The VLE Copy Tool enables tutors to copy study material across different VLE areas.

The VLE Copy Tool is used:

• to copy material from archived (past) study-unit areas to the study-unit areas of the current academic year
• to copy material to another study-unit area within the current academic year. This is particularly useful when there are two or more occurrences of the same study-unit i.e. different student groups are following the same study-unit delivered at different times
• to copy material present in a study-unit area to your sandbox area so that you can revise and update this in preparation for the following year
• to copy material in your sandbox area to study-unit areas of the current academic year.

The tool copies all the files, resources and activities that tutors have set up for students, except for any submissions made by students, such as assignments, forum posts etc.

Although the Lecture Capture (Panopto) and Zoom meetings manager activities will be copied, Panopto and Zoom recordings will not be copied via the VLE Copy Tool.

Tutors are required to manage their lecture recordings in a manner that is compliant with General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). If you plan to re-use lecture recordings (e.g., Zoom, Panopto) that feature student participation (e.g., student audio, video, name), it is understood that the participating students have been informed and consented that the lecture recording can be re-used with other student cohorts.

To copy and move recordings stored in Panopto, refer to the Copying and moving recordings [PDF] guide.

You can access the VLE Copy Tool using a web browser. The Copy Tool interface enables you to select the source study-unit area (the area that will be copied) and the destination study-unit area (the area where the study-unit material will be copied to). The copying process is not instantaneous.

Once you submit a request via the VLE Copy Tool, you will receive an email confirming that the request has been received. The tool will then backup the source study-unit area and restore it in the destination study-unit area.

The copy process will overwrite any content present in the destination study-unit area. It is therefore important that, before you use the tool, you check and confirm that the destination study-unit area does not contain important data.

You will receive an email confirming that the copy process is complete within 24 hours.

Further information about the Copy Tool is available in the Using the VLE Copy Tool [PDF] user guide.

If you cannot find any of your study-unit/s in the Destination drop-down menu, contact your faculty or departmental office to confirm that you are registered on SIMS as a tutor for the missing study-units.

The VLE Copy Tool does not copy students' submissions, such as assignments, forum posts etc. The destination (new) study-unit area will contain only the files, resources and activities that you have set up.

Although the Lecture Capture (Panopto) and Zoom meetings manager activities will be copied, the Panopto and Zoom recordings will not be copied via the VLE Copy Tool.

Tutors are required to manage their lecture recordings in a manner that is compliant with General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). If you plan to re-use lecture recordings (e.g., Zoom, Panopto) that feature student participation (e.g., student audio, video, name), it is understood that the participating students have been informed and consented that the lecture recording can be re-used with other student cohorts.

To copy and move recordings stored in Panopto, refer to the Copying and moving recordings [PDF] guide.

Any material present in the destination (new) study-unit area before you used the VLE Copy Tool will be deleted and overwritten with the source study-unit material.

If you need to copy part of a VLE area (not the whole area), for example if you use some of the study-unit material for different groups of students, follow the steps below: 

1. Access the VLE area where you want to copy the material.
2. Click the gear icon (upper right-hand corner). 
3. Click Import. The Course selection page is displayed. 
4. Select the VLE area which you want to copy material from. Use the Search box if the area is not listed within the list of results. 
5. Click Continue. 
6. In the Initial settings page, ensure that all the items you want to copy are ticked. 
7. Click Next. 
8. In the Schema settings page, untick any resources or activities which you do not want to copy.
9. Click Next. 
10. In the Confirmation and review page, review which resources and activities will be copied. 
11. Click Perform import to start the copy process.

Encountering difficulties? Contact us.