Ops: Course Reuse

At the start of a new intake (e.g., Spring 2026), you do not need to build courses from scratch. Instead, you should copy the content from the previous successful semester (e.g., Autumn 2025) into a new course shell.

This process ensures consistency across cohorts and saves significant setup time.

1. The Strategy: "Import" vs "Reset"

For our operations, we use the Import method.

Method	Description	Why we use it?
Import (Recommended)	You create a blank course for the new students and "pull" content into it from an old course.	✅ Keeps cohorts separate (clean data). ✅ Preserves the old course as an archive. ✅ Safer (less risk of accidental data deletion).
Reset	You delete all students and grades from the existing course and use the same URL for new students.	❌ Destroys historical data. ❌ Not recommended for our audit requirements.

2. Prerequisite

Before you begin, ensure you have:

1. The Source Course: The "Gold Master" or the previous semester's course (e.g., "Academic English - Autumn 2025") which has the content you want.
2. The Destination Course: A newly created, empty course shell (e.g., "Academic English - Spring 2026").
   • See Ops: Creating New Courses for how to create the empty shell.

3. Step-by-Step Import Process

Perform these steps inside the Destination Course (the new, empty one).

Step 1: Locate the Import Tool

1. Go to the new course page.
2. Click the More tab in the secondary navigation bar (under the course title).
3. Select Course reuse from the dropdown.
4. On the next screen, ensure the dropdown menu at the top left says Import.

Step 2: Select Source

1. You will see a list of courses. Use the Search bar at the bottom to find the old course (e.g., search "English").
2. Select the radio button next to the correct source course.
3. Click Continue.

Step 3: Initial Settings (What to Copy)

Moodle asks what types of data to include.

• Include activities and resources: YES (The actual content).
• Include blocks: YES (Right-hand side menus).
• Include files: YES.
• Include filters: YES.
• Include calendar events: NO (Unless you want old dates).
• Include groups and groupings: NO (New students will need new groups).
• Include competencies: No (Usually not used).
• Click Next.

Step 4: Schema Selection (Specific Items)

You will see a long list of every item in the old course.

• By default, everything is checked.
• **Review the list**: Uncheck specific items you don't want (e.g., "Announcements" from last year regarding a specific holiday, or an old "Midterm Feedback" survey).
• Click Next.

Step 5: Confirmation and Perform

• Review the summary page.
• Click Perform import.
• Wait for the progress bar (this may take a minute depending on file sizes).
• Click Continue to return to your new course.

4. Post-Import Checklist (Critical)

The content is copied, but it is not ready for students yet. You must perform these updates:

A. Update Dates

• Go to Settings and check the Course start date.
• Even though you imported the content, assignment deadlines remain in the past (e.g., 2024).
• You must manually edit every **Assignment** and **Quiz** to update:
  • Allow submissions from
  • Due date
  • Cut-off date

B. Clean Up "Announcements"

• The "Announcements" forum is automatically created in every new course.
• If you imported the old "Announcements" forum, you might now have **two** forums (one empty, one from the old course).
• Delete the duplicate one.
• Delete any specific welcome posts that mention the wrong year.

C. Update External Tools (LTI)

• If the course uses **Zoom**, **Turnitin**, or **Panopto** links:
• Click on each link to ensure it establishes a fresh connection for the new semester.
• Sometimes copying breaks the link between Moodle and the external tool.

D. Update Course Guide / Syllabus

• Check the "Course Guide" page or PDF.
• Ensure it doesn't say "Welcome to the class of 2025!".

5. Troubleshooting

• "The course is too big to import": If the import times out, check if the source course has massive video files directly uploaded. Suggest to the teacher to move videos to a streaming server.
• "My quizzes are missing questions": This happens if you didn't include the "Question bank" in the import. Usually, Moodle handles this automatically, but ensure "Include activities" was checked.