Kalamazoo College Moodle

Hello Moodle Users,

The upgrade to Moodle 4.4 is successful, and the system is now back online. 

As always, please let me know if you have any questions about new features or changes to settings and navigation at josh.moon@kzoo.edu.

Best,
Josh Moon
Educational Technology Specialist

Hello!

We are going to be updating to Moodle 4.4 before the start of the quarter to get the best experience and important updates for fall.  There are no dramatic changes but as always a few settings and buttons will have moved.  The overall look and navigation will remain that same.

A few notes:

• Moodle 4.4 continues to refine the look of the course pages. Activities and Resources should now take up less vertical space than they did previously. 
• Moodle 4.4 featues easier instructor editing for various items, including Group modes, Completion requirements, and general settings.
• Moodle’s new default text editor is now TinyMCE as the previous Atto editor is moved out of service. The overall layout and function of buttons is similar.
• If instructors are making multiple changes to their course, the Mass Actions plugin is now part of Moodle’s core.
• There will also be updates and new features for our intergrated Hypothesis collaborative annotation plugin. 

Most of the changes are focused on instructors needing less clicks and time to execute the tasks they’re look for.  The student experience should be almost identical.

As always please contact me with any questions, clarifications, or need for support.

Best,
Josh Moon
Educational Technology Specialist

Hello Moodle Users,

We have updated Moodle to version 4.1.  I wanted to highlight a new layout of the Dashboard for both instructors and students.

The Dashboard now prominently features a Timeline and Calendar.  The goal is to make it easier for students to find their Moodle Assignments in one place.  If the instructor adds a due date to an Assignment, it will appear here.  An example is below:

Student Dashboard

In addition, this layout can be useful to faculty members. We've heard feedback that instructors would like more convenient methods of keeping track of assignments requiring grading. The new Timeline can do that.  If you create an Assignment and enter a "Remind me to grade by.." date, the Timeline will display upcoming grading deadlines including a quick link to any ungraded submission.

Faculty Dashboard

The helpful "Recently Accessed Courses" block is later down the page. You can also click the "My Courses" link to access the familiar Course Overview Block.  In addition, the Dashboard's right menu includes "Recently Accessed Items" which can help to jump quickly to your most recent work.

We hope this helps everyone work more effectively and efficiently during fall quarter.
As always, I am happy to help with any questions and hear your feedback.

Best,
Josh Moon
Educational Technology Specialist