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Learn@Illinois Moodle - Database Activity
The database activity is a tool that allows the students and instructor to build a searchable bank of entries about any topic. The format and structure of these entries can include images, files, URLs, numbers and text among other possibilities.
For a permanent link to this information, please use: http://go.illinois.edu/MoodleDatabase
Examples of Using Database Activity
- A database on a subject relevant to the course with key fields for each entry
- A database of dinosaurs in which each dinosaur has many different descriptors like origin, habitat, diet, etc.
- A database of words for a linguistic course with fields such as IPA transcription, English gloss, etc.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Should I use Glossary or Database?
A Database is great if there are several key fields for each entry that you want to cover. Glossary is great if you want simple unstructured definitions of terms. - Can I change the order of the fields after I create them?
Unfortunately no, so try to enter them in the order you would like them to be displayed.
Best Practices
- Use clear descriptions of activity in the description field including:
- How students will be graded including any grading guides and rubrics
- Formatting rules
- File types that will be accepted
- Examples of exemplary submissions
- Communicate dates in a way that is easy to maintain
- Rarely use hard due dates (e.g. September 22, 2017) - opt for relative dates (e.g. Tuesday of Week 1) whenever possible
- Use the year when typing hard due dates so that if it does not get updated, it will be clear that this is the wrong date.
- When you would like to collect submissions at midnight, consider using 11:55pm instead. Students are often confused when something is due on Monday at midnight, but the system says that it is due on Tuesday at 12:00am.
- Grading Best Practices
- Activity-Specific Quirks
Groups and Groupings
- General information about using groups and groupings within this activity
- See our Groups and Groupings page for more information.