The Diary activity allows students to submit ongoing reflective entries over time. It is ideal for journals, progress reflections, practicum logs, learning diaries, or any assignment where students record thoughts regularly.

This guide explains what the Diary tool does, how to set it up, how students use it, and how faculty review and grade submissions.

What the Moodle Diary Tool Is Used For

The Diary activity allows you to:

✔ Collect time-stamped, ongoing student reflections

  • Daily or weekly journals

  • Learning reflections

  • Internship/clinical logs

  • Goal-setting and progress tracking

✔ Review each student’s entries chronologically

  • See how understanding develops over time

  • Provide ongoing feedback

✔ Provide instructor comments

  • Inline comments

  • General feedback

  • Continuous dialogue with the student

✔ Grade diary entries

  • Single grade for overall performance

  • Or leave the diary ungraded

Adding a Diary to Your Course

Step-by-Step: Create a Diary Activity

  1. Go to your Moodle course.

  2. Turn Editing On (top right).

  3. Click Add an activity or resource.

  4. Select Diary.

  5. Click Add.


Diary Settings Explained

After adding the activity, configure the settings:

A. General Settings

Diary Name

  • Choose something clear, such as:

    • “Weekly Reflection Journal”

    • “Clinical Diary – Week 1–8”

Description

  • State the purpose and expectations.

  • Example:
    “Please submit one reflective entry each week describing your learning progress, challenges, and insights.”

✔ Option to display description on course page.

B. Diary Availability

You can control access if needed:

  • Open Date – when students may start writing.

  • Close Date – final day submissions are accepted.

If left blank, the diary remains open all semester.

C. Diary Settings

These are specific to the Diary tool:

Entry Format

Choose how students will write their entries:

  • HTML editor (default; allows text formatting)

  • Plain text

Allow Editing of Old Entries

  • Yes – students may revise past entries.

  • No – entries become locked after submission.
    (Recommended for journals you want to remain authentic)

Always show entry dates

Shows the date and time each entry was created.

D. Grade Settings

You may grade the diary:

Grade Type

  • None – if it is an ungraded journal.

  • Point – specify a maximum point value.

  • Scale – choose a custom scale.

Grade Category

Choose how diary grades feed into the gradebook.

Adding Diary Prompts (Optional)

A diary can contain one ongoing prompt, or you can use the description to guide students each week.

If you need multiple prompts over time, consider:

  • Creating separate diaries (e.g., Week 1, Week 2)

  • OR using a Label each week with instructions

What Students See and Do

Students will:

  1. Open the diary activity.

  2. Click Add a new entry.

  3. Type their reflection into the text box.

  4. Click Save changes.

Each new entry is automatically dated and stored in a running list.

Reviewing Student Entries (Faculty View)

To review what students have written:

  1. Open the diary activity.

  2. Click View Entries.

  3. A list of students appears.

  4. Click a student’s name to see all their entries.

Inside the student’s entry page, you will see:

  • All the student’s diary submissions

  • Dates and timestamps

  • Text of each entry

  • Space for your comments and feedback

Providing Feedback on Entries

Inside a student’s entry:

  1. Scroll to the bottom of the entry text.

  2. Locate the Teacher Feedback section.

  3. Enter comments such as:
    “This is a strong reflection—great connection to course concepts.”

  4. Click Save changes.

Students will be able to see your comments when they re-open the diary.

Grading the Diary

If the diary is graded:

To Assign a Grade

  1. Open the diary.

  2. Click View Entries.

  3. Select a student.

  4. Enter a grade in the Grade field.

  5. Click Save changes.

The grade automatically pushes to the Moodle gradebook.

Grading Tips

  • You give one grade for the entire diary activity.

  • Combine quality, completion, depth, and growth.

  • You can update the grade at any time.

Exporting Diary Entries

If you need records for accreditation or documentation:

  1. Go to the diary.

  2. Click View Entries.

  3. Select Export entries (if available in your version).

  4. Choose export format (CSV or Excel).

Exports include:

  • Student name

  • Entry dates

  • Diary text

Best Practices for Using Diaries Effectively

✔ Provide clear expectations

Define:

  • Frequency (e.g., weekly)

  • Length

  • Reflection prompts

  • Grading criteria

✔ Respond regularly

Students value meaningful input and feedback.

✔ Use diaries to track growth

They are excellent tools for developmental learning.

✔ Disable editing of old entries

Preserves authenticity and prevents retroactive changes.

✔ Keep diaries private

Only the student and teacher can view entries—never other students.

Optional: Using Rubrics or Grading Guides

If you want structured grading:

  1. Set Grade to a point value.

  2. In the activity settings, choose a grading method (if advanced grading is enabled).

  3. Create a rubric or marking guide.

Troubleshooting

Students say they cannot write an entry

  • Check that the diary is open.

  • Confirm that editing isn’t restricted by date.

Students report previous entries disappeared

  • Verify whether “Allow editing old entries” is ON or OFF.

  • If OFF, they cannot modify or view removed entries.

Grades not showing in gradebook

  • Ensure a grade type is selected.

  • Confirm grading was saved.