Tag: version update

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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

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Moodle upgrades on June 30th 2021

Moodle will be upgraded to version 3.10 on June 30th, 2021, from 8 AM to 5 PM. During this time, Moodle is closed and cannot be logged into. The update may not take the whole day, but the time is reserved as a precaution to prepare for potential update issues and fixes.

The update does not bring major changes to Moodle, just some minor usability improvements. For example, in new Moodle areas, activity completion will be on by default. This makes it easier to enable the feature in activities. A major layout update is coming with Moodle 4.0 version (follow the development of moodle.org). The University of Helsinki is launching it in the summer 2022.

Moodle is now better accessible with WCAG 2.1. version. To increase accessibility, we have added a small arrow ➚ to links made in the editor that open in a new window / tab. This can be seen, for example, in texts made with Page, Book and Label resources.

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The new version of Moodle brings innovations to the Forum

Moodle will be upgraded from June 23rd to 24th, 2020. During this time, Moodle is closed and cannot be logged into.

The new version 3.8 of Moodle will be launched on June 24, 2020. The update brings a number of new features, especially to the Forum activity.

Forums

The summary report provides an overview of all the participants and their activities in the forum area. You’ll find, for example, the number of discussions posted, the number of replies, the number of views, and the number of word and character count for each student. The view can be filtered for a limited time period or by groups.

Through the whole forum grading, the teacher can grade each student’s performance on the forum as a whole in addition to individual posts. The user interface is largely similar to the grading of Moodle assignment.

The new export function allows you to download the entire or more limited content of the forum in different formats.

Record audio & video

Moodle has new features that enable recording of video and audio directly in Moodle which enables, for example, an easy way of giving feedback to students and submission of assignments by students. These features are available everywhere in Moodle where the text editor is in use. Recording length has been limited to 2 minutes. The purpose of the limitation is to avoid filling up Moodle’s storage capacity and direct storing of longer recordings to dedicated services such as Unitube or OneDrive. The recorders use your device’s microphone or camera and work, for example, with a smartphone’s browser.

Emojis

In addition, you can now add emoijs to all content. The Emoji icon can be found both next to the message field and in the default Atto editor.

Contact us

  • You can ask questions and give feedback about the update at moodle@helsinki.fi
  • More Moodle guides: MoodleDocs
  • See upcoming Moodle trainings in SAP Suffeli.
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Moodle is updated on December 27th, 2019

Moodle will be upgraded to version 3.7 on December 27th, 2019, from 8 AM to 4 PM. During this time, Moodle is closed and cannot be logged into. The update may not take the whole day, but the time is reserved as a precaution to prepare for potential update issues and fixes.

New features in Moodle 3.7

  • Forum: Inline editing, star and sort discussions.
  • Forum: Teachers can add a private reply in a forum and can manually lock discussions.

  • Messaging: Improved interface and your own private space.
  • Messaging: Teachers can delete conversations in groups.

  • Assignment: Students and teachers can delete assignment file submissions.
  • Quiz: Change your mind and remove your choice in a multiple choice quiz question.
  • Backups: Asynchronous backups in the background while doing other tasks.
  • Read more Moodle 3.7 new features.

Other changes in the default settings

  • Course settings: In new courses hidden sections are completely invisible from students.
  • Grades: By default, the user report will only show grade and feedback columns.
  • Workshop: Students can’t see the names of authors and reviewers, i.e. the reviewing is totally anonymous.

Contact us

  • You can ask questions and give feedback about the update at moodle@helsinki.fi
  • More Moodle guides: MoodleDocs
  • See upcoming Moodle trainings in SAP Suffeli.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2020!

Best regards,
Moodle Team
University of Helsinki

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Moodle is updated to version 3.6 on June 26th, 2019

Moodle will be upgraded to version 3.6 on June 26th, 2019, from 8 AM to 5 PM. During this time, Moodle is closed and cannot be logged into. The update may not take the whole day, but the time is reserved as a precaution to prepare for potential update issues and fixes.

Improved Course overview function

This improvement has been waited for: the courses on the Course overview on the Dashboard can now be sorted, starred, and hidden. The view can be just a listing, a pictorial “card” format, or a listing with a course description. You can also add new blocks to your page: Recently accessed courses, Starred courses and Recently accessed items (activities and resources). By default, everyone will see their own Recently accessed courses block. The Timeline can now be found in its own block within the right column. Click the “Customise this page” button at the top right of the page to edit your Dashboard’s Course overview. You can add blocks from the “Add a block” button at the end of the left column.

Read more

New messaging interface

There are new options in the inbox message view: Starred, Group and Private. You can mark your contacts as starred, and their posts will appear on your list. New group communications allow group members to send messages to the entire group. This requires that the function is enabled in group settings. The teacher must also be a member of the group if she wants to send group messages.

For teachers

Easily find duplicated items

Duplicated resources are appended with ‘copy’ so you can easily distinguish between the original and copy.

Download the list of course participants

In the Participants page, you can download the list of course participants for example to Excel. The participant list has been changed so that the last name comes first.

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