Welcome to MoodleMoot Finland in May 2024

Welcome to the first MoodleMoot Finland in 27-28 May 2024 in Helsinki! 

The registration and call for papers are open!

This conference brings together educators, administrators, developers, and other stakeholders across Finland and the surrounding regions to explore and share ideas about Moodle LMS. It is an opportunity to learn about the latest developments and trends in educational technology and pedagogy.

The theme of the MoodleMoot is “Open minds, open education: pathways to sustainable and inclusive learning environments”. We invite educators, developers, leaders and others from all over the world to collaborate and discuss about the future of open-source learning. In the MoodleMoot we share best practices and improve the quality of education.

MoodleMoot Highlights

MoodleMoot Finland offers a wide variety of activities and presentations for teachers, learning technologists, developers, and others. Here are some of the highlights which to wait for:

Keynotes: Our amazing keynote speakers are Marie Achour from Moodle HQ in Australia, Tim Hunt from the Open University in the UK, and Ben Cowley from the University of Helsinki in Finland. Keynotes discuss digital learning and artificial intelligence and Moodle product vision.

Presentations: Experts in education and technology will deliver great and inspiring presentations, sharing insights and ideas on the future of online learning.

Call for Papers is open! We invite you all to share your expertise and insights with the Moodle community!

Interactive workshops: participants of the MoodleMoot have the chance to participate in workshops on topics such as using generative AI in teaching and accessibility in Moodle. If you wish to host a workshop, see call for papers.

Networking: MoodleMoot Finland offers an opportunity for like-minded individuals to meet and share their experiences and knowledge with participants from Finland and abroad. Whether you are a new or experienced user of Moodle, the MoodleMoot is an excellent opportunity for gaining new insights, connecting with others, and learning how to better use Moodle in education.

Use the hashtag #MootFI24 to join the conversation on social media!

See you all in May!

The event is organised by the University of Helsinki together with our sponsors.

Moodle-News is moving

The Moodle-News blog is closing down. In the future, we will report Moodle news of the University of Helsinki directly on the news channel found in Moodle. You can find the new Moodle News channel in the block on the Moodle home page or in the Moodle News link in the middle.

Subscribe to the new Moodle News channel, and you will continue to receive Moodle News in your e-mail in the way you have defined in Moodle. Log in to Moodle, go to the Moodle-News channel and press “Subscribe to forum”. You can check your notification settings in your profile information.

Have a nice autumn!

Best regards
Moodle team
moodle @ helsinki.fi

Moodle goes to version 4 with a new look

Moodle will be updated to Moodle 4.1 on June 28th, 2023, from 8 AM to 5 PM. During this time, it is not possible to log into Moodle or create new Moodle areas on the course pages. The update may not take the whole day, but the time is reserved as a precaution to prepare for potential update issues and fixes.

Dashboard and My courses

Demo video: Dashboard and My courses, English subtitles (video in Finnish)

The Dashboard and My courses replace the old Dashboard. Moodle’s start page is the Dashboard, but you can change it in your settings. On these tabs you can see what courses you have, the calendar, etc. You can also add blocks to the Dashboard.

Layout and editing of the course

Demo video: Layout and editing of the course (video and subtitles in Finnish)

Editing and managing the Moodle area has been made easier in the new user interface. In the future, the functions that were behind the function menu can be found in the tabs immediately below the course name. The Grades and Participants tabs, which were previously in the table of contents (formerly the navigation menu), have also been moved to tabs. In the future, the table of contents will show not only the names of the topics, but also the activities and resources found within the topics, thus making it easier to navigate the area. The table of contents can still be turned on and off from the “hamburger menu” in the upper left corner.

The biggest usability improvements can be found in the new location of the Edit Mode button. In the future, the editing mode, i.e. the editing button, can be found in the upper right corner, and it is constantly available to the teacher. This makes editing smoother and easier. In addition, in the future, activities and sections can also be moved to another place in the course within the table of contents.

Blocks in Moodle areas will not automatically be visible to students in the future. They can still be found on the right side, but they are behind a drawer.

Question bank and Grader report

Demo video: Question bank and Grade report (video in Finnish)

The tabs in the gradebook view will be replaced by a dropdown menu with the upcoming version update. Under the dropdown menu, you will find all the same contents that were previously displayed as tabs. Editing individual assessments for students will be streamlined as you can make individual edits directly in the grader report by enabling the editing mode.

In the question bank, learning analytics will be introduced in the form of new data columns. With this new information, teachers will be able to analyze the questions posed: assessing their effectiveness and difficulty. Additionally, question-specific editing will be made easier within the question bank view.

Other activities

Demo video: Rest of the new features, English subtitles (video in Finnish)

The database activity has several improvements: It has a new start page where you can choose a template for the database, or load the structure of an old database. The database now has four different templates: an image gallery, a research or reflection diary, a proposal or research project template, and a resource template that can be used to create, for example, a book review or link collection. In addition, it is now easier to track and manage the approval of database records.

In activity completion, there is a new option “require a passing grade”. Previously, the only option was “receive a grade”.

A time limit can now be set for assignments. During the assignment, a counter is displayed, showing how much time is left.

Language selection can now be enforced for individual activities, whereas previously this was only possible at the course level.

Training and support

New Moodle 4 version in Digipeda Café

UH Moodle will be updated to a new version on June 28. Moodle’s global developer community has renewed Moodle’s appearance and navigation. The four final Digipeda Café introductions of the academic year will shed light to the changes the new version brings.

Themes and dates

  • 20 April 2023: Dashboard and My courses
  • 4 May 2023: Course layout and editing
  • 1 June 2023: Question bank and Grader report
  • 15 June 2023: Other activities etc.

The introductions are held in Finnish. They are recorded and will be captioned in English. You don’t have to register for the sessions, but you can request calendar invitations from opetusteknologia@helsinki.fi. All introductions start at 9 AM.

Moodle 4: Dashboard and My courses

In the first Moodle 4 introduction, we go through the layout of the new version and the most important changes in some user-specific settings. We will be introducing the new versions of Desktop and My Courses tabs. Course area-specific changes will be explored in more detail in later introductions.

Read more about Digipeda Cafes and how to join them in Flamma

Moodle-miitti 5.6.2023: sign up as a participant or presenter

On Monday 5.6. at 9-12 a.m., there is a Moodle meetup (hybrid meeting) where teachers present their Moodle courses. You’re welcome if you are interested in Moodle or remote, online and hybrid teaching in general. Moodle-miitti is open to teachers in Finnish educational institutions who use Moodle in their teaching, so feel free to share this announcement.

Suggest a presentation

Is there a Moodle course you’d like to learn more about? Or have you yourself designed one you would like to share with your colleagues? Send us a suggestion for a presentation! Please send your proposals by 14th March 2022 using this form.

The featured Moodle courses may be ones that

  • have received good feedback from students,
  • take different learners and learning pathways into consideration,
  • meet accessibility criteria,
  • is well-suited to large numbers of students,
  • are self-study courses,
  • are visually attractive,
  • create a gamified experience,
  • take international students into consideration, or
  • are MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses – open for everyone and there is no limitation for registration)

The idea of the event is to present Moodle courses from a pedagogical point of view. You may present either a short introduction (15 minute talk) or a longer demo (~30-45 minutes) Therefore, the technical settings for activities and other details will not be covered.

Sign up as a participant

You can already sign up for the Moodle-miitti by registrating in the Moodle area Moodle-miitti 5.6.2023. Also remember add event to your own calendar. If you can’t use HAKA-login but wish to attend the event, send us an email to moodle@helsinki.fi.