YouTube videos are now auto-embedded in Moodle

We made a small but largely desired change to YouTube video settings in Moodle at the beginning of September. We now have the auto-embed working when creating hyperlinks to YouTube videos. This means that teachers no longer need to copy the embed code from YouTube to Moodle but they can create a hyperlink to a video and it is automatically embedded. Students can then watch YouTube videos from Moodle.

Anywhere that Moodle’s text editor is available, it is possible to auto-embed a YouTube video, for example in a label or a page, a course topic summary or a quiz description. In other words, if you create a hyperlink to a YouTube video , Moodle will now automatically embed the YouTube video instead of just linking to the video.

If you just want a simple link, instead of an automatically embedded video, you can make one of the following things:

Add the link by using Add a resource or activity > URL. This will not embed the video. Or you can turn off automatic multimedia embedding for your course. This can be set under Administration block > Course administration > Filters > Multimedia plugins > Off. This setting will affect content in the entire course. If you don’t want to affect the entire course, you can turn the multimedia filter off for a single page by editing the page, clicking on Page module administration > Filters , and setting Multimedia plugins to Off. More detailed instructions about multimedia filters in Moodle.

Automatic embedding only works with YouTube videos. If you are using other video services (Vimeo etc.), you still need to copy the embed code to Moodle. If you are using UH’s UniTube, see more detailed instructions about UniTube.

Please contact us at ok-moodle (AT) helsinki.fi if you have someting to ask about video embedding in Moodle!

18.6.2015

New version of Moodle (2.8) now in use

Moodle is now updated to a new version. To improve the capability and reliability of Moodle, also the servers were renewed.

The new version brings about few changes:

* New improved appearance based on the new visual style of the University of Helsinki. According to the style guide, no faculty colours will be used.
* Usability improvements especially in a new user menu and in the grade book tool and the quiz tool in teachers view.
* In a discussion forum, users can now subscribe to individual forum discussions (threads) instead of the whole discussion.

See the list of all new features. Existing courses, tools and functions remain mainly the same.

If you have any questions about the new version, please contact ok-moodle (ÄT) helsinki.fi.

11.3.201511.3.2015

The new features of Moodle 2.8

University of Helsinki is updating Moodle to a new version in June 2015. Moodle servers are also replaced simultaneously, which means that we are going to have a longer service break than usually. Please take into account that Moodle cannot be used for studying or teaching during June 17th and June 18th 2015!

Moodle 2.8 has some new features and many improvements. See the list of all new features.

Key improvements are also demonstrated in this video:

If you have anything to ask or comment, please contact Moodle support at ok-moodle (AT) helsinki.fi.

19.12.201419.12.2014

Guidance for using Moodle – a new book & a MOOC!

Moodle-book

A new book called “How to use Moodle 2.7” is available for free to all Moodle-users, especially for teachers. The text is 350+ pages and focuses on all aspects of Moodle’s standard modules and functionality, detailed information on all settings available to users and screenshots of various Moodle configuration screens. The book can be downloaded from Moodle news site as a PDF-file.

Moodle-MOOC

An international MOOC (massive open online course) about Moodle is about to start at the 11th of the January 2015. It’s aimed for the teachers that are beginners with using Moodle in their own teaching. “Teaching with Moodle” MOOC is a free course for anybody who wants to use Moodle for teaching. We strongly recommend this MOOC for all UH teachers!

Designed to provide a good foundation and context to Moodle, the MOOC covers the basics of the open source (and free!) learning platform, including how to set up and effectively use Moodle in teaching. The MOOC is organized by Moodle HQ.

20.10.2014

Moodle mobile use – to note for teachers and students

Every now and then we receive questions concerning Moodle mobile use. In this blog entry you’ll find an overview of the current situation:

Moodle use is followed through login statistics. Based on the stats, mobile use altogether, i.e. logins from smaller devices than computers, has been growing. In tablet use, iPad is more popular than Android-versions, but in using Moodle via phones Android-versions are more popular than iPhone. Overall, using Moodle via mobile devices is a fraction of using Moodle via computers.

Mobile use may refer to two types of user interfaces: web browsers and separately installed mobile applications.

Browsing: You can already now use Moodle with you mobile device via a web browser (e.g. Chrome). Moodle reacts to the device size by decreasing the number of columns in the user interface, from the normal three columns to two and then to one. You can test this with your computer by narrowing the browser window width. Teachers should remember to test this to check that the designed course area is reachable for students also via mobile devices.
Mobile apps: There are numerous mobile apps available for Moodle. To note is that most of them lack such relevant features, e.g. shibboleth login, that are required to be able to log in and use UH Moodle. So far, based on the ratings, mobile apps are quite low-rated. Moodle Mobile, provided by moodle.org, is at the moment in test use, but desicions can be made only after we have some test results. In addition to features required for end-users, also data security must be taken into account.

Mobile use can also refer to different user needs and goals: needs for reading and following what others have done, or writing and participating needs.

You can already now read pretty easily via the web browser.Teachers should remember to take into account the growing number of mobile use when they design their course areas. For example, assignment submission dates and other important facts should be published on the course area, on subpages or in the calendar. Then it is easy for the students to reach the information even via mobile devices. If the information is hidden in e.g. lecture slide files, it is slower and maybe more expensive for students to reach the information, and some file formats may not even be available for mobile devices.
You can write short discussion messages already now. Instead, taking an exam via a mobile phone is something to consider, especially if the time limit is strict and there is lots to write, because of the slowlier writing process on a small device and submission via mobile broadband connection.
The probably most popular additional feature that mobile applications provide compared to browsed use would be the news feed which you can receive as notifications to your mobile phone. A news feed keeps the used informed about what is going on and would e.g. in the Moodle case support students in for example a small group online discussion. But the features needed for notifications may not always exist or they are not implemented as wanted. Based on the first text experiences, Moodle Mobile lacks the notification features and the information included in the news feed is quite insufficient. Overall, the mobile application seems not to be anything above mobile browsing.