, only the end-of-course quiz needs a pass grade.

You could also have a badge for each section of a course.

When you set up a quiz’s grading, you are advised to read the guidance on setting up activity and course completion tracking, badges and Custom Certificate.

Setting up a new quiz

To add a quiz to your course, switch editing on, go to your course’s homepage and click on the + Add an activity or resource button.

This will give you a screen full of options. Click on the Quiz icon to open the New Quiz page.

Enter the name for the quiz activity and (if you require one) a short description of it in the Name and Description fields. This is where you can explain the purpose of the quiz and how it works, whether the quiz has a pass grade (and if so, what the pass grade is, for example 50%) and whether the learner can attempt the whole quiz more than once (and therefore, if there is any enforced time delay between attempts).If you want this description to appear on your course homepage just below the link to the poll, you can tick the Display description on main page tickbox.

There’s a variety of settings for creating a quiz, each with a help icon that includes more information.

Timing includes options for whether you want to limit the time that the quiz is available.
Grade includes grading criteria, if this is relevant for your quiz. If your quiz has a pass grade, you can set it later when all the quiz questions have been set up. If there is no grade to pass, you can set it as 0.00 in Grade to pass.
Layout defines whether questions start on a new page and whether learners have to answer questions in order.
Question behaviour defines how learners interact with questions during the quiz. For information, all courses on OpenLearn use the Interactive with multiple tries setting.
Review options defines how and when a learner can review their quiz. In a quiz with the Interactive with multiple tries setting, the following options are selected:
- During the attempt: Whether correct, Marks, Specific feedback, General feedback.
- Immediately after the attempt: The attempt, Whether correct, Marks, Specific feedback, General feedback, Overall feedback.
- Later, while the quiz is still open: The attempt, Whether correct, Marks, Specific feedback, General feedback, Overall feedback.
Appearance includes further settings for the quiz.
Safe Exam Browser is a customised web browser. Your course won’t need this.
Extra restrictions on attempts is where you can set a time delay between quiz attempts to encourage learners to review the course content material before they attempt the quiz again.
Overall feedback can be used to provide different feedback at various grade boundaries. For example, you could write a congratulatory message for learners with a score above the pass grade boundary and a message encouraging them to revisit the course material and try again if they scored below the pass grade boundary.
Common module settings includes availability and language options, and is also relevant if your course uses groups.
Restrict access includes the option to add restrictions, if for example you only want your quiz to be available after a certain date, or after a learner has completed another action.

Click on the Save and display button. Now you've set up a quiz you can add some questions to it.

Note that you can edit the quiz’s settings at any time before making it available to learners; editing the settings after that may cause problems for any learners who have already completed it.

Creating questions

Having clicked on Save and display you should now see the front page of your quiz a screen with the title you gave it:

[Name of quiz]

Grading method: Highest grade

Grade to pass: 8.00 out of 10.00

There'll also be an Add question button and a note that no questions have been added yet.

Go to the Administration block on the left-hand side of the screen and click on Question bank, and then Questions.

On the new screen, Question bank, click on the Create a new question ... button. This opens a pop-up box, Choose a question type to add.

Creating a quiz that uses more than one question type will provide more variety and a bigger challenge for your learners.

For each question type, don't change the Category at the start of the form but make a note of what it says – you'll need this later.
The Question name isn't the question itself – it's a reference to which question it is. If you were to have more than one quiz on your course, it would be bad practice to type 'Question 1' here, because you wouldn't know which quiz it was Question 1 for. So for example, assuming you've given your quiz the title 'Final quiz', if you were creating the first question for it you would type 'Final quiz question 1' here.
You don't need to include a question number in the Question text field – that will appear automatically.
After you save the question you will go back to the Question bank. You'll be able to see the question you have just created in a table – the name you gave it under Question name will appear in the third column.

More details on the types of questions available can be found on Moodle’s website and the following guidance shows you how to add recommended question types that are popular on OpenLearn Create courses. Creating a quiz that uses more than one question type provides more variety and a bigger challenge for your learners.

Question types

The most popular question types used on OpenLearn Create are as follows:

Multiple (single) choice – a multiple choice question with one correct answer
Multiple response – a multiple choice question with more than one correct answer
Select missing words – completing a sentence or paragraph from a drop-down list of words
Drag and drop questions – dragging and dropping words into text or onto an image
Matching – pairing two words, or a word with its definition
True/False – best used if you do not allow learners to have multiple attempts, otherwise they're too easy
Numerical – using numbers and units
Short answer (pattern match) – where learners type their answers

Multiple (single) choice

This option should be used for a multiple-choice question with only one correct answer.

There is a skill involved in writing good multiple-choice questions. You should use plausible distractors; you also need to offer more options of responses than the number of tries you are offering because if the quiz is set to Interactive with multiple tries and you are providing hints, learners will have more than one opportunity to try a question and will eventually get the right answer without being fully tested on their understanding of the material.

It is helpful to provide hints or feedback for every attempt as well as for completing the question.

You can choose to have a penalty for each incorrect attempt, but you also need to consider what the pass grade is for the whole quiz in relation to penalties – the quiz could quickly be difficult to pass if the pass grade is set very high, such as 80%.

Scroll down the list in the Choose a question type to add box to Multiple (single) choice and click on it to select it. Then click on the Add button.

This will take you to a new screen, Adding a Multiple (single) choice question.

After filling in the Question name, add the question in Question text.
You may want to list the correct answers, or other feedback, in General feedback.
Scroll down to Answers to add the choices.
It's best practice (and easier) to always make the first choice the correct answer. (You may have seen that a Shuffle the choices? option is selected by default.)
Type the correct option into the first text box in Choice 1 and use the arrows to change the Grade from 'None' to '100%'.
Type three incorrect options into the first text boxes in Choice 2, Choice 3, etc. without changing the 'None' under Grade. You can add more choices by clicking on the Blanks for 3 more choices button.
You may also want to add feedback to each choice’s Feedback field.
If you set up your quiz with the Interactive with multiple tries setting, you may want to add hints for the learner under Multiple tries, with or without a penalty for each incorrect attempt.
Click on Save changes.

Multiple response

This option should be used for a multiple-choice question with more than one correct answer – this OU-designed question type improves on the multiple (single) choice in the way it marks the question.

Scroll down the list in the Choose a question type to add box to Multiple response and click on it to select it. Then click on the Add button.

This will take you to a new screen, Adding a Multiple response question.

After filling in the Question name, add the question in Question text.
You may want to list the correct answers, or other feedback, in General feedback.
Scroll down to Answers to add the choices.
However many correct answers your question has, it's best practice (and easier) to always put them at the start of the list of answer. (You may have seen that a Shuffle the choices? option is selected by default.) • Type the correct options into the first text box in Choice 1, Choice 2, etc., and tick the Correct tickbox.
Type the incorrect options into the first text boxes in the other Choice fields without ticking the Correct tickbox You can add more choices by clicking on the Blanks for 3 more choices button.
You may also want to add feedback to each choice’s Feedback field.
If you set up your quiz with the Interactive with multiple tries setting, you may want to add hints for the learner under Multiple tries, with or without a penalty for each incorrect attempt. Click on Save changes.

Select missing words

Scroll down the list in the Choose a question type to add box to Select missing words and click on it to select it. Then click on the Add button.

This will take you to a new screen, Adding a select missing words question.

After filling in the Question name, add the question in Question text. This should include an instruction at the beginning telling the learner to select the correct missing word from the drop-down options available. Beneath that should be a sentence or paragraph. Replace the words that you want to be missing from the paragraph with ‘[[1]]’, ‘[[2]]’, etc.
You may want to list the correct answer, or other feedback, in General feedback.
Scroll down to Choices to add the choices.
Don’t untick the Shuffle tickbox.
Whichever word was replaced with ‘[[1]]’ in the Question text should be added in the Choice [[1]] Answer field.
Do the same with words replaced with ‘[[2]]’, ‘[[3]]’, etc. with the fields for Choice [[2]] Answer, Choice [[3]] Answer, etc. If you have more than six missing words in the Question text you can add more choices by clicking on the Blanks for 3 more choices button.
All options will be available in the drop-down list; you may prefer to group certain choices together by changing the letter in the Group drop-down list.
If you set up your quiz with the Interactive with multiple tries setting, you may want to add hints for the learner under Multiple tries, with or without a penalty for each incorrect attempt.
Click on Save changes.

Drag and drop questions

The Drag and drop into text question type is used for dropping missing words into predefined gaps in a piece of text. The form for writing one of these questions works in the same way as the Select missing words question type.

The Drag and drop onto image question type can be used to add labels to an image, such as a map or graph.

Scroll down the list in the Choose a question type to add box to Drag and drop onto image and click on it to select it. Then click on the Add button.

This will take you to a new screen, Adding drag and drop onto image.

After filling in the Question name, add the question in Question text.
You may want to list the correct answer, or other feedback, in General feedback.
Add the background image (such as a map or graph) to the relevant field under Preview.
Under Draggable items you can add the text or images that you want to drag onto your background image.
Under Drop zones you can define the correct places where the text or images under Draggable items go on your background image. You will need to enter X and Y coordinates in the Left and Top fields. This will require some trial and error, so you may need to save the question and preview it a few times to confirm that the drop zines have been defined correctly.
If you set up your quiz with the Interactive with multiple tries setting, you may want to add hints for the learner under Multiple tries, with or without a penalty for each incorrect attempt.
Click on Save changes.

Matching

Scroll down the list in the Choose a question type to add box to Matching and click on it to select it. Then click on the Add button.

This will take you to a new screen, Adding a Matching question.

After filling in the Question name, add the question in Question text.
You may want to list the correct answer, or other feedback, in General feedback.
Scroll down to Answers to add the choices.
Add questions in the Question fields, each with its Answer. In the quiz there will be a list of questions with the answers shuffled in a drop-down list. You should add extra answers as distractors to make the question more challenging. You can add more questions or answers by clicking on the Blanks for 3 more choices button.
If you set up your quiz with the Interactive with multiple tries setting, you may want to add hints for the learner under Multiple tries, with or without a penalty for each incorrect attempt.
Click on Save changes.

True/False

Scroll down the list in the Choose a question type to add box to True/False and click on it to select it. Then click on the Add button.

This will take you to a new screen, Adding a True/False question.

After filling in the Question name, add the question in Question text.
You may want to list the correct answer, or other feedback, in General feedback.
Define whether the answer is true or false under Correct answer.
You may also want to add feedback to each choice’s Feedback field.
Click on Save changes.

Numerical

Questions that require a numerical answer should use the Numerical question type.

Scroll down the list in the Choose a question type to add box to Numerical and click on it to select it. Then click on the Add button.

This will take you to a new screen, Adding a Numerical question.

After filling in the Question name, add the question in Question text.
You may want to list the correct answer, or other feedback, in General feedback.
Add your answers under Answers. You can also include the margin of error.
Define the Grade using the drop-down list with a percentage mark that reflects how accurate the answer is.
You may also want to add feedback to each answer’s Feedback field.
You can define whether units are required in the answer and which unit is correct under Unit handling and Units.
If you set up your quiz with the Interactive with multiple tries setting, you may want to add hints for the learner under Multiple tries, with or without a penalty for each incorrect attempt.
Click on Save changes.

Short answer (pattern match)

This question type gives learners a free-text box to type their answer into. It’s the most complex question type offered in the quiz, but – programmed correctly – it can accommodate misspellings, specification of synonyms and alternative phrases, flexible word order and check on the proximity of words. The learner’s response needs to match against any number of response matching patterns: each pattern is compared with the learner response until a match is found so that feedback and marks can be assigned. The key to using it is asking questions that can be marked accurately. We strongly recommend that you limit the response to 20 words maximum.

Scroll down the list in the Choose a question type to add box to Short answer (pattern match) and click on it to select it. Then click on the Add button.

This will take you to a new screen, Adding a Short answer (pattern match) question.

After filling in the Question name, add the question in Question text. The question should include at least one text box for learners; a box with twenty letter spaces, for example, will be added if you include ‘__20__’ in your question. If you need a larger answer box you include ‘__20x3__’ in your question.
You may want to list the correct answers, or other feedback, in General feedback.
You can define answer settings under Answer options.
Scroll down to Answers to add your answers.
Enter the correct answer in the Model answer field.
The text in the Answer 1 must match field must be written using pattern match syntax. Full documentation can be found on Moodle’s website.
You can add further answers in the Answer 2 must match, Answer 3 must match, etc. fields.
Define the Grade using the drop-down list with a percentage mark that reflects how accurate the answer is.
You may also want to add feedback to each answer’s Feedback field.
You can add more answers by clicking on the Blanks for 3 More Answers button.
If you set up your quiz with the Interactive with multiple tries setting, you may want to add hints for the learner under Multiple tries, with or without a penalty for each incorrect attempt.
Click on Save changes.

Adding questions to your quiz and setting the pass grade

After you have created all the questions for your quiz go to the Administration block on the left-hand side of the screen and click on Questions.

On the new page, titled Questions, click on Add and select + from question bank.
On the pop-up menu that appears, called Add from the question bank at the end, you'll see the questions you have created in a table at the bottom. Just above them is a small square that reads Select questions for bulk actions if you hover over it. Tick this and then click on the Add selected questions to the quiz button at the bottom.
Your questions will now appear on the Questions page.
By default each question of the quiz will appear on a new page. You can combine questions onto a page by clicking on the X that appears to the left of the questions. (If you change your mind, you can click on the + that replaces the X.) You can also change the order of the questions by either clicking on or dragging the four-arrowed Move icon.

As you create or edit questions you can decide how much each one is worth under Default mark.

Having added questions to your quiz, the number listed against Total of marks: is the total number of marks that all the questions in the quiz add up to. To make it easier for learners to understand how well they did, their marks can be converted into a percentage score if the number in the Maximum grade field is set to 10.00 or 100.00.

When a learner completes a quiz they are given both a mark and a grade. For example, in a quiz where the total number of marks adds up to 6.00, if the maximum grade is set as 10.00 then the learner is given a percentage that is easier to understand:

Marks 4.50/6.00

Grade 7.50 out of 10.00 (75%)

To set a pass boundary on a quiz that has a maximum grade of 10.00, go to Grade in the quiz settings and change the figure in the Grade to pass field to 5.00 for a 50% pass boundary, or to 7.50 for a 75% pass boundary, etc.

Setting up categories for random variant questions

Setting up a quiz this way means that learners will see the same questions in the same order every time they attempt the quiz.

If you want learners to see different questions each time they attempt the quiz, you will first need to set up new categories in the question bank and writing at least one alternative version (or ‘variant’) of a question.

You can set up categories before you start creating questions. The example below assumes that:

you’ve created questions and a quiz by following the guidance above
you will use the same question type for each variant.

Go to the Administration block on the left-hand side of the screen and click on Question bank, and then Categories.

On the new screen, Edit categories, you’ll see a list with the heading ‘Question categories for “Quiz: [the name of your quiz]’, which will have a number in brackets corresponding to the number of questions you’ve written for it.

Click on the Add category button. This opens a pop-up box, also named Add category.

Select the Parent category from the drop-down list. You should select the option Default for [the name of your quiz], again with a number in brackets.
For this example let’s assume you want to create variants for Question 1. Enter ‘Question 1 variants’ into the Name field.
You don’t need to add Category info or an ID number.
Click on Add category.

Your new category will now be listed on the Edit categories screen.

Go to the Administration block on the left-hand side of the screen and click on Question bank, and then Questions.

Each question appears in a row. Find Question 1 and select the tickbox at the start of the row.
Click on the With selected button and select Move to….
A pop-up box will appear named Move the selected questions to…. Under the Question categories heading, select the ‘Question 1 variants’ category that you’ve just created from the drop-down list.
Click on Move questions and then Confirm.

Question 1 will now appear in the new category.

To create a variant, go to the question and click on Edit. Select ‘Duplicate’ from the drop-down list.

Note that each question (and therefore each variant) needs a unique Question name. By default the duplicate will have the same Question name as whatever you gave Question 1, but with ‘(copy)’ added.
You may want all variants for Question 1 to have the same Question name but with ‘Variant 1’, ‘Variant 2’, etc. added at the end – whatever works best for you.
You can then edit the question as preferred, amending the question text, answers and feedback.
Click on Save changes.

Repeat this process for as many variants as you need for Question 1 – three is usually enough for variety.

After you have created all the Question 1 variants for your quiz go to the Administration block on the left-hand side of the screen and click on Questions.

On the new page, titled Questions, click on Add and select + a random question. (If you’ve already set up a quiz using the guidance above but want to start again, you may want to delete the questions you added previously by clicking on the trash/Delete icon.)
On the pop-up menu that appears, called Add a random question at the end, you'll see the questions you have created in a table at the bottom. Above the questions is a drop-down list labelled Type or select…. Click on this and select the ‘Question 1 variants’ category, and then click on the Apply filters button.
The variants you created for Question 1 will now appear in the list. By default the Number of random questions drop-down list will be set at 1 – don’t change this.
Click on Add random question.
Your random question will now appear on the Questions page.

You can repeat this process to create variants for all the questions in your quiz.

Alternatively, you may prefer to set up a quiz where you have written (for example) ten questions but the learner only answers five by changing the number in the Number of random questions drop-down list.

Moving existing questions into a question category

If you are amending an existing quiz to add questions or move questions around, you can move existing questions in a Quiz into the appropriate categories in the question bank once you’ve set up the categories, then amend those questions if necessary.

To move an existing question into one of the question categories, open the question in edit mode. You will see the Use this category box is checked if a question is already in a default category.

Uncheck the Use this category box and select the appropriate category for that question from the drop-down list which is now available to you.

Save the changes to the quiz question.

Amending existing quizzes

If at least one learner has attempted a quiz, note that you will not be able to add or delete questions – you will only be able to make some corrections to quiz text. To update the quiz with substantial changes you will need to make a copy of the course and quiz and update the copy. Attempting to update a live course with substantial changes to functionality of assessed activities is not advisable or helpful to learners who may already have completed the original version, especially if the quiz counts towards course completion.

Testing your quiz

The Course Manager and Teacher roles give you enhanced permissions for editing the quiz. However, they do not let you see how the learner will see the quiz because the editor preview mode for each question does not use the same visual layout as the learner would see and does not replicate what the question looks like on a mobile device.

Enrol a colleague onto the course (or a test account, using another email address) and give them the Reviewer role to test the quiz:

Choose wrong answers to questions to check whether too many hints have been provided in relation to the number of answer choices available. You can reduce the number of hints to reduce the number of tries, and adjust the penalty percentage as appropriate.
Choose wrong answers to questions to test how the questions behave and what, where and when feedback and navigational messages appear for learners.
Use the browser developer tools to display the quiz in mobile mode to confirm that the questions display correctly. For example, long boxes in drag and drop questions will fall beyond the display space and force a scrollbar to appear, which is not a good user experience for learners. This might mean that the question needs to be redesigned to work better on a small screen.

If a quiz has a pass grade applied, you will also need to do the following checks:

Attempt the quiz to check that the marks and grade awarded have been calculated correctly. For example, if the quiz has a total of 10 marks with a pass grade of 50%, you might score 5 but are not shown that you have achieved a pass. Check that the maximum grade and pass grade have been entered correctly, and update these settings if necessary; your colleague/test account can then refresh their view of the quiz review screen to check that the grades and percentages are now correct.
When you have configured the overall feedback messages at grade boundaries, use your test account to see which message you get when you get a score close to the pass grade boundary. Moodle’s guidance for overall feedback at grade boundaries tends to use rounded percentages (e.g. 50%) for a pass/fail boundary; in practice you may prefer to set it to 49.9% for the fail message rather than 50%.

You can delete all these test attempts of the quiz, especially if adjustments need to be made to questions during testing or if you have enabled a time delay on repeat attempts of the quiz.

SCORM package

A Shareable Content Object Reference Model (SCORM) package is a collection of files that is packaged according to an agreed standard for learning objects.

A SCORM package could be used for presenting multimedia content and animations, or as an assessment tool.

This feature means that SCORM or AICC packages to be uploaded as a .ZIP file and added to your course. Content is usually displayed over several pages, with navigation between the pages. There are various options for displaying content in a pop-up window, with a table of contents, with navigation buttons etc. SCORM activities generally include questions, with grades being recorded in the gradebook.

You will need to ensure that you configure the settings in the SCORM package to enable sharing of completion data with Moodle, then configure the uploaded SCORM file settings to pick up on the completion data.

There are advantages and disadvantages to using a SCORM package on OpenLearn Create. The Moodle platform that OpenLearn Create is built on doesn't generate SCORM content; it presents the content in SCORM packages to learners and saves the data about learner interactions with the SCORM package rather than in Moodle. This may have affect your course’s completion tracking.

If you have created a course in Articulate 360 and want to import it as a SCORM package into your OpenLearn Create course, you need to ensure that the export settings are configured as follows:

Export type: LMS
LMS: SCORM 1.2
Tracking: Track using course completion
Reporting: Complete/Incomplete (not Passed/Incomplete)
Exit course link: Off or On (dependent on the project).

To upload a SCORM package, switch editing on, go to your course’s homepage and click on the + Add an activity or resource button.

This will give you a screen full of options. Click on the SCORM package icon to open the New SCORM package page.

Enter the name for the SCORM package and (if you require one) a short description of it in the Name and Description fields. If you want this description to appear on your course homepage just below the link to the SCORM package, you can tick the Display description on main page tickbox.

Add the SCORM package in the Package file box.

Choose the following settings from the drop-down lists under Appearance (you should click on Show more… to reveal them all):

Display package: Current window
Student skip content structure page: Always
Disable preview mode: Yes
Display course structure in player: Disabled
Display course structure on entry page: No
Display attempt status: No

Choose the following settings from the drop-down lists under Compatibility settings:

Force completed: No
Auto-continue: No
Auto-commit: Yes
Mastery score overrides status: Yes

Click on the Save and display button.

StudentQuiz

This feature should not be confused with the main Moodle quiz (see above); it serves a different purpose and is only suitable for use in courses with a tutor or teacher.

StudentQuiz allows students to add questions for their peers on your course. They can filter questions and can use the filtered questions when preparing for examinations or other assessments. The teacher has an option to anonymise the created by column. Learners are awarded with points, and ranked, in order to motivate them to add more questions or practise more.

Learners can:

create individualised quizzes
add their feedback to each question by rating and commenting on the questions as they work through a quiz
see their personal learning progress
compare their contribution and competence with their peer group.

Furthermore, the created questions become part of the Moodle question bank and can be reused in standard Moodle quizzes.

The teacher can approve, disapprove, hide or delete questions. The teacher can also configure:

whether students’ names are displayed or kept anonymous
whether questions are published immediately or need to be approved first
the number of points assigned to questions contributed and answers given
what user roles to exclude from participation
what question types are allowed to be added to the pool
whether students are enforced to rate or comment on questions.

Moodle provides a quick introduction video to StudentQuiz and a longer (16-minute) video for teachers who are setting up a StudentQuiz for their learners.

Wiki

A wiki is a web-based system that lets users edit a set of linked pages: a well-known example of a wiki is Wikipedia, the online encyclopaedia. In an OpenLearn Create course, you would usually use a wiki when you want your students to create content collaboratively. A wiki is not usually suitable for a course that does not have tutor support.

To add a wiki to your course you will need to have either the Course Manager or Teacher role. To gain these roles you would need to complete a data declaration form – please contact openlearncreate@open.ac.uk to request one.

To add a wiki, switch editing on, go to your course’s homepage and click on the + Add an activity or resource button.

This will give you a screen full of options. Click on the Wiki icon to open the New Wiki page.

Enter the name for the wiki and (if you require one) a short description of it in the Name and Description fields. If you want this description to appear on your course homepage just below the link to the wiki, you can tick the Display description on main page tickbox.

There’s a variety of settings for creating a wiki, each with a help icon that includes more information.

Wiki settings includes options for whether you want to create wikis for groups or individuals, add annotations to wikis, limit the time that they are available, or add a wiki template.
Grade includes grading criteria, if this is relevant for your wiki.
Common module settings includes availability and language options, and is also relevant if you select One wiki per group in Wiki settings.
Restrict access includes the option to add restrictions, if for example you only want your wiki to be available after a certain date, or after a learner has completed another action.

Click on the Save and display button to go to the start page of your wiki. A message will appear on the screen:

This wiki's start page has not yet been created.

Would you like to create it?

This message appears on a View tab. You haven’t added any content yet, so the Edit tab isn’t available.

Click on the Create page button.

You can add content to the page in the Content field. Because this is the first page of the wiki, this would usually explain to your learners of what the activity is about and what they need to do.

If you add square brackets around a word or words in the Content field, [[like this]], it will create a link to a new page.

You can also upload files in the Attachments box.

Click on the Save changes button and you are ready to start using the wiki.

Note that the Edit tab is now available and that a new History tab has been added.

If you click on the link created by the text you added in square brackets, you can click on Create page to add content to that new page.

Below the start page are two new options:

Add new section to this page, where you type a title for a new section into the field and click the Add button. Once you’ve added text to the Content field and clicked on the Save changes button, this will add a new section to the start page.
Create new page, where you type a title for a new page into the field and click the Create button. This takes you to a similar screen to when you clicked on the Create page button, above.

You might want to use these options to create a further instructions page, for example about how to use the wiki and wiki etiquette.

Above the tabs on every wiki page are three buttons:

Wiki index, which shows the structure of the wiki and if there are any missing pages. It also gives the option for printing the wiki.
Wiki changes, which shows who changed a page, including the date, time and number of words.
Participation by user, which creates a downloadable report of all user participation in the wiki, including grades.

Workshop

A workshop enables the collection, review and peer assessment of students' work. It is not usually suitable for a standalone course that does not have tutor support.

Students can submit any digital content (files), such as word-processed documents or spreadsheets and can also type text directly into a field using the text editor.

Submissions are assessed using a multi-criteria assessment form defined by the teacher. Learners can practise the process of peer assessment and the assessment form in advance with example submissions provided by the teacher, together with a reference assessment. Learners are given the opportunity to assess one or more of their peers' submissions. Submissions and reviewers may be anonymous, if required.

Your learners obtain two grades in a workshop activity: one for their submission and one for their assessment of their peers' submissions. Both grades are recorded in the gradebook.

Instructions for setting up an online workshop are being compiled.