Moodle Course Roadmap Overview

Moodle’s Course Roadmap activity is a tool you can add into your course to provide students with an interactive visualization of course activities and assessments. Students can use the Roadmap to track completed activities in your course to visually monitor their own progress.

Watch the following video overview about Moodle Course Roadmap (duration 3:34) to see how it can help students understand the organization of the course and monitor their own progress.

Moodle Course Roadmap video

Why Use a Course Roadmap?

Many students may need help with the cognitive processes that help them make decisions, prioritize tasks, work towards goals, monitor progress, etc. There are things you can do to help them self-reflect and motivate themselves to work towards goals. The Moodle Course Roadmap is one tool that can help you increase your students’ ability to self-regulate and improve their executive functioning skills.

A tip from UDL on Campus by CAST is to do the following with your Moodle course:

  • Design clear, interactive course headings and icons
  • Group content into logical learning units and divide information into small segments
  • Provide checklists for making progress

The Moodle Course Roadmap activity is a tool to help visually represent the course so that it’s easier for students to understand how it is organized. The visual indicators help students to monitor their own progress in the course. The image below shows part of a Course Roadmap activity in Moodle (click on the image to expand it). The Course Learning Objectives (CLOs) are listed at the top to help give students context for the rest of the course. Large headings with colored bars on the left side indicate the Phases, or major divisions, within the course. Each Phase contains one or more Cycles, which correspond to the modules in the course. Each Cycle contains one or more Steps, represented by icons that start out as grey and become filled with darker colors as a student completes activities. A star on an icon indicates that everything comprising that step was completed on time.

This screenshot of a Moodle Course Roadmap shows a list of course learning objectives followed by three major phases, which are further divided into multiple cycles. Each cycle contains one or more colored icons indicating the learning steps and their activity completion status.
Example of a Moodle Course Roadmap (click to expand the image)
This screenshot of a Moodle Course Roadmap shows a list of course learning objectives followed by three major phases, which are further divided into multiple cycles. Each cycle contains one or more colored icons indicating the learning steps and their activity completion status.
Example of a Moodle Course Roadmap (click to expand the image)
This screenshot of a Moodle Course Roadmap shows a list of course learning objectives followed by three major phases, which are further divided into multiple cycles. Each cycle contains one or more colored icons indicating the learning steps and their activity completion status.
Example of a Moodle Course Roadmap (click to expand the image)

Best Practices

Before getting started

  1. Plan out all course activities, resources, and assessments in advance. A course map can help you with planning the components of your course. Decide which resources and activities will be required.
  2. Organize the course content in a Moodle Project space, using a consistent structure for each section. (Using the Quick Start Course Shell can help you organize a course quickly.)
  3. Use descriptive names for Moodle activities to make setup easier.
  4. Set dates and activity completion conditions for all required resources and activities before creating a Course Roadmap activity.
  5. Read the Moodle Course Roadmap Instructor Guide for detailed steps to create a your Course Roadmap in Moodle.

Tips for building a Course Roadmap

  • Avoid configuring a Course Roadmap during a live course. Work in a Project space to set up your Roadmap before implementing it in a live course.
  • Have two windows open while editing, or use two monitors if possible, so that you can look at the contents of the course while configuring the Course Roadmap settings.
  • Be consistent when selecting labels and icons.
  • Be descriptive but concise in titles and rollover text to avoid a cluttered appearance.
  • Group multiple activities into Steps to streamline the appearance of the Course Roadmap.
  • Click “Save Configuration” often!
  • Test links carefully. (Beware of adding sections after starting a Course Roadmap configuration.)
  • Double-check “Set reminder in timeline” dates
  • Thoroughly explain and demonstrate the Course Roadmap to students at the beginning of the course and emphasize using it throughout the semester.

Workshop Information

If no workshops are available, please request an instructional consultation to learn more about the Moodle Course Roadmap.

Resources

References

Corinne, J., (2021). Executive functioning and why it matters. Learnfully Blog.

Cohen, M. T. (2012). The Importance of Self-Regulation for College Student Learning. College Student Journal, 46(4), 892–902.

Dabbagh, N., Kitsantas, A. (2013). Using Learning Management Systems as Metacognitive Tools to Support Self-Regulation in Higher Education Contexts. In: Azevedo, R., Aleven, V. (eds) International Handbook of Metacognition and Learning Technologies. Springer International Handbooks of Education, vol 28. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi-org.prox.lib.ncsu.edu/10.1007/978-1-4419-5546-3_14 

Rabin, L., Fogel, J., & Nutter-Upham, K. (2011). Academic procrastination in college students: The role of self-reported executive function. Journal of Clinical & Experimental Neuropsychology, 33(3), 344–357. https://doi-org.prox.lib.ncsu.edu/10.1080/13803395.2010.518597 

Executive functioning in online environments. (2017). UDL On Campus. Retrieved November 16, 2022, from Cast.org