KB1027 - How to set an Enrollment Key for Moodle courses

Your Moodle course can be given an enrollment key which acts as a password to your course. By providing your students with the enrolment key, you control access to your virtual classroom and give students one-time permission to self-enrol in their course(s).

Once enrolled, students never need to use the key again, and you can change the key at any time to prevent unauthorized access. We recommend that you change the key once all your students are enrolled.

To set an enrollment key, please follow these steps for each of your courses:

1. From the main page of your course, select "Participants" in the Nav Drawer, on the left-side of your course page.
2. From the Gear menu in the right corner, select the Enrollment methods menu item.
3. Ensure that the method "Self enrollment (Student)" is listed and enabled (by clicking the "eye" icon until the option looks activated).
4. Click the Gear (edit) icon for the Self-enrollment option to review its settings.
5. Enter that your enrollment key is in the Enrollment key field.
   TIP: Checking the Unmask field to the right of the field will allow you to see what you're typing or see the existing enrolment key.
6. If you want your students to receive a welcome email message once they self-enroll, check the "Send course welcome message" You can customize the message in the large box below. (It's a good way for the instructor to introduce themselves and add contact information and office hours.)
7. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click "Save Changes".

IMPORTANT TIP: It's advisable to leave the Enrollment duration field and the Start date and End date fields disabled. The use of these fields can lead to unexpected loss of access by your students. Contact eLSupport@vcc.ca if you would like information on how to use these fields correctly.

Your settings should look similar to those pictured below:

Using the Key

1. Contact your students and give them the enrollment key along with information on how to log into their course(s).
   We recommend you use the Online Course Access Form, and that you contact your students via their VCC Student Email address.
2. On the start date, check to ensure that all of your students have enrolled themselves.

Using an Enrollment Key to Place Students into Groups

You can create groups and assign separate enrollment keys to groupings in your course(s). When you give students the key to their group, they can use it to automatically enrol into the course, and into their grouping(s).  Please note:  If you use this option, all enrolment keys need to be unique and although you still need a course enrolment key, it is not necessary to give it to anyone. 
Email eLSupport@vcc.ca if you wish to find out more about this option.

Contacting Students via Student Email

Student email is encouraged since it is a default for College-wide messages (including Moodle), and students can forward college email to their personal email account(s).  Personal email is often not known at the time a student registers, so the VCC email address is very easy for instructors to use since it’s usually an alias in the format firstname.lastname@student.vcc.ca.  Please note, if students share duplicate names, this format won’t apply.  It is therefore recommended that instructors consult Banner or contact the Registrar’s office for the correct student email addresses.