How do I create deep links and grade sync my Vantage course in Moodle?

Watch a Video:

Linking Vantage Assignments in Moodle 

Linking Vantage in Moodle: 1 Link and Multiple Grade Syncs

Linking Vantage in Moodle: Multiple Links and and Grade Syncs Per Chapter

Linking Vantage in Moodle: Multiple Links and Grade Syncs in a Single Module

This guide explains the process of pairing Sage Vantage with your Moodle course. Once paired, you can create deep links to Vantage content and set up grade sync for any Vantage assignments you wish to include in your Moodle gradebook. Follow the same steps for new Vantage courses and course copies.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Create a new Vantage course or copy an existing Vantage course
• Deep Links and Grade Sync in a New Moodle Course
  • Create Deep Links (with or without grade sync)
  • Create Grade Syncs Only (without deep links)
  • Excluding Grades for Completion from the Moodle Gradebook Calculations

Create a new Vantage course or copy an existing Vantage course

Create a new Vantage course or copy an existing Vantage course

Before you can add deep links or grade sync items to your Moodle course, you must create your Sage Vantage course.

1. Login or sign up for Vantage here. If you are not sure what your password is, you can click the "Forgot Password?" link to reset it.
2. Then, to create your course visit How do I create my Vantage course?

If you have created a Vantage course in the past, you may wish to copy that course to use for another section in the same term or for a new term. This is also useful to use with additional course sections.

• Login to Vantage and visit How do I copy my Vantage course? 

Once you have created your Vantage course, make any adjustments editing Chapters and Assignments, it can be paired with your Moodle course.

Deep Links and Grade Sync in a New Moodle Course

3. Choose the Select Content button.

4. Locate the Vantage course you wish to pair with, then choose Select. If you only have one Vantage course in your account, it will automatically be selected for you.

5. Once you filter the content, the sorted list will show only those items matching your selection. You can choose items from the resulting list to create deep links and/or grade syncs in your Moodle course.

For each item in the list, there are two columns on the right of the page. The left column (Link to Course) refers to the deep link that is added to your Moodle module. The right column (Grade Sync) determines if an assignment is synced with your Moodle gradebook.

If an item is not gradable – such as a chapter reading – the grade sync column will not have a checkbox. Instead it will have a dash indicating it cannot be synced. If you have previously grade synced an assignment, the Grade Sync column will show a dash as well indicating it's already synced.

Create Deep Links (with or without grade sync)

To create a link in your Moodle course, tick the checkbox in the "Link to Course" column for that item. If you select a gradable item (such as a Knowledge Check, Video Activity or Chapter Test), the Grade Sync column is automatically ticked as well. This allows you to create a link and a grade sync item at the same time.

Note: Moodle is limited to creating only a single link at a time. For example, if you want to link to each chapter reading in a text with 15 chapters, you will need to create each link separately. Alternatively, you could create a single link to the Course Dashboard or Chapter 1 reading, then students could navigate to anywhere in the text from there.

After you've selected the link to add to your Moodle course, click Continue to review your selection. This button is available at the top and bottom of the page.

Double check your selection on the "Confirm LMS Selection(s)" page.

Select Continue on the "Confirm LMS Selection(s)" page to return to Moodle. Within Moodle, click Show More.

Choose the dropdown for Launch container and change set it to New window.

Choose Save and return to course at the bottom of the page. The deep link will appear in your module. If you linked an item with grade sync, a gradebook column is created at the same time.

Repeat this process to add all links you want to include in your Moodle course.

Create Grade Syncs Only (without deep links)

You can add grade sync assignments without adding deep links for them. For example, you may want to link only a single chapter reading in your Moodle module, but still have all assignments from that same chapter grade synced with your Moodle gradebook.

TIP: Unlike deep links which need to be added one at a time, Moodle supports adding multiple grade sync items in one go. If you want to grade sync only specific assignments, you can tick the Grade Sync checkbox next to those assignments. Only the items you choose to grade sync will create a gradebook column in Moodle. In this example, a Knowledge Check and Video Activity are selected for grade sync, but the Data Activity is not.

If you want to grade sync everything in the filtered list – for instance, if you filter by Chapter Tests and want to grade sync all of them – you can tick the "Select All" checkbox above the Grade Sync column. All items will be selected for grade sync.

When you choose to Grade Sync an assignment, a gradebook column is created in your Moodle gradebook for the assignment. After you've selected one or more items to grade sync, click Continue to review your selections. This button is available at the top and bottom of the page.

Double check your selections on the "Confirm LMS Selection(s)" page.

If you want to add more grade sync items, you can use the Go Back button to add more grade syncs. Once you have picked everything you want grade synced, click Continue on the "Confirm LMS Selection(s)" page to complete the grade sync.

After a few seconds, a pop-up message indicates that no links were created. Select OK to return to Moodle. You can visit your Moodle gradebook to see the new columns that were added for your assignment selections.

6. When you are finished adding deep links and grade sync items to your Moodle course, select a Vantage link to complete the grade sync connection. If you do not select a Vantage link, Vantage will not send grades to your Moodle gradebook.

Note: If you add new grade sync items at a later date, you must click on a Vantage link again to complete the grade sync connection for the new items.

Excluding Grades for Completion from the Moodle Gradebook Calculations

Knowledge Checks, Video Activities, etc. are often assigned for completion instead of a grade in Vantage. If you choose to grade sync these assignments, the gradebook column in Moodle will record the point value to show the assignment was completed.

While you may want your Moodle gradebook to show these assignments were completed, you may not want to include these points in the final grade calculations. You can exclude these assignments from the final grade, but still allow them to display in the gradebook to show the assignment was completed.

1. Go to your Moodle gradebook.

2. Go to the Setup tab.

3. At the bottom of the page, click Add Category.

4. Name this category. The name can be what makes sense for your course. In this example, we are using Ungraded Activities.

In the "Category total" section, tick the checkbox for Weight adjusted. Set the weight to 0. Select Save changes at the bottom of the page.

5. On the Gradebook Setup page, tick the checkboxes in the Select column for all Vantage assignments that you want to exclude from the final grade calculations.

6. At the bottom left of the Gradebook Setup page, go to the dropdown for Move selected items to. Choose the category you created for these assignments.

7. Since the excluded assignments are placed in a category with a weighting of zero, the point values are not included in the final grade calculations.

In this example, the Video Activities, Data Activities and Knowledge Checks were placed in the Ungraded Activities category. Chapter Tests 1 and 2 are the only graded items for 15 points each. The possible Course Total correctly reflects 30 points.