Unit 1.2. How to set course activities’ settings to track learners’ engagement?

As emphasised in the conceptual introduction, designing courses with digital technologies and tools, whether it is for assessment purposes or other teaching and learning purposes, generates a wide range of data. Therefore, it is very important for teachers to know how to configure a learning management system (LMS) and set up learning activities that would generate the type of digital evidence they require.

When designing a course, make sure that the course structure is consistent and clear, students can easily follow and recognise the learning pathway on Moodle and the learning resources are described as compulsory or supplementary. Course assignments should generate data evidence (more in 1.2.1) and be linked to the course outcomes based on a course grade book (more details in 1.2.2). Such alignment and configuration allow students to understand how their learning will occur and what the key criteria and requirements for successful course completion are. Learners will grasp what resources need to be analysed, what activities are delivered to learn the subject and how each assignment contributes to the completion of learning outcomes. 

In this subunit, we will share recommendations on the important settings to take into consideration when designing learning activities in the LMS. Firstly, we will observe the main settings that should be configured when designing learning activities aimed at tracking learners’ progress and supporting SRL. Secondly, we will deal with the settings of the discussion forum and attendance activity. Finally, we will present how to add and align learning outcomes with learning activities. Following these recommendations, we will also explain why these settings are important when thinking of data analysis and learners’ engagement.