A sandpit course is a practice course in which an instructor develops and tests content and functionality before transferring it to a public course and making it available to students. Sandpits are another way of keeping more complex course activities or resources under wraps until you are certain they are complete and will function as you want them to.
If you require a teaching course please refer to this page.
This page includes instructions on
- How to create a Sandpit course in Moodle.
- How to create self enrolment keys to allow further enrolment of staff and student roles iva the Enrolment Key Request form
Create a Sandpit Course
The Sandpit Request Form allows instructors in Moodle to request for a personal sandpit to test and develop content.
Once submitted, the sandpit will be created automatically in the next few minutes.
These courses are not to be used for research purposes, if you wish to discuss this please contact the Educational Technology Support team via the book a virtual Consultation form.
- Log in to Moodle via https://moodle.telt.unsw.edu.au/login/index.php
- In the Navigation block on the left-hand-side panel of the page, click on Sandpit Request Form.
You must be an instructor in a Moodle course to access the sandpit creation form. If this option is not available, please contact your faculty TELT Administrator for assistance. If you are not part of a faculty, please send a request to the Educational Technology Support team via the book a virtual Consultation form. - Select your Faculty and School from the dropdown list
- In the Quiz migration section, select the option 'Sandpit course - not to be used for official teaching'
- Enter a course short name and course full name. The course full name is the name of the course that appears on the top of the course page. The course short name appears in the navigation menu and is generally a shortened from the full name.
It is recommended to keep 'Sandpit' within the course full name to better distinguish between official and sandpit courses.
- Select a role from the 'User Role' dropdown list. This will be the role given to the next people you add to your course and can be changed fro different people.
For example, you can add yourself as an instructor and your colleague as a teaching assistant
- In the Available Users box, search for someone using their zID or name and click 'Add' to add the account to the user list in the right-hand box and enrol them into the sandpit
This can be done multiple times until all required people are enrolled. The role given to each person is the role selected in the 'user role' dropdown when the 'Add' button is pressed.
Make sure you add yourself as an Instructor on this step. - Scroll to the bottom of the page and click Submit
- A confirmation message will display—if it doesn't, return to the Sandpit Request Form page and check that you have correctly completed all the fields mentioned above.
Note: Your request should be completed within the same day and you should receive an email confirmation with the course link.
If you do not receive a completion confirmation after this period, contact External TELT Support with a description of the issue, course details and your zID.
Email: [email protected]
Internal: x53331
External (02) 9385 3331
International +612 9385 3331
Self Enrolment Key(s) Request Form
If further enrolments are required after sandpit creation, instructors can request for a self enrolment key.
A self enrolment key is a password that can be can be provided to other people and entered into your course to enrol with a specific role.
After processing, you will receive an email with a confirmation and the list of requested enrolment keys. Steps on how to use these keys to enrol or un-enrol a sandpit course are available on the Enrolling in Self-Enrolment Course page.
Self Enrolment Key Request Form
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Sandpit Guest Access Request form
Enabling guest access allows users without a zID to view your course materials within Moodle. These users will be able to access content anonymously but will not be able to participate in activities that require an identity within Moodle. For example, Assignment submissions.
UNSW staff may use this form to request guest access to an existing sandpit course. You should first be enrolled as an instructor to the course or be a TELT Administrator.
Guest access for courses requires approval from your Head of School or Organisational Unit. You will be required to upload email approval from your relevant Head of Organisational Unit. (Email Attachment)
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Further assistance
If you experience technical or other issues, consult the Where to get help page.