Tuesday, October 8, 2013

LBCC "X" Number Vs. OSU ID Number - UGH

I just received what must be the zillionth message from an Instructor or Student expressing frustration about the student not being able to access their Moodle course shell. This issue usually involves an Instructor not completing the quick & simple Auto-Enroll processes, preventing their students from easy access to their Moodle courses. The second-most common reason is… well, I'll let you read my reply to the Instructor:

Is your student not getting access to your Moodle shell at all, or just not with the Moodle account associated with her LBCC "X" number? Since she is dual-enrolled at OSU, Banner has created a second account for her based on her OSU ID number, and only the corresponding Moodle account is auto-enrolled in your Moodle course. When your student logs in to LBCC Moodle with her OSU ID number as her username, and her MMDDYY birthday as her password, she will have access to your course.

This issue is especially tricky to solve when a student has already completed work in the course under their "X" number account, but needs to continue with their OSU ID account. Merging two active user accounts in any system can get messy fast.

Before you say it, believe me, we know and understand what a hassle the two ID number thing is for students (not just in Moodle!), and are working hard to put a resolution in place. Surely it couldn't be a decision someone made many years ago, and is only still being done this way because it has always been done this way…

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