Author: LS

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New Moodle published 27.6.2018

Moodle will be updated on June 27, 2018. The update process will take place from 8 AM until 5 PM. Moodle will be out of use during this service break.

Moodle will be updated to version 3.4., and a new theme called Boost is introduced.

New theme

Moodle will have a new outlook with a new theme, called Boost. The Boost is easier to use and improves the functionalities of the Moodle interface. Boost theme is more modern and also more mobile-friendly. Please note that even though the Moodle user interface now looks a bit different, all your existing courses and activities are still available within Moodle.

The two main elements of the new user interface include the Navigation menu on the left side of the page and the Actions menu on the right side. Once you understand how these work, you have pretty much grasped the most central aspects of using the new interface.

Navigation menu

The Navigation menu is displayed and hidden by clicking the “hamburger icon” at the top left corner of the page. This allows you to give more space in your display for the course contents. The Navigation menu includes:

  • Course front page
  • Participants
  • Grades
  • Direct links to the course sections
  • Dashboard, where you may view all your courses
  • Moodle Front page
  • Calendar

Actions menu

The actions menu, which you can access through the gear icon is a new feature in the new Moodle interface. The actions menu has many functions which in the old Moodle version were located within the Administration block on the left. The gear menu can also be found within activities and resources. Moreover, when you navigate to your course main page, you will find course settings in the gear menu. Another important function is the edit mode, which you can switch on in order to add and remove course activities.

Moodle Front page

On the front page you will find the same links as before: Moodle-News, maintenance window, instructions, and privacy policy. Within this front page, we will also provide important news and videos redarding the University of Helsinki Moodle.

You can find the courses and course categories at either the “Search for courses” button on the front page or at the “Course Categories” link at the top of the page.

New version 3.4

Some new improvements:

  • Easier activity navigation from page to page
  • More efficient user management
  • Improved calendar management
  • Course end date set to all new courses

Contact

  • You can ask questions and give feedback at the support address moodle@helsinki.fi. The Moodle team will be reading this email all summer.
  • Check the staff training calendar in Henkka for the autumn semester for Moodle trainings by the Educational Technology Services.

More information

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A new way to create a Moodle area and synchronize students from WebOodi

The teacher can now create a new Moodle area through the course pages. Students enrolled in WebOodi for this course will automatically be added to the Moodle area.

The creation takes place in the course page on the Moodle tab, through the button “Create a new Moodle course area”. The URL created for the Moodle area will be automatically added as a button to the course page. The course URL will be also visible in My Studies and My Teaching pages.

Students will be able to access the course area immediately after the area has been opened for students in Moodle. If changes are made for the participant list in WebOodi, it will automatically be updated to Moodle within two hours.

So the teacher does not have to

  •     add the students to the course
  •     open the self-registration and set an enrolment key

This function should not be used if the enrolment in the course is restricted in WebOodi. A new Moodle area can still be ordered by filling this form.

Please read more detailed instructions (only in Finnish at the moment) or ask more moodle @ helsinki.fi

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Moodle 3.3 and the new Course overview

On 3rd January 2018 University of Helsinki’s Moodle was updated to the version 3.3. The course overview block in the previous versions of Moodle has been removed and replaced with a new course overview, which provides details of course progress and upcoming deadlines.

Unfortunately in the new course overview it is no longer possible to arrange courses as desired. This is a disadvantage for many teachers and students, especially if they are on multiple Moodle courses. We are currently investigating whether it would be possible to introduce a different “Course overview” block with previous features. We apologize for the situation and we will announce about the progress here.

What can I do?

1) Add Courses block on your Dashboard. (See video)

  • Go to your Dashboard
  • Click Customise this page (right corner)
  • Add block “Courses” (left column)
  • Move the “My courses” block to the middle.

2) Use My Teaching / My Studies pages. After the teacher has added the link to the Moodle course to the page, the Moodle area can be accessed also from there.

3) Search your Moodle course using Search tool on the frontpage and on Dashboard.

4) Add your Moodle courses as bookmarks to your browser. See Student’s digital skills: Bookmarks

What can I do as a teacher?

4) Teacher should define the start and end dates of the course, so that the courses will appear in the right tabs “In progress/Future/Past”.

If you have any questions, please contact moodle (at) helsinki.fi

Educational Technology Services
University of Helsinki IT services

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What is new in Moodle 3.3?

Moodle was updated on the 3th January 2018 to version 3.3.

New and improved features:

  • Renewed dashboard (see video 1).
    • you can now check course progress, upcoming activities and gradable activities from the new Course overview block.
  • An improvement on ‘orphaned sections’, links may now be made to activities which are not shown on the course page. See Stealth activities. (see video 2).
  • Navigation is easier: you can access the sections using the navigation block and the navigation path.
  • The teacher may set a reminder to alert of grading in the course overview.
  • When evaluating pdf files in Assignments, comments may be collapsed to make it easier to read the original text.
  • The Progress bar block has been replaced be Completion progress block.

If you have any questions or comments about the new features, contact your Moodle support at moodle (a) helsinki.fi

Video 1: Dashboard in Moodle 3.3

Video 2: Stealth Activities In Moodle 3.3

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Moodle version update and service break 3th January 2018

The Moodle learning environment of the University of Helsinki will be updated to version 3.3 on 3th January during the time at 8-17 o’clock. During this time Moodle is not available for users.

If you have any questions about the new version of Moodle, please contact moodle@helsinki.fi

All features are not coming to UH’s Moodle, more information later.