Log in to Moodle

This page explains how to log in to Moodle and find your courses, with troubleshooting tips for students and instructors.

Log in to Moodle

1.  To log in to Moodle, visit http://moodle.umass.edu [2].
2.  In the top left corner, click Login. The UMass Amherst Web Login screen opens.
3. In the Web Login screen, enter your OIT Net ID and password and click the arrow ( ) or press enter/return on your keyboard. (Links to help with passwords are on this screen.)
4. When you have successfully logged in, you will be returned to Moodle and will see a message at the top-right of the screen: "You are logged in as Your Name (Logout)."

Note: Students who cannot log in to Moodle should see Student Access to Moodle Courses [3]. Instructors who have trouble logging in should contact the Instructional Media Lab [4].

Important! Log out of Moodle

1. To log out of Moodle, click Logout at the top right, or bottom of the window. The Web Logout screen opens with the message "You have been logged out. Please close your browser to ensure the Web Auth cookies are destroyed."
2. Quit your browser to ensure your Web Login session is closed. If you do not quit your browser, for the next hour (when your login session expires), anyone who uses it will have access to your accounts on any UMass service that use Web Login authentication.
   Note: This is a critical step on shared or public computers.

Find Your Courses

When you first log into Moodle, you will see boxes on the left side of the screen. These are called Blocks and contain links you will use to navigate through your courses.

Once you have logged in, look on the left side of the screen for the My courses block. You should see links to your courses in this block. Click the course name to go to the website for the course.

If you don't see a course in this block that you believe you are enrolled in or teaching, there may be a number of possible reasons, depending on your role:

Troubleshooting for Students:

• The course may not yet be open to students. Be sure to check again after the first day of class, or ask your instructor.
• There may be a 24 hour (or more) delay between when a student registers for a course and when that student can access the Moodle course. Moodle course rosters are updated with student data from SPIRE only on weekdays.
• For more on student access to Moodle see Student Access to Moodle Courses [3].

Troubleshooting for Instructors:

In the My Courses block, you may see a link to Show all Courses. Click this link to access courses that are not currently released to students. This will include courses not released before the beginning of a semester, and courses you taught in a previous semester which are no longer available to students.

• Confirm that you are listed as the instructor of record in SPIRE [5], are part of the 2011 Moodle pilot, have requested a Moodle course through SPIRE, and have received a confirmation from Academic Computing that your course has been created.  If you have any problems with requesting or finding your course, please contact the Instructional Media Lab [4] as soon as possible.

Troubleshooting for Teaching Assistants

• Confirm with the Academic Scheduling Representative in your department that you are listed in SPIRE as a Teaching Assistant or the Primary Instructor if you are in charge of a separate discussion/lab. For more information see Teaching Assistant Access to Moodle [6].

Get More Help

If you are still having problems, contact the OIT Help Center [7]. Students should also notify instructors if they can't access a course that the instructor has told them is using Moodle.