Ned Grading Assistant
Alpha manualNed Grading Assistant (local_nedgrading) helps Moodle teachers review assignment submissions against the grading method already configured in Moodle. It supports numeric direct grading, rubrics, and marking guides.
Requirements
- Moodle 4.5 or later; Moodle 4.5 and 5.1 are tested targets.
- A configured Moodle AI provider that supports
generate_text. - Both
mod/assign:gradeandlocal/nedgrading:use.
Install and configure
- Install the plugin in
local/nedgradingand complete Moodle's upgrade process. - Open Site administration → Plugins → Local plugins → Ned Grading Assistant.
- Enable the assistant and set the maximum number of submission characters sent for one analysis.
- Confirm the intended teacher roles have the required capability.
Use the assistant
- Open an assignment grading page for a selected student.
- Select Analyse with Ned, review the data-sharing notice, then select Analyse submission.
- Review the suggested score or criteria, evidence, feedback, and confidence.
- Select Apply suggestions to Moodle grading form.
- Review or change every populated value, then save through Moodle's normal grading workflow.
Suggestions expire after 15 minutes. For blind-marked assignments, the review page does not display the student's real name.
Grading methods
| Method | Behaviour |
|---|---|
| Numeric direct grade | Suggests an overall score and clamps it to the assignment maximum. Moodle custom scales are not supported in this alpha. |
| Rubric | Uses existing Moodle criteria and levels. Unknown criterion or level identifiers returned by AI are discarded. |
| Marking guide | Suggests criterion scores and feedback. Scores are clamped to each configured maximum. |
Supported submission content
The alpha analyses online text and .txt, .md, .csv, .html, and .htm files. Unsupported files are listed to the teacher. PDF, DOCX, images, OCR, batch grading, and group submissions are not included.
Privacy and data sharing
| Location | Data and behaviour |
|---|---|
| Moodle | The plugin extracts supported content, checks permissions, validates AI output, and temporarily holds a pending suggestion in the teacher's session. It creates no plugin-owned grading-analysis database tables. |
| Configured AI provider | Moodle core AI may send the assignment name and instructions, grading definition, and supported submission text to the provider selected by the site administrator. |
| Moodle gradebook | Nothing is saved until the teacher uses Moodle's normal Save action. |
Administrators should review the selected AI provider's privacy terms and configuration before enabling the assistant for real student work.
Security controls
- Analysis requires a valid login, assignment grading permission, the plugin capability, and a session key for state-changing requests.
- Apply tokens are random, tied to the assignment and student, stored in the teacher's session, single-use, and expire after 15 minutes.
- AI-returned IDs and scores are checked against Moodle's current grading definition before they can populate controls.
- Displayed AI content is escaped before output.
Troubleshooting
- No Analyse with Ned button: confirm the plugin is enabled, a student is selected in the assignment grader, and both capabilities are allowed.
- Analysis fails: confirm Moodle has an enabled and configured text-generation AI provider.
- Files omitted: only the text formats listed above are supported in this alpha.
- Fields are not populated: rerun the analysis if it is older than 15 minutes. If the problem remains, record the Moodle version, grading method, theme, and browser console output.
Current alpha limits
The grading-form bridge uses Moodle's existing controls and requires manual browser testing for each target Moodle release and grading method. AI suggestions may be incomplete or wrong and must always be reviewed by a qualified teacher.
Change history
Summary of commits that established or changed this plugin.