TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACT Ltd holds a Turnitin licence for the consortium with a specific number of student licences. Each college has a sub-account administrator to enable or disable features, run reports, add instructors, and manage Turnitin settings. Turnitin is integrated with colleges' Learning Management Systems (LMS) like Moodle through a plugin, creating a seamless workflow for assignment submissions, plagiarism checks, marking. and grading.
When a Turnitin activity is created in a Moodle course, a Turnitin class is automatically generated. Students who submit assignments in these activities are counted as active students against the consortium’s license limit.
Managing these counts is crucial because exceeding the license limit will prevent new student enrolments and/or result in significant additional charges for the consortium.
How are active students counted:
- Unique Student Identification: Students are identified by their email addresses. A student enrolled in multiple classes counts once if the same email address is used.
- Submission-Based Counting: Students start counting towards the limit once they make their first submission in a Turnitin class.
- Active Classes: Only students in active classes (those not expired or before the end date) count towards the institution's student limit.
- Expired Classes: Student enrolments in expired classes do not count against the active student limit.
It is important to note that unless a Turnitin class is expired, students in the class will count as active students even if they have been removed from the Moodle course or if the Turnitin activity has been removed from the Moodle course or the Moodle course itself has been deleted.
Expiring Classes:
- Instructors using Turnitin.com can expire classes by editing the class end date to a near future date, causing the class to expire at 12:00 am on the end date.
- For Turnitin integrated with Learning Management Systems (LMS) like Moodle, manual editing of class end dates might not be possible. In such cases, the account administrator can request Turnitin support to expire classes by emailing tiisupport@turnitin.com.
- Do not delete the Turnitin class as it is important to retain access to past submissions, similarity reports, marking, and grades.
- An expired class becomes read-only, so only expire classes once they are fully finished (no outstanding extensions, marking, etc.).
Recommended Setup for Turnitin Activities in Moodle:
- Scheduled Units/Classes: Turnitin activities should primarily be used for assessments in distinct, scheduled units or classes.
- Avoid Ongoing Courses: Avoid creating Turnitin activities in ongoing Moodle courses not tied to specific sessions or semesters to prevent unnecessary usage of Turnitin accounts.
- Example 1: Moodle course NT001-2024S1 with an end date in 30/06/2024. The due date for the final assessment is 7/06/2024 and post date (feedback release date) 21/06/2024. Without any updates to the assessment the Turnitin Class will expire a month after the Moodle course end date on 30/07/2024. Enrolled students will no longer count as active students once the Turnitin class has expired.
- Example 2: Moodle course NT001 used as an ongoing Moodle course without an end date and reset every semester for a new cohort of students. As new Turnitin activities are continuously added and new students submit assignments, this Turnitin class keeps adding active students. Students that have been unenrolled on Moodle are still counted as active students despite being no longer assessed.
- Example 1: Moodle course NT001-2024S1 with an end date in 30/06/2024. The due date for the final assessment is 7/06/2024 and post date (feedback release date) 21/06/2024. Without any updates to the assessment the Turnitin Class will expire a month after the Moodle course end date on 30/07/2024. Enrolled students will no longer count as active students once the Turnitin class has expired.
Instructions on how to expire an active class
1) Login to Turnitin.com and go to the Instructor view.
2) Click on the edit icon of the active Turnitin class that you would like to expire.
3) Change the end date (tomorrow), you may also have to select the subject and student level
4) Click on submit.
FAQ
Q: How does Turnitin calculate end dates for classes?
A: Turnitin syncs class end dates with Moodle course end dates. If no end date is set in Moodle, Turnitin defaults to setting the end date six months from the creation date.
Q: What should I do if our classes don't have set end dates?
A: Ensure end dates are set for all Moodle classes to align with the semester or unit end dates. This helps manage class expiration and student license numbers effectively.
Q: How can I ensure that end dates for Moodle courses sync with Turnitin classes?
A: For dates to sync, interact with a Turnitin assignment within the Moodle course by saving assignment settings or making a submission. This action syncs the dates between Moodle and Turnitin.
Q: What happens if a lecturer sets a post date for assignments far in the future?
A: Turnitin will automatically move the class end date to cover the future post date. To avoid this, align post dates with the unit end dates.
Q: Can I, as an Administrator, edit end dates for classes where I am not an Instructor?
A: Currently, manual editing of class end dates is not be possible if Turnitin is integrated with Moodle. You can request the Turnitin Help Desk to expire classes by emailing tiisupport@turnitin.com.
Q: How can I add myself or another Instructor to a class to manage dates?
A: Open a Turnitin assignment in the Moodle course in the Teacher role.
Q: What should be done with old classes from previous years that are still active?
A: Review and identify old classes that are no longer in use and set the class end date on Turnitin.com or request Turnitin to expire them for you by emailing tiisupport@turnitin.com. Quote your account number and Class ID.
Q: Which Moodle version does Moodle support? to ensure continued support with Turnitin?
A: Moodle ended security support for versions 3.9, 3.11, and 4.0 on December 11, 2023, Turnitin has ended support for those versions of Moodle as well. Turnitin supports Moodle 4.0 or higher.
Q: What happens if I don't expire my inactive classes?
A: If you don't expire inactive classes, the students enrolled in those classes will continue to count as active students against our license limit, potentially leading to exceeded limits and/or result in significant additional charges for the consortium.
Q: Can ACT tell if I'm not expiring my classes?
A: Yes, ACT can review the active student list and the number of active classes. ACT can identify if classes are not being expired and provide recommendations to take necessary actions. To request support, please email support@actheology.edu.au.