Guest Access to a Course

Owned by Adam Dinnes
Last updated: May 20, 2024
3 min read

There are two ways to provide access to your course for someone from outside the Beloit domain, depending on the role the person(s) needs.

Setup Guest Access

The first method is to configure Guest Access. Guest Access allows external users without a Beloit account to access your course. Guest Access is view-only, meaning that those who access a course as a guest can see the course materials, but are unable to participate in any course activities such as assignments, quizzes, or forums. Guests will not appear in your course roster. It is highly recommended that you set a password if you enable guest access to protect your student information and course content. Once activated, Guest Access will be available to anyone you share the link and password with.

Follow the steps given below to configure guest access:

  1. Log in to Moodle and navigate to the desired course.

  2. Click on the Course Management in the upper right corner of the course page.

  3. Select Enrollment methods located under the Users column heading.

  4. Click the Eye icon to enable the Guest Access enrollment method.

  5. Click the Gear icon and set a password to access the course (this is highly recommended).

  6. Click the Save Changes button.

Note: Guest Access can be disabled at any time by disabling it on the Enrollment Methods menu.

 

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Course Management > Enrollment Methods

 

Accessing a course with Guest Access enabled

Follow the steps given below to allow a guest access to your course:

  1. Contact the Moodle Administrator (support@beloit.edu) and request the alternative login URL. This URL bypasses the typical SSO login page that cannot be used for guest logins. Send that URL to the guest user, along with the following:

  2. Copy the URL from the main course page and share that with the external users that need access.

    • The course URL will be formatted similarly to this example: https://moodle.beloit.edu/course/view.php?id=6)

  3. Share the password with the guest user.

  4. Direct the guest user to click the Log in as a guest button after clicking the link to the course.

  5. They will either be presented with a page asking for the password, if you set one, or be taken directly to the course page.

 

Requesting a Guest Account

The second method is to request the creation of a Moodle account for the guest user. The creation of a guest account is only necessary if the external user needs to interact with the course activities. Since this would also allow the guest user to access information of other students in the course, approval from the CIO and Provost is required in writing before a Moodle Administrator can create a manual account for a user. 

In order to create the account the Moodle administrator will need the following information:

  • the new user’s full name

  • the new user’s email address

  • the course name(s) and number(s)

  • a date on which the guest account should begin

  • a date on which the guest account can be suspended

  • the name and contact information for the requestor/sponsor

  • a brief explanation of why the user(s) need access to the course

Manual accounts can be requested by emailing LITS Support support@beloit.edu with the information above. Once the Moodle administrator receives the request, they will relay the request to the CIO and Provost for permission to create the account. Manually created accounts are usually created within 1-2 business days once authorization has been obtained.