Frequently Asked Questions
What is Moodle?
Moodle is the name of the online classroom software that is used at NWIC. It is a place where instructors may post course materials such as readings and web links and allows you to turn in assignments online. It is also a place where you can communicate with your instructor as well as other students in your class.
What is my username and password?
Your student username is your first initial + your last name. For example, for the student Bob Jefferson, the username would be bjefferson. Your password is your birthday written as yyyymmdd. If your birthday was March 14, 1981, then your password would be 19810314. There are situations where there are more than one person with the same first initial + last name combination. In those situations, please contact us and we will send you your username. On the Moodle homepage there is a link at the top of the page that says “Get Your Username and Password.” If you click on this link, it will take you to a form where you can submit your request. Once you have submitted the required information, your login information will be e-mailed to the e-mail account that you listed.
What is my profile and how do I update it?
Your profile is a web page that is part of the Moodle online classroom where you can add your contact information, a picture, and a description of yourself so that your teacher and your classmates can get to know you better. You can also view the profiles of other students to get to know them as well.
To update your profile, click on your name in the upper right hand corner of the screen. You will then see your profile and can select the edit profile button to make changes to your information.
How do I contact my Instructor?
There are four ways to contact your instructor.
- You can respond to a posting in the News and Announcements forum if you have a question about the class.
- If you see your teacher is online, use the message feature to send them a message.
- Use the Quickmail tool to send an e-mail to your instructor.
- Find your instructor’s phone number on the syllabus or instructor information page and give them a call.
How do I get my mail?
Moodle does not have its own e-mail system, but instead will send e-mail messages to your student e-mail account. Any e-mails sent to you from within your Moodle class will go to your NWIC student e-mail.
I can’t view one of the documents in my class?
Instructors might post documents for you to read in a variety of different formats. In order to view the documents you will need the appropriate program on your computer. If it is a pdf document, you will need to have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed. If it is Word, you will need Microsoft Word installed. If you do not have the necessary program to open a file, ask your instructor if they can send it to you in a different format.
Another common problem that occurs is that people have a pop-up blocker enabled on their computer that blocks the documents from opening. Make sure that if you have a pop-up blocker, such as Yahoo Toolbar, that pop-ups are allowed for the NWIC Moodle site.
Why isn’t the Message feature working?
Make sure that you do not have a pop-up blocker that is preventing the message window from opening. Common pop-up blockers such as Yahoo Toolbar can block certain features in Moodle from working correctly. It is important that you change the settings in your pop-up blocker application to allow pop-ups for the NWIC Moodle site to be allowed.